Three Retail Selling Tips that can Generate Thousands of Dollars

I was shopping for some new family room furniture recently and visited two different stores.  I had two wildly different experiences (one good and one bad).  The result of my evening was that I spent over $3,000 at one store and zero at another.  On my way home, I my shopping experience prompted me to  think about some simple retail sales techniques that any store owner of manager should be reinforcing with his or her sales team.  

RETAIL SALES TIP #1

Spend a few moments building rapport with your customers:  In today’s market place the competition is too heavy for you to risk losing a customer over seeming “pushy”.  Building rapport starts with a friendly greeting and then spending a few moments in casual conversation with the customer so that they can feel comfortable enough to begin telling you about what they are interested in.

For example, in my experience this weekend, the first sales associate said “Hi” and then immediately started explaining about the store’s financing offers and special sales on mattresses.  Frankly, I did not care about financing as I was paying cash and was not in the market for bedding.  If she had only spent a few minutes

RETAIL SALES TIP #2

Sell solutions first and products second:  Think about your customers.  When they come into your store, are they looking for a product or a solution to a problem?  When you talk about solutions, you are adding value that the customer cannot get via the Internet or from other sales channels.  When you take time to uncover lifestyle needs and solve your customer’s problems they not only will be more likely to buy, but to buy more

In my case, I was looking to purchase a new sofa, but in the end invested in a sofa, chair, and the extra fabric protection!

RETAIL SALES TIP #3

Be observant and don’t forget to follow-up:  When your customers are in your store, they may be on a mission for a specific item but will also be looking at other products as well.  So whether it is as you are wrapping up the sale at the counter, or with a follow-up phone call, you can – and should – suggestive sell those additional products.

In my case, our sales representative noticed that we were looking at a wall-clock in her store.  When she called to confirm our delivery a few days later, she mentioned that she could include the clock with the shipment.  The result was an extra $400 add-on so that I could surprise my wife with a gift.

Do the math…  Let’s say that your sales associates were able to close $150 in extra sales each day as a result of following these retail sales techniques.  Let’s say that you have 3 sales associates working in your stores each day.  And let’s say that you have 10 retail store locations…  That amounts to over $4,500 in extra revenue per day, $135,000 in extra retail sales per month, and over $1.6 Million in extra retail sales per year!

If you want to train your retail sales associates on you to grow revenue and improve customer loyalty by implementing effective retail sales techniques, contact Retail Training Services for a free one-hour consultation.