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Articles - Selling More on the Retail Floor (Part 1)

by Christine Doyle Adams

Selling is a LEARNED skill! In a previous life, I was training director for a large independent sales firm and ran 6 training programs throughout the year. It became easy to spot the students that would fail within the first week. They were the ones that everyone described as a "natural born" sales person with a "gift for gab". Well, if you have a "gift for gab", get a receipt for it! All your talk usually covers up a low self-esteem level and prevents you from learning about your customer. The sales person that listens with his ears, eyes and heart is the one that will win the day, make the sale and establish a loyal, returning customer base. In fact, most studies indicate that top sales people listen 80 to 90% percent of the time in a sales presentation, and talk the balance. You can talk in the sales role, but only after you learn what it is you need to talk about. Listening is one of the toughest sales skill to master! So with a commitment to listening more, read on for tips on improving your success on the sales floor.

The first five minutes is critical:

Let the customer get into your store without pouncing on them. Never stand at the door (which you probably don't have time to do anyway) but rather station yourself well inside the store to one side. If you stand in the middle of the aisle, you are a barrier to their entrance. The idea is to acknowledge their presence immediately without making a threatening approach. The purpose of any sale greeting is to establish a positive communication with the customer. I always think of the greeting as the first step in my new relationship with that person. You can do this by showing some enthusiasm once they come in. Without moving your feet, stay where you are and greet them with a friendly smile, or call a greeting if you are with another customer. Offer refreshments even if it is just water. Food really works - people linger & feel welcome. Always smile, always smile, always smile.

Get Their Name

Always make an attempt to exchange names. Don't throw yours away by giving it out without asking for the customer's name in return. For example, you might say "My name is Chris, what is yours? Susan? Thank you. I am with another customer right now - just give me nod if you need me for some quick information. I'll be right with you when I finish up, Susan." You have just done a couple of things - you have bonded with the customer by using their name early in the game. And have also indicated that you are available while still offering courtesy to your current customer. When you return to the second customer, use their name again. Write it down if you have to! I always carried a clip board with my favorite questions, and would write the customers name in bold red a the top of the sheet.

Rules of the sales floor

Always re-contact the customer within 3 to 7 minutes by asking an open-ended question that requires them to respond with information rather than "yes" or "no". If the customer wants to look around, tell them "that's a great way to start" and that you will "come back and visit with them in a few minutes" or "here is a quick layout of the store to help you with your browsing. Bedroom sets are in the back, dining on the south wall over there, and so on.". When they say they are "just looking", don't believe it! They didn't just fall off a pumpkin truck, bump their heads and wander into the store by accident. They are there for a reason. Looking is how everyone starts - most people are very visual. Customers who say what they want when they come in generally are interested in a single item. Those customers who want to look, often have more complex buying motivations, have not formed a clear idea of what their needs are, and generally will make a larger purchase. So when your hear them say "I just want to look", it should be a heads up to you that a serious buyer may have stepped into the store. Think about it! The customer just wants to look and they have no idea where to begin?? Get them started looking in the right place and do not follow them! Here are some other welcoming, relationship building phrases to help your get started on your next sale. Find a couple that are comfortable for your own selling process and stick with them. All sales people use different words. If is the process that never changes!

"Looking is how everyone starts!"

"To help you, here's an overview of the store layout."

"Feel free to look around. If you tell what you want to look at first, I'll be happy to direct you to where it is located"

"Give a shout if you need me"

"I'll be back to visit in a few minutes" "Let's meet in the stain center in ___ min."

"We have some refreshments back in the stain center over there"

"You'll find what you are looking for down the second aisle on your right. When you are there, check out our newest line of ______."

The customer owns the sales person

Never act as if you own the sales person just because you had a prior contact - that kind of loyalty is earned through service and competence and it is the customer's choice. If the customer wants to work with you - they will ask for you. The best commission and compensation schedules reward requests for a sales person from the customer. This kind of compensation forces good customer service, such as follow-up calls and thank you notes. There is nothing worse for the customer than being pounced upon by a sales person they don't care for.

Learn The Language of Sales

If you get a customer that wants you to approach immediately, don't talk AT the customer.until you understand the customer. Seek to understand and you will be understood. The most common mistake sales people make in their communication style is to ask "closed-ended" questions in their initial contact with a customer. The response to a "closed-ended" question can easily be a brief and terse "no"! The following are examples of "closed-ended questions"'

Do you want a bed?

Do you want a chair?

Do you want computer desk?

Do you prefer oak?

Do you prefer pine?

Do you know much about finishing?

Can I help you?

Is there anything I can do for you?

And my favorite "Are you just looking?" NEVER ask this question - you are doomed for failure! As, you can see, these questions do not get the customer talking, and framed in the mode of friendship. Instead, use modified open-ended questions that begin with who, when, where, how, or why. Get the customer talking about themselves as early as possible with questions such as:

What brought you into the store?

How can I help you?

What are you looking for ? and why?

What type of furniture do you currently have?

How did you hear about us?

Not only will you get the customer feeling more comfortable with you, you will obtain enough information about them to discover what they need or want, and successfully close the sale.

Understand why people buy

People buy things to satisfy emotions such as security, self worth, pride, love of family, love, or fear. In fact, they will buy on emotion and justify the purchase with reasons. When customers walk in the store they give you reasons, such as "I need a desk for my son's room", or more "chairs for my dining room table". The first thing you want to do is qualify them by finding out why they want more dining room chairs. (Using an open-ended question!) They might want more chairs to accommodate their family which has now decided to have holiday dinners a their house (love of family), or the table might just look better with more chairs (pride), or maybe they finally afford the extra chairs they could not afford when they bought the table in the first place (security). This is called finding the motivation behind the reason. Once you know the motivation, you can assess their strength as a buyer. And you always must refer to the motivation, not the reason, when closing the sale.

More Great Open Ended Questions:

Describe your décor for me..

Tell me about the last time you bought a piece of furniture.

What are your perceptions of unfinished furniture?

Tell me about your last finishing experience.

What are your furniture needs?

How long have you been looking?

What have you seen that has caught your eye?

What price range are you thinking about?

What has been your best and worst experience purchasing furniture?

Take charge when you are with the customer!

Be a Finder of Solutions, a Coach, a Leader! It is as wrongful to withhold needed information as it is to mislead a customer. When working with a customer, use phrases such as "Let me help you." or "Based on what you have told me, I recommend..". I can remember a time I was buying a refrigerator and I wanted to make a decision quickly, that day, and get on with my real life. I told the salesperson about my lifestyle and asked which unit he would recommend. He kept saying "It depends on what you like" over and over and then proceeded to tell me why glass shelves were so superior to wire shelves. Obviously he had never cleaned a refrigerator! What I really wanted was for someone to tell me that this unit needs less service, this one uses less energy, this one easier to clean and is rated by consumer reports as the best buy in this price range. I wanted his knowledge and coaching and he could not offer either. When your customer is faced with the array of stain choices in your store display, help them with the buying decision. For example, if they are using a wood such as aspen, tell them they should use a topical waterbased stain rather than a penetrating oil-based stain. Customers aren't bad people - they just don't know what we know!

Naturally, all of these techniques will require practice on your part. Practice is not an insult, it is training. Tiger Woods still hits golf balls every day.

For more, click here to see the second part of this article.

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