Brand Matching your Retail Consultants

Recruitment is an essential part of what we do at Fortem & Mode. We understand how important it is that our retail consultants create the best impression with customers and this is why we take great care to only select the best people to join our books. But the process does not end there. Once we have a strong talent pool to choose from, we carefully select the consultant to make sure they can represent your brand faithfully and create a personalised experience.

Our Consultants

We have an extensive staff database, filled with experienced and talented retail consultants who are based across the UK. Our dedicated regional account executives build strong relationships with the staff that work in each area and this, combined with our stringent recruitment process, ensures our consultants have the correct skills and attitude to excel at representing your brand.


Brand Matching; what we consider

We understand that brands work hard to cultivate an image, and that consultants need to uphold this in stores. Here are some things we consider when selecting your consultants:


1. The Brand

Our consultants are not only experienced workers but are passionate about the beauty industry. They go the extra mile to develop their knowledge of your brand, so they can develop a genuine rapport with customers. Where possible we aim to select consultants with previous experience with your brand, and will also supplement this with training notes.

We also make sure to bear in mind the marketing position of your brand – if your brand favours classic, neutral makeup we will select a consultant who is best able to represent this. However, if you have a fragrance brand that positions itself as edgy and fun, we will bear this in mind with our staff selection.


2. The Role

We cover every area of instore work from beauty, fragrance and skincare, to some specialised work with nail bars. Our recruitment process ensures that we know the strengths and experience of each consultant and, since trade skills are essential for many of these roles, we pay strong attention to experience, feedback, and any qualifications our consultants have.

Each role requires a different approach, so in our communication with you, we make sure we have a strong understanding of what you’re looking for. Whether it’s traffic stopping for a promotional site, or sitting down customers at a beauty counter we’ve got you covered.


3. The Store

Whilst our consultants are working on your behalf, they are also representing the stores that they are placed in. Therefore, we build strong relationships with the beauty or sales managers in every store we work in. Temporary consultants must often undergo a store approval with these managers so we liaise with them directly, ensuring they are happy with our choices. As these managers work closely with your brands in store, their observations and opinions are invaluable when placing staff.

 

The Process

Once we have your job description and requirements, we advertise each role to our consultants via our staff portal. We provide a concise job spec, so they can be clear on the role and our expectations. Every consultant on our books has completed our rigorous interview process, and been determined as suitable for our agency. We also engage in scenario questions during this process to really assess how they will perform.

When our consultants receive the alert, they can apply for the shifts on our staff portal. We never act on a first come first serve basis with our bookings and instead we like to allow some time for people to apply and register their interest in the role so we have a great selection of staff and can make the best possible match.

The nature of retail means there are often absences to fill at short notice, so turnaround time can be vital. The great relationships we have with staff, means we can often rely on them to be able to work at short notice. Being in contact with the stores also means they try to be as accommodating as possible with arranging store approval at short notice, as they know we only send the best possible staff.

Next steps

Once we have selected your consultant, we run through everything in detail in a phone conversation. This is key in maintaining clear communication, and ensuring they have an understanding of the requirements of the role.

Consistent communication before, during and after each booking is the key to our success, and is invaluable in ensuring our staff perform to a high standard. We also maintain strong communication with you throughout this process making note of all feedback to give you the best service and representation of your brand.

To learn more about our consultants and the service we can offer you, get in touch.