How To Navigate The Complex Retail Sale And Increase Your Conversion Rate In Four Steps

By Bob Phibbs (The Retail Doctor)

Do you ask a wall of questions before ever getting a customer excited about the possibilities in what you sell?

If so, I’ll bet it is affecting your conversion rate (the number of people you encounter divided by the number of times they purchased).

Such was the case when I went into a flooring retailer…

Me: I’m looking for a new wood floor.

Guy: Are you doing it yourself or are you using a contractor? Is your floor above grade or below? Are you looking for real wood, laminate, or vinyl? Do you have a budget?

He asked about six other questions, but my ears had stopped processing. All I could hear was my own voice, Boy are you unprepared – this is work. Let’s leave.

Such a wall of questions ultimately tumbles onto the unassuming customer making them feel stupid and foolish.

Are you doing that to your customer?

I’ll bet you are…

There are varying degrees of complexity to many sales in a store.

Maybe your customer needs to know what their dinner companion will be wearing because she wants a complementary look. She wants to look like a couple, not like two individuals.
Perhaps a contractor needs to be consulted for items in a new kitchen.

Maybe the doorway dimensions need to be known to make sure the dream couch will fit through it.

Like everything when it comes to retail sales training, there’s a way to get that information…and a way not to.  Let's iron out the wrinkles in your selling process...

Here are four tips for selling in retail to navigate a complex retail sale:

1) First and foremost -  create the vision of what your product can do for your shopper. This is the fun side. This is where you create wonder, where you encourage people to look, touch, and imagine.  Get them to fall in love with it first. Show options in different price ranges and styles. The important thing is to keep all of your options to sell wide-open, to show your customer all you have and all you can do for them.

2) Present each piece of information you need in bite-sized chunks.  While you may need a wall of information and only questions will help you build it, you need to build it brick by brick. Your goal is to reframe fearful into safe.

If you need the dimensions of a doorway for that couch, is there a way to approximate the size?
For example, you could ask Does it feel like an average doorway to walk through – not too tight? You could ask them to hold out their elbows at shoulder height and touch fists together and then ask, This is about the space we need – does that feel right?

If it does, you can move on. If there is still a question, you need to provide safety, so now you offer options. 95% of the time we can deliver through a doorway like that, if not we look to see if we can use a window.  In the rarest of cases, they’ll measure before bringing it in and if there’s no way it can be done, we’ll cancel the order. Sound good?Your goal in a complex sale is to keep the motion moving forward until you know the sale is dead. This keeps you from stopping a sale before it even starts.

3) Recap all of the possibilities that could throw the sale off by assuring the customer you’ve examined everything.

To finalize the sale,  restate each brick of information once again. Remind them…

We’ve approximated the size of the ring;we’ve got the rose gold color she likes;we’ve got plenty of time to get it resized or let her pick out something else.

And always end by asking, Did I miss anything?

Again your goal is to anticipate their fear of the unknown and remove it to make the sale. You need to show them you have thought of everything - the things they’d thought of and the things they hadn’t - so they know they are in good hands.

4) Finish by making a personal request. Invite me to the wedding when she says yes.
I hope you’ll post a picture of your outfit online; I would love to see it.
Remember a party is a great way to show off your new furniture. Again, I’d love to see a picture of the fun.

 

In Sum

A sale that is dependent on more than one factor can make untrained employees want to get all their questions out immediately. They don’t want to waste their customer’s – or more likely – their own time.

The problem with all of those questions for information is they front-load a potential sale with a bunch of heavy baggage. That makes the customer’s whole effort to buy an effort. You never want that to happen.

 

Customers want to spend money freely and not feel shamed that they didn’t come in armed with everything they needed to know.

When you keep your focus on creating a vision...and not a wall... you’ll make the complex sale simple. 


And after all, isn’t that what you’re paid to do?


To View Original Article: http://www.retaildoc.com/blog/how-to-navigate-the-complex-retail-sale-and-increase-your-conversion-rate-in-four-steps

Is Your Body Language Telling Customers To Go Away? 9 Ways To Improve Your Non-Verbal Skills

By Bob Phibbs (The Retail Doctor)

Looking for how non-verbal communication impacts sales? Your body language sends wordless cues long before you try to close a sale.

I was headed home across the LA freeways at 2:30am to my home.  Dog-tired and just one exit shy of my offramp, I saw flashing red lights behind me.

The 10 essential strengths of front-line retail employees

March 30, 2010            

How sales personnel engage customers can make or break a retail store. Most customers assume that small, local stores generally have a bigger focus on customer-care excellence. However, this isn’t always the case. Big box retailers also can harness the power of engagement. It all boils down to how employees relate to customers.

Engagement starts from the moment a customer steps into a store. Think of the greeter in Walmart who informs you of the current promotions and invites you to stroll a bit and take advantage of the good deals. What about the sales associate at the Gap who looks up from stacking t-shirts and points out what great colors they are and then asks if you need any help finding something? Of course, there are the local shop owners who always say hello and ask if they can be of service. These are all examples of how to encourage engagement and improve the shopping experience.

Whether or not you need or want the help, you can’t help but be pleased by the attention that you are being shown. Feeling important and welcome are two of our most basic needs.

Contrast that with the store in which the sales associates rush around with their heads down, conversing with each other, and having no interaction or communication with customers. Their peripheral vision allows them to see you when you’re approaching, and then they quickly make a beeline for the stock room in a clear act of avoidance.

Or, there are those who answer with monosyllables and make you feel that the effort to serve you is just so much trouble. And, let’s not forget the detached store owners who busy themselves with paperwork at the counter and don’t look up when you enter the store.

Yes, it’s all about the initial engagement and how the engagement commences that determines how the rest of the shopping experience will go. What skills and qualities are required by retail sales associates to facilitate positive initial engagements with customers?

Confidence: The confidence to make eye contact and strike up a conversation with strangers is absolutely essential.

Innate friendliness: Customers don’t want to deal with sales associates who have to force themselves to be pleasant and nice.

Flexibility: When dealing with the public, things can go wrong. You have to be flexible enough to roll with the punches and think outside the box sometimes.

Ability to multitask: Sales associates have to juggle customers and their questions and needs, and at the same time attend to their other store duties.

Patience: Dealing with people means that you will have to take the good with the bad. The patience to deal with all types of customers is vital.

Articulate: Sales reps must be conversational and have the ability to formulate answers and provide information when asked.

Respectful: The customer might not always be right, but she is always the customer. Customers must be treated with respect, even in the most challenging situations.

Proactive: It’s never a good idea to wait until a customer is stressed or agitated before offering assistance. Being one step ahead to gauge when someone needs help is the best way to minimize a brewing situation.

Positivity: The ability to smile in the face of a long and possibly chaotic day can make a world of difference to customers.

Empathy: Being able to look at a situation through the eyes of a customer is an extremely valuable skill that can enable you to provide the highest degree of service.

Undeniably, retail sales associates should go through a soft-skills training program. However, much of what is needed is attitudinal and should be hard-wired in those who are hired to deal with customers. Screening and qualifying new employees is of critical importance to a retailer. Yet, doesn’t it often seem that little or no thought goes into attitude during the hiring process? After all, sales associates are the front-line representatives of a store.

At the end of the day, it’s all about how a sales associate interacts with a customer. How that interaction goes will ultimately determine if that customer will buy and recommend the store to her friends and family, or turn around and walk out, never to return again.

To view the original article please visit: http://www.retailcustomerexperience.com/articles/the-10-essential-strengths-of-front-line-retail-employees/