3 Top Tips For Retail Sales Success

3 Top Tips For Retail Sales Success:

from Business 2 Community by Sean McPheat


Over the years, retail sales people have earned themselves quite a bad name with the general public, as many buyers find retail sales professionals overly aggressive, intrusive and pushy. This can really scare potential clients away, as nobody likes to feel like they are being hassled into a sale. The modern day buyer usually knows exactly what they want to buy before they enter a store – as they have spent time researching your products online, comparing prices between you and your competitors and will only come into the store when they have already made their purchasing decision.
So, you would think that once you’d got a customer on the shop floor they would be a sure thing, and you’d be guaranteed to close the sale. However, what many retail sales people don’t realise is that they can actually talk, interfere and hassle their way right out of a sale if they are too full on and pushy when they interact with the customer.
So, how should you approach a customer on the shop floor to ensure that you actually help them make their purchase, rather than talking yourself right out of the sale? Here are 3 top tips that you need to bear in mind at all times when dealing with retail customers:
1. How Would You Like It?
How would you like it if you entered a store, all set to make a purchase, with a very clear idea in your mind of what you wanted to buy and you get approached by an overly keen sales assistant who not only wants to sell you the product you came into buy, but they also want to sell you lots of extras and add-ons that you have no intention of purchasing? Worse still, when you explain that you only came in to purchase a certain item and you know exactly what you want, they talk all over you, assume they know better than you do about what you actually NEED and try to bagger you into buying something you see no value in.
Let’s face it, you would be really annoyed. You’d feel pressured to buy, you’d be aggravated and you’d probably walk out of the store without buying what you went into buy and go somewhere else where you could purchase your chosen item without all the hassle.
Rather than trying to “push” the product on the customer, accept that they already know what they want and simply guide and advise them on their decision. If there is a better make or model that would suit their needs better then tell them, show them that you have a wider range for them to look at and help them find the product that is going to benefit them most.
2. Why Are You Pretending?
Following on from the point above, just because you’re not going in for the “hard sell” doesn’t mean you should start pretending that you’re not selling at all. From the minute you started to interact with the customer they knew that it was a sales interaction of some kind, so you don’t need to go in for the hard sell and try to convince them to buy because they’re already there to buy!
What you need to do is put the customer at ease and let them see that you are not there to SELL them something – instead you are there to HELP them buy. You need to help them choose the right product and help them see the value in their selected product so that they are happy with their end purchase.
3. Would I Lie To You?
Not all of your customers will have chosen the best product for them, and if you know that what they are trying to buy is not going to be right for them in the long term, then don’t just see the pound signs and simply allow your customer to buy the product they think is best for them without discussing the benefits and drawbacks.
Even if the product they want to buy is more expensive than the product that actually suits their needs best, don’t be tempted just to go for the short term sale. If you’re really honest with your customers and help them make the right purchasing decision for them then they will not only buy from you there and then, but they are far more likely to buy from you in the future – and to recommend you to others because you have earned their respect as a sales ASSISTANT.
Image courtesy of Samui Blue at FreeDigitalPhotos.net