- September 20, 2019
- /ByLiz Isenburg
- /10COMMENTS
Quality cashier training is an essential step in your business running smoothly.These cashier training tips will help you equip your staffto handle the day-to-day interactions with your paying customers.
It goes without saying that cashiers play a vital role in your business. A well trained cashier can make or break the customer experience. As a business owner, you want to pursue excellence as a business and reflect that in every interaction. This attitude tells the employee & customer alike, “We are glad you’re here and we are ready for you!”
It might seem like a given, but hear me out. A business that has a culture which values their employees inherently values their customers. It’s no secret that an employee who feels important and empowered will make your customers feel valued as well. After all, healthy trees are deeply rooted and grow from within. Healthy employees start with good business practices and managerial skills. So ask yourself, how do you value your employees? Start from the very beginning with great training – here are some tips to help you and your new employee.
What exactly do cashiers do? What is the role of a cashier?
A cashier is the person who coordinates the sale between your business and the customer. They will ring up the customers’ products on the cash register or point of sale (POS) system, bag or prepare the purchases, handle payments (cash, credit cards, debit cards, and checks), count back change, issue receipts (whether they are paper receipts or mobile), and interact with the customer. Part of a cashiers job might also include helping with inventory management.
The basic cashier job description is the same whether he works for a food truck, grocery store, retail business or over the phone. While there are subtle differences between roles depending on the type of business, most employees in retail sales will have to handle angry customers and be equipped in how to deal with them.They should have basic math skills, good interpersonal skills, and have been trained adequately on whatever POS system you are using.
What training is needed to become a cashier?
Whether your cashier is just beginning or is an experienced cashier, an understanding of basic math skills and good communication are really all that is needed to get started. Anything else, like operating the register and customer service training, will be learned on the job.
Why is great training needed?
You want to have a confident, knowledgeable cashier who is competent, friendly & trustworthy and that ultimately reflects positively on your business. Work on developing your employee to become an experienced cashier who knows how to handle a variety of scenarios from basic transactions to handling customer issues.
Training Tips for a Great Cashier
It Starts With You
A Great Cashier is Valued. Here are some tips on making your employee know that they are valued.
- Treat your employee like part of the team immediately. Do this by learning their name, asking about their life, etc.
- Introduce them to the other employees and people they will be working with, including their new role and any prior experience they have.
- Give them an employee handbook on their first day.
- If you require a uniform, but don’t have one that is the correct size- order one immediately.
- Check in with them often during their initial training and the months that follow. Ask them for their feedback. If they offer insight on things that need to change, listen- they are closer to the “ground” than you are.
- Encourage them as they are learning their new job – learning something new and working retail jobs can be stressful. Let them know you are on their side.
- Repeat yourself – Be prepared to repeat yourself often, your language will help solidify your business culture and philosophy.
Set Clear Expectations
This can really set your new cashier up for success whether they are entry level or experienced. Everyone appreciates clear direction.
- Be clear on what you expect and ask for feedback to make sure they understand. Don’t just hand them the employee handbook and tell them to read it. Go over it with them.
- Set up their orientation shifts and make sure they know where to go – whether it’s onsite or somewhere else.
- If you use orientation materials, make sure they are ready and available.
- If your employee will be shadowing at the register, are they paired with someone who is a good teacher?
- Does your trainer know that they will be mentoring someone? Tell them beforehand, trust me on this.
- Be specific – For example, is there a certain time they are expected to clock in? Do you have a dress code they need to follow? Who should they report to when the come on shift? How do lunch breaks work? Who should they call if they are sick? What if they have a problem with their direct manager, who should they go to?
A Great Cashier Is Competent
Increase competence in your employees by giving thorough cashier training from a variety of resources.
Usevideocashiercoursesoronlinecashiertraining programs. This can help prime your new employee with the mindset on how you’d like them to interact with each customer and co-worker before they ever hit the floor.
Simulations are a great, safe way to teach skills and take the pressure off. Online training programs are great, but they are one-sided. This is a chance for your new cashier to interact with you & really show you what he knows. This is a great time for coaching, too! Think of different scenarios that your new employee might encounter. Role play to demonstrate, and provide feedback and coaching.
- Demonstrate the proper way to handle cash and give the correct amount of change (pro-tip, place the ingoing cash sideways or in a designated spot in the till so that way you know the amount of cash that was given – you can correct it the next time you open the drawer)
- For instance- your barcode scanner broke and now items have to be keyed in manually. How would you like them to act in that instance? What SKU do they input to ensure they are being accurate?
- An angry customer comes in and demands that you issue a refund? Walk through each step of this customer interaction with your new employee
Pair them with an experienced cashier as amentor. Nothing beats hands on training, so when it’s slow (or even when it’s not), have a more experienced cashier train them. Make sure it’s a good fit for both your new cashier and the more experienced one.
Have achecklist of competencies that you would like your new employee to complete by the end of their orientation. Be sure to include more complex scenarios such as issuing or redeeming a gift card, inputting a price correction or override, handling returns, etc.
A Great Cashier Is Accurate
Train your new cashier to become competent in working the cash register. An accurate cash drawer and transaction record can help you track and maintain your inventory. This can give a clear picture of the health of your business.
