Retailers around the country have undertaken a massive campaign to equip their sales staff with the skills that will enhance the consumers shopping experience. The pretty princess idling inside the store is neither a mannequin nor a model - she is a sales assistant, employed specifically to be your very own personal shopper.

Other than scanning your credit card retail sales staff have drifted into obscurity, and it is this very obscurity that has encouraged retailers to roll out training programmes that will make the very people employed to enhance and encourage sales more visible, more dynamic, more approachable to the most important part of the retail industry - the consumer.

Every customer walks into a store with story; she is looking for the perfect dress to wear for the perfect guy, the sexiest stiletto's for a girls night out, a comfy t-shirt to wear after a strenuous day at the office, the belt to match the bag that matches the shoes that she bought on shopping trip abroad. She will either rush into the store buy the item and rush out, spend hours cluelessly wondering the store debating whether she should or should not buy the item. Cue the sales assistant. It is the indecision and the hastiness of the consumer, the story behind their being inside the store on that particular day at that particular time that presents the sales assistant with the perfect opportunity to sell.

The sales assistant needs to instantaneously become B.F.F's with the every stranger that walks into the store. So she wants a pair of sexy stiletto's, suggest a sexy LLBD (Little Lace Black Dress) to go with them, throw in a leopard print clutch and adorable accessories and she will leave the store with more than just the size 5 party shoes she had initially come in for.

The concept of being the customer's personal shopper, stylist, advisor - best friend for the hour or so she spends in the store needs to be ingrained in the mind, heart and soul of the sales assistant. Vanity, a leading Johannesburg based Styling Consultancy offers retailers specialised training that will take their team of sales staff from being camouflaged alongside the mannequins to being ambassadors at the forefront of their retail brand. Vanity's Retail Training Sessions are run over a half day or two day time-frame depending of the level of training required. Colour, Style, Body Analysis, Illusion Dressing, Wardrobe Building, Customer Relations, Body Language and Etiquette are some of the areas addressed in training sessions.

The retail training developed by Vanity has been designed as an education that in turn motivates and encourages employees to become passionate about their job, their company and most importantly their customer.