Hello to my beuaitful nerds traveling the vast universe! I know I was going to do this post on N Reach but I think this should be brought up and that is knowing about your products especially with beauty.

Product Knowledge & Why It’s Important!

Today, I did my second video on the Urban Decay Pallet Series and told a story about a recent experience in WalMart which I will tell here.

As you know everyone has been releasing Zodiac Collections and Wet N Wild has been one of them and they did it more on the lements that go with the twelve signs and I noticed that one of the items in this collection was the highlight bars coming back. In my opinion those should also be permanent. Anyways, I wanted one in my sign’s element, Fire, which I am a Leo. When I heard WalMart was going to sell them in stores rather than Walgreens and decided to see af I can find it in my WalMart store. After gathering my face wash and a few other toiletrie type items, I decided to see about the Zociac Collection. After trying to find it with the regular items, I knew they usually separate it and decided to ask someone and a guy was walking around doing inventory and re-stocking and asked and tried to point me to the Wet N Wild section which I was there to get more of my setting spray and tried explaining that it’s a Limited Edition product and there is a separate section for it. He didn’t know what I was talking about at first and decided to see where it would be and then wra into a woman and asked her and she was confused at first and then looked it up and it gave her, “Limited Stock” and then took me back to their Wet N Wild section and explained the same thing and they said, “It would be here if we had it.” It had me giving up and we circled around after they left and then pointed it out and said, “It’s over here on an end cap!” I thanked them for it which always frustrates me that at other stores know what I’m looking for and point me to it, even ulta employees up front. Heck, still remembering two other instances that I did mention in my video that I was looking for the Garnier Hair Masks and guy didn’t know what a hair mask was and another time a customer had to help me find the CoverGirl Super Sizer Mascara.I bet you’re wondering, where am I going with this?

Product Knowledge Is Important!

Having the product knowledge is a helpful tool while working, especially when it comes to retail. I remembered with my own experience applying for a lot of Marketing and Customer Service jobs it does ask you to have product knowledge and even look at the website before you come in since some questions may be related to that. Heck, I was even asked if I knew about AT&T at some interviews when I have them as my phone carrier. One major thing about having product knowledge is that not only it makes you look good to the person who hired you but also to the audience that comes in to look at a product which a person who knows can be trusted in giving them the best info like experiences with the product themselves or even how it would benefit the person like a new phone or even a new concealer. This does build the trust between customer and employee which to tell you the truth I trust the Target employees a lot because they have helped me a lot due to knowing what they have gotten even Limited Edition. One good story as an example is that years ago EOS released a limited edition Alice in Wonderland lip balm trio and I was a fan of the original Disney film and wanted to look for it and found out it’s available at Super Target and went and asked one girl which turned into five girls searching and then a sixth appeared and had it! Which that does take dedication and there are times I’d rather go to Target, which can also bring up my next point.

Hiring More People for a Department That Has Knowledge and Pass It On!

I have noticed where in WalMart, sorry if I’m bullying them, or other stores sometimes, they have one person working with them and knows the item and the person goes, “Oh! I didn’t know that!” For instance, one time I was looking for a keyboard case for my Galaxy Tablet and the guy gave me the, “Sorry, we only carry Apple ones.” Which does help me with that information because it had me searching elsewhere. And another part is that there is only one person there and they don’t always have the info about items. So, to me, hiring extra people who may have more knowledge about things can help I mean I still find it interesting that I know the products a little more than the people due to watching YouTube, don’t worry that’s next, having that extra person that may know the department can help out or even cross training employees can give them more knowledge if they need to go to different departments like in Target they are cross trained between beauty, cleaning supplies, and grocery to name a few. It makes the job a little easier and faster. Even Lowe’s probably does it because they sometimes have to have extra help on hand in different departments even in heavy lifting. Again having that knowledge with that extra person can even teach the other employees what customers might look for and what products are being carried because passing on that information can help other employees that are there without that person who might go off and work in another department that day or left the location for another one can say, “Oh! I know this item! Let’s see if it’s in stock or come with me!” It can help a lot.

Having Your Employees Doing Research on New Product, Especially Limited Edition Items!

Oh boy! After that day, trust me hoping I would go to Walgreens for Limited Edition but this point kind of drives home and that is having your employees both old and new, watch YouTube, look at magazines on break or even subscribe to Allure or beauty and fashion blogs, can give information about the different inventory coming in even Limited Edition products. When I asked that woman that day, even though I can’t see facial expressions, I knew she had an empty expression and she was quiet for a bit. A sign of not having a clue. Watching the videos about new beauty products, hair items, even vitamins can help knowing what is coming out and what a customer may need or if it’s a Holiday Item then brushing up on your homework on what that item is can give you a big leverage in working on full time if you’re seasonal.

Learn From the Customers! Learning from your customers can also be a good thing whether it’s physical or by looking at feedback on the website. I should’ve said something on WalMart’s page but if you’re reading this you would know my story. I remembered how some of the employees not just at WalMart but also Ulta, Sephora, Walgreens, and other places are surprised when I ask about a new product and they ask me, “How do you know?” Well, this was around 2009 through 2012 when YouTube was not as big but nowadays it is because everyone would be asking for what they see on YouTube and for any new employees they would learn about the product. Remember Mr. Hair Mask? I told him the basics of a hair mask and what they do to the hair and how conditioning it is, etc. because I had experiences with them and that caused him to go, “I should look into this.” Plus, it does give them the idea that the product exists and where it is it can easily guide not onlyt he costumer but also the employee to it.

Well, that’s it for my post about Product Knowledge. I know it’s long but it would have helped that day. Now, best to put it in practice because without practice it won’t be as perfect since a lot of customers do come through any store’s doors everyday even from different parts of the globe and having that knowledge does help gain trust in the customer able to learn from each other such as what is the best shampoo for oily hair. After realizing it, your customers are pretty much your teaching tool and able to learn from them or just learning about the trends on your own can help even for a holiday shopping season since that’s going to start in…three months! Better get working!

So, next post will be on N Reach and in order to see when that’s up, follow us on Twitter @ Nerdy Shique!