Mike's Bikes turn to Myagi to train retail staff
Posted on in Business News , Cycles News
Retailers across the board are being challenged to improve customer service and product knowledge, as customers seek a more rewarding experience in store and have the power of internet browsing for pre-shopping research on their side. For the independent bike market, the pressure on retail teams to be technically proficient and ambassadors for the big bike brands is ever present. Mike's Bikes has tackled its learning and development needs by introducing the unique Myagi platform.
Myagi enables retailers and their brands to use one, simple, easy to use network that uses short videos and quizzes to make brand and product training fun and engaging. It acts very much like the popular quiz apps found on Facebook and other popular social media sites.
The millennial generation is the backbone of the retail industry staff and developing and retaining these key associates is of utmost importance for retailers and their brands. It's no secret that an engaged retail associate is gold dust, and social media and the use of gamification presents a unique and effective way to revolutionize how retailers interact with their teams. For the bike industry, gamification feels like a natural fit. UK retailers such as Leisure Lakes, Hargroves, Cycles UK, Alpine Bikes are already signed up to Myagi with promising results. For Mike's Bikes, where they have a clear culture and approach to both their customers and their retail teams, creating a platform that can deliver what they need, in a way that is appropriate to the business has been a breakthrough.
Mike's Bikes runs 12 bike shops in the San Francisco and surrounding areas, with over 250 staff to train and engage on some pretty technical brand and product knowledge. They started using Myagi in 2015 and the results are outstanding "Myagi shortens the amount of time it takes for us to take a new staff member and turn them into one of our best employees, and that's the biggest benefit for the business," according to Richard Morrow, Director of Training and Development at Mike's Bikes.
Myagi has not only provided a clear learning and development pathway for Mike's Bikes but it has also ignited their team motivation, enabling them to learn more and compete internally to be the best. When Mike's Bikes first received learning content via Myagi from one of their brands, Nuun (hydration and nutrition products for athletes), the reaction from their staff was amazing.
By providing creative content that taps into the trend of gamification, it showed the team at Mike's Bikes that Nunn cared about their development and were willing to produce content and invest money in making their jobs more fulfilling. "Brands come into our stores all the time just to visit and they see employees working on Myagi and they hear them talk about Myagi and arguing about who is doing better. They know that it's working," said Morrow.
Big brands such as Raleigh, Nuun and Tifosi in the US and Sealskinz, Zyro (including brands such as Giro, Bell, Camelbak, Abus) and newly signed up Santa Cruz (UK) are using the Myagi platform to work more closely with retailers. This is happening throughout the retail industry as brands do their best to impart superior product knowledge and awareness on the shop floor. As seen with Mike's Bikes, when the relationship between brand, retailer and sales teams is unified, the results are outstanding. Mike's Bikes has seen a significant increase in sales, especially when they develop specific products and product category training, which they call their ‘Spotlight program'.
Leisure Lakes' experience reiterates the exciting results from Mike's Bikes as, with owner Tim Noy reiterates the success that Mike's Bikes is having in the US, with specific focus on both brand and retailer being able to use the same platform "Anything that helps our staff keep up to date on product knowledge is a good thing. Myagi allows staff to train online and on demand. Having all our training in one place, that's easily accessible is something that both brands and retailers benefit greatly from".
Myagi's success is beginning to shine through -by creating engaging training content, that's accessible from any mobile device and is genuinely fun, retailers and brands can work together to boost staff retention and performance, which translates directly into better sales.
To find out more about Myagi and their e-learning platform visit myagi.com