- Ensure they know how to use all the equipment & software- the cash drawer, the barcode scanner, the manual input, and point of sale or mobile POS system
- They can count back change accurately and know what do to if there is a discrepancy
- Make sure they know which barcode to scan, knows which number to put into the POS system in case the barcode scanner is inoperable
- Ensure they know how to void an item that was entered by mistake
- Train your employee on how to process different types of card payments – how to accept credit cards, debit cards, checks or cash.
- If you issue gift cards, make sure they know how to do that.
- Ensure they know how to return an item and know the store policy on returns.
A Great Cashier Is Friendly
Each customer is valued and should be treated with dignity and respect.
Make sure your business culture is reflected in every single interaction with every customer.
Some customer service skills include a cashier that will:
- Greet customers and make eye contact.
- Be an active listener and anticipate customers’ needs
- Be polite and maintain composure with each customer, especially if the customer is angry
- Sincerely apologizes if a customer becomes angry and utilizes customer service training to defuse a situation.
- Don’t take the customer’s anger personally. Whatever emotional outburst happens, know that it was bubbling under the surface well before the customer walked into your store. This just happened to be the incident that made them boil over.
- Works to recover the sale and make things right for the customer, while maintaining the store policy and guidelines
- Goes above and beyond for each customer – offering suggestions and using basic sales techniques without seeming too pushy.
Why is a great cashier vital to your business?
A great customer experience can be ruined by a crummy check out process. Just think of the times when you’ve been in line and the cashier was slow or did not know what to do. Great training and great management support decrease frustration in your employees. It will also increase their own confidence in their skills and build trust with you & their leaders. This support will empower them to give a great experience to your customer. An employee that you can trust to do a great job is invaluable.
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Leave a Comment:
10 comments
Anthony says October 22, 2020
You mentioned about Cash Register – Videos . Do you know where I can find resources like that ?
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James Tombek lodu says October 20, 2022
Really interesting for cashier training
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Zita says December 5, 2020
Try youtube
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Akah Clement O. says December 15, 2020
I will be grateful to learn more about cashier job. Thanks
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Adriaan Wessels says December 21, 2020
I the senior manager in a franchise, our cashiers got a inhouse training by me or one of my assistant managers. We use the sympos system, quit easy to learn to operate the system.
Our problem at the moment is that the cashiers do not go that extra mile to promote sales y selling extra items from the menu, although we ask them to do so on a daily basis. Accuresay on the till is vital important to the business and controlling of stocks and the cash. Our cashiers is either over or short on the dayend cash up and this is a huge problem, we have a in house rule and regulation that if they are short or over they will be kept liable for the shortage and over, some of them are union members and they think because they members we can do them nothing, the argument at the moment is…..according to the union we can not make them pay the shortage in(yes I do agree , our labor law forbid that,but this is huge losses to the company, they argue that the money they over we can use for the shortages, but we do not agree with this as the over is money they steel from our clients or products sold without record it on the till, so we need to place a cashiers responsibility rule and regulation in place to stop this shortage and over on the tills….please if you can help us …email me on adriaan2wessels@hotmail.com
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AMC says January 21, 2022
You want to check your spelling before posting it is hard to take you seriously.
I look to myself to make sure the employee can handle the job. More training? Cashiers aren’t stealing from you. I can see your attitude is a problem. There are performance reviews use them. I am not a big fan of unions but see what they can help you with.
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nikko pangilayan says November 30, 2022
monitoring your crew/register position. or pair the register person to one of your crew that have more knowlegde and experience , you need time and set a side specificaly for your employee, for them to gain/learn more idea and to know their jobposition….
and if it still dont work ..
accept tips from your customers.
so ever u get short ,maybe tips can cover for the shortage
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Richard Fofie says January 10, 2021
I’m very grateful for this introduction, but please where can I get the website or which website should I go, thanks
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emmanuel robert says August 3, 2021
i want to be cashier
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Mark Austin says November 5, 2021
It’s seems the author assumes the cashier to be female. Definitely not very fair or encouraging
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AMC says January 21, 2022
A great cashier trainer is a vital key. You get out what you put in. There are hours of video to sit through. Smart Serve tests. You have to be able to read very small print on a produce roll showing codes. There is a lot to memorize. Need to recognize credit cards and debit cards 3 feet away. You need to know the prices on products outside the store and all the water products. There is usually a upc code book at your cash which is badly set up in the book. Lots of standing which is very hard on the back. Your breaks are 15 minutes long which ends up being 5 because you have to go to the back of the store then up a long flight of stairs then back down and to the front of the store to go outside and then back in, to the back of the store, up & down the stairs and back to your cash. Some store have a digital screen for produce which helps a lot to recognize the produce especially if you are not familiar with some of them. Try recognizing an under age person with a mask on when they are buying alcohol. You have to learn how to run a lottery ticket machine.
Businesses would be better off if they used methods used by many other businesses where they have a closed store and do roll playing training and business specific video interactive training. You would think with all the high tech tools out there that these businesses would be on top of that. Training hasn’t got better over the 25 years. I used to love being a cashier 25 years ago but the responsibility that is put on cashiers now and you only get about $6 bucks more an hour isn’t worth the pain.
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Oliver Bamubinzemu says May 13, 2022
Excellent explanation
Thanks for the great work
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Esther-Joy Callender says July 15, 2022
This may not have been a consideration but it starts from who you interview. While anyone can be trained to develop great sales skills and customer service, not everyone has that “above and beyond” type of personality.
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