Artificial intelligence is still in its early days, but savvy companies are quickly leveraging the technology for business, and retail is no exception.
FrontlineIQ aims to bring the resource to home furnishings retailers in the form of an AI sales coaching and training platform built for in-person selling.
Through AI role-play, product knowledge training and conversation coaching, the platform aims to train frontline teams to sell more consistently. According to the company, FrontlineIQ helps new hires reach their first $30,000 in sales 58% faster and increases sales per salesperson by 11%, compared to other AI sales training platforms.
Recently, the platform announced a new product knowledge training module that adds product videos, certification quizzes, product-based role-play and the ability to ask Theo, FrontlineIQ’s AI sales coach, any question about any product.
By combining product knowledge with AI sales coaching, it aids sales teams in learning what they are selling and how to sell it, and gives vendor brand field marketing and training representatives a way to reach those teams and track adoption and consumption of their training content.
“Product knowledge is at the center of how our customers sell, and they told us it matters just as much as sales skills,” said Ben Rodier, CEO of FrontlineIQ. “We are happy to deliver on that with this expanded capability. We are also excited to work with vendor brands, who can now use FrontlineIQ’s platform to deliver and measure their training in the field.”
The module has already launched with Ashley Furniture Industries and enterprise retailers such as Nebraska Furniture Mart, with more brands being added in the fall.
“AI sales coaching has helped reduce the variance between our top and bottom performers on the sales floor, and our teams do it in about 20 minutes per week,” said Ethan Stover, chief retail officer, Nebraska Furniture Mart. “The double-digit sales lift we have already seen is only strengthened by bringing vendor brand product training into that time. We are excited to see this opportunity continue to grow as AI sales coaching evolves into product knowledge.”
As part of the “Ashley AI Advantage,” Ashley Wholesale customers and HomeStore licensees get access to an introductory version of the FrontlineIQ platform, designed for smaller sales teams that do not have their own sales process.
“Selling on the showroom floor still comes down to confidence, consistency and execution,” said John Mask, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Ashley. “The Ashley AI Advantage gives our partners a new capability to practice and refine how they sell. With product knowledge from FrontlineIQ, they now know what to sell as well. Combining product knowledge with AI sales coaching gives every salesperson what they need to deliver stronger customer experiences and better business results.”
