5 reasons poor workforce readiness will cost your product launch

The days before a big launch, event or holiday sale can be fraught with nerves and a flurry of urgent activity. And while corporate, store management and frontline employees all want the launch to go well:

• Head office wants the revenue boost and branding lift from a successful launch or promo
• Store management wants a memorable customer experience and the potential for return customers
• Associates want the information and tools to execute the event without a hitch—and take ownership of the organization’s success

It’s understandable why many retail launches fail. This happens for a multitude of reasons, but the most important—and most impactful—is the simple fact that retail workers were unprepared. 

Workforce readiness makes or breaks the success of these crucial events. But it isn’t the sole responsibility of the store manager or even the retail staff. HQ and leadership play a significant role in ensuring every worker has access to the training, information and tools they need to execute successfully and consistently. Unfortunately, the industry is lacking in this area. 

Of course, training and enablement gaps affect day-to-day retail performance. But they also greatly impact launches and events when sales associates have to promote new, little-known products. 

Here are five reasons poor workforce readiness can cost you big time: 

1. An inconsistent customer experience

Online shopping experiences are more consistent, whereas in-store shopping can be harder to standardize. Two customers walking into the same store at exactly the same time may have wildly different experiences, depending on the product they’re looking for and the associate they talk to. Things like signage, shelf stock and point-of-purchase (POP) marketing materials affect the journey, too. 

Another impact of online shopping is that customers are armed with much more information when they walk into a brick-and-mortar store. According to Google/Ipsos’ Omnichannel Holiday Study, more than half (53%) of adult shoppers say they always do research before they buy to ensure they are making the best possible choice; unless you’re investing in workplace readiness, your customers may be equipped with more product knowledge than your associates! 

For your frontline workforce to keep up, they need preparation. That includes in-depth information—not just the “what,” but the “why” and “how.” They need knowledge testing, pulse surveys and other resources that showcase the critical details of your product so they can talk about new offerings with confidence and support the customer experience effectively. 

2. Poor launch performance

You could liken a retail launch or promo event to a sports game: in both scenarios, everyone needs to pull together. Without the whole team united and mobilized around a single goal, the odds of a successful outcome are stacked against you. 

Some of your locations might be top performers, or you might have a superstar retail worker on a certain team, but that’s not going to carry your entire brand through a poorly executed launch. What will scale is adequate workforce readiness and training. By spreading the training resources across your retail workforce and taking steps to improve knowledge retention and address gaps, your launch has a greater chance of achieving operational consistency and widespread success. 

3. Inefficient use of labor

Remember the last time you threw a birthday party or took a road trip—how prepared were you? How hectic were things a few hours before showtime? Were you left running around, wrapping things up at the last second that could have been done much earlier?

Now take that stress and multiply it by a hundred—or even a thousand! That’s what it’s like for your frontline staff during these high-stakes moments. Without proactive plans in place and the proper use of task management to ensure workforce readiness, the days and hours ahead of a launch will be filled with operational chaos: floor managers fielding question after question, leadership making extra visits to various locations, countless phone calls to answer (and ask!) questions. Employees will be pushed to their limit before the launch has even started. And that’s an inefficient use of labor. 

Retail workers are already in a tough position. Axonify’s 2024 Deskless Report found that the industry’s biggest challenge this year is understaffed locations. Teams are struggling to keep things running with fewer resources and inconsistent support. Preparing your workforce well before big events can help alleviate these stresses, boost performance and morale and improve their ability to provide the excellent service customers expect. 

4. Lost revenue

It’s understood that making money is a primary goal of any product launch. Yet, by failing to adequately prepare and train staff, retailers are unnecessarily impeding potential revenue. 

An Emplifi report surveying 2,000+ consumers from the U.S. and the U.K. found that 86% of consumers will leave a brand they were once loyal to after just two or three bad customer service experiences. Just one disappointing customer interaction due to lack of preparation can mean you’re halfway to losing a customer for good. And if you’ve let down that customer before, you might have just pushed them over the edge. 

Another study on consumer behavior found that 93% of customers are likely to make a purchase and (85% buy more!) when helped by a knowledgeable associate. The same report found that 80% of retailers saw sales increase by 25 to 50% when knowledgeable associates assisted their customers. So, what makes an associate knowledgeable? The study found that associates who took at least one training module made an average of 46% more sales per hour than those who did not.

At the simplest level, the data supports the fact that the associates who are well-trained and armed with information are impacting revenue. Essentially, money is being left on the table every time events are run without consideration of workforce readiness.  

5. Chronic preparedness problems intensifying the above issues

The only thing worse than failing a launch is not knowing why it failed. It’s easy to blame convenient, safe excuses but often organizations ignore the true root cause—a lack of workforce preparedness. 

This year’s Deskless Report revealed that managers and employees were eager for more training on product knowledge and sales techniques, and greater support for the use of tools and tech. Teams are seeking information about the services they’re expected to be experts in—and clarity on how to best leverage the resources they already have. 

Beyond training needs, poorly timed launches also mean insufficient preparation time. A proper runway could help you plan shift schedules, set up store displays and build product familiarization more efficiently and effectively.

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So, what concrete steps can you take to improve workforce readiness? The path forward is clear:

Give retail workers all the help you can reasonably provide to make your launch or event a success. This includes relevant training, sufficient preparation time and administrative support. While it might require additional investment, the actual cost might not be as big of a burden as you might think—especially given the potential benefits.