DC Style Factory Training: Bringing Personal Styling to a Retail Setting

Recently, I conducted the second session of a three-part retail training workshop with local boutique, Scout and Molly’s at their One Loudon location. A few weeks prior I had the privilege of partnering with them at their Mosaic District location where I led the first training session.

When Teresa, the owner of the Mosaic District and One Loudon locations reached out to me asking to train her staff, I jumped at the opportunity! I first met Teresa over a year ago where I co-hosted a sip-and-shop event with Scout and Molly’s. I fell in love with the store immediately, and knew this casual contemporary boutique would resonate well with our clients with their mix of classic and trendy, plus quality pieces at an affordable price point.  

The first workshop covered recommending the right closet essentials to their customers and easy ways for them to demonstrate the versatility of those essentials. This training session covered getting to know the customer’s personal style and how to treat each customer like a client, but in a boutique/retail setting. I walked the employees through our process when we first work with our clients. I explained our style consult where we ask specific questions to help us narrow down what our clients really need in their closet so we can give them pieces they will actually utilize. I then showed the employees our mood boards of different styles and how we use these to help the client visualize and define their personal style.

For the next portion of the training, I showed them how to us our process in a retail setting. We went over how to build rapport with each customer, how to give professional tips about their merchandise, how to make each customer feel unique and how to get the customer into a fitting room. Whether shopping for a client or selling items to a customer, you want to give them options to show them the value of the garment and build trust.  Don’t just sell the clothes. When you listen, offer style expertise and options that work best for them, the customers will come back.

Finally, I had them run through an exercise where the employees paired off into teams and role played in front of everyone. One person pretended to be the customer while the other interacted with them in the way we outlined. I loved watching them take the style expertise given and execute it using their own merchandise! It was not only professional development for the Scout and Molly’s team, but also a great team-building experience.

We love cultivating strong relationships with local boutiques, and I can’t wait for the third and final session at Scout and Molly’s! Is your boutique interested in learning how to add value to your customer with style expertise? Email me at [email protected] today to find out more about our boutique training workshops!