With over 25 years of frontline experience Tom Shay is America's leading small business
management
expert. He's a "Must Have" for your next event.
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Making the Extra Effort
for Sales
Keeping the customer in the fold
This past winter, our family
had the opportunity to take a vacation and travel to the north.
And, as has been my experience on many of our trips to visit family,
there is a relative waiting to talk. As they know that I work
with retailers every day, there are usually questions in regards to being able to find a product, or a comment about shopping experiences
with sales people within a particular store.
The last experience
was an uncle telling about their experience in locating a jacket
that was mentioned during a television program. As is often the
case with these situations, the relative is not sure if they have
correctly written down the necessary information. But, regardless
of the information on hand, the customer is expecting that they
have enough information to make a purchase.
After being enlisted
to perform this shopping excursion, I always begin my search by
checking the yellow pages to see which stores promote themselves.
I also examine the stack of newspapers that everyone has at their
home to see which stores have advertised in the paper or with
a direct mail piece.
I always want to have the chance
to look at the stores that promote. Experience has shown that the
more progressive stores in advertising and promotion are most likely
to have the newest products.
It seems that there are many
stores that fall into one of two categories. The first group does
a good job of taking care of the business in their community. Their
sales people make the necessary effort to sell the merchandise that
the customer needs. When you come into their store, someone is polite,
asks what you need help with, will walk you to where the item you
want is located, answer questions and finally, will direct you to
the register. These stores know their stock. And when most people
have experienced these stores, the customers have been pleased with
the service. The sales help will even be very helpful to steer you
to another store that may stock the item that they do not have.
There just is not a whole lot to complain about in this type of
store. Or, at least from the standpoint of being a customer. My
concern from this type of experience is for the position of the
owner.
Perhaps in many episodes as
a customer, I was asking for an item that is rarely asked for. But
without a solution to my request, most definitely the money and
the customer goes somewhere else.
Unfortunately, I have found
that these stores are not too creative in their efforts to make
a sale. Experience has shown that the answer in this type of store
is a polite but short, "No, we don't have that item. Try the store down the street." The lesson that I have learned from these experiences
deals with the need to make the extra effort to get the sale.
And this is where the second group of merchants demonstrate their
superiority.
There are two basic questions
that you can ask a customer when they come into your store looking
for an item. And regardless of the circumstances, you will have
an opportunity to complete a sale. Let's take for example the person
that knows the correct maker and the name of model of the jacket.
Instead of sending the customer
down the street when you do not have that particular jacket, you
can ask the customer what it was that attracted them to the jacket.
The customer will probably explain that the jacket was mentioned
on a television or radio program and they want it for the opening
of hunting season next month.
The response that opens the
door for a sale is one in which your sales person explains that
the buyer for your store has selected another jacket for the same
purpose. Giving further details of the jacket that is stocked in
your store, allows the customer the opportunity to examine the jacket,
try it on, and make a decision towards making a purchase.
One important
point is that the jacket that was originally requested should never
have any negative comments made about it. Your store has simply
decided to stock a different jacket and you are showing it to the
customer. The second question comes into usage when the customer
is unable to give the identifying information about the jacket.
And when your sales person is unable to determine the answer, the
best open ended question is to ask, "What
is it about the jacket that got your attention?"
As the
customer explains when and where they are going hunting, your
sales person can begin to determine what you stock that would
be of value to this customer. This surely beats the traditional
approach of telling the customer to go home, watch the program
next week, and then return with the correct information.
The
customer is ready to make a purchase today, and will probably
ignore these instructions and travel to another store that will
assist him.
The last idea is to show the
customer something else. Some of our employees used to say that
we were "introducing
him to a new item" as compared to saying that we were trying
to sell him something else.
Customers come into your store
to buy. Today they may be looking, but they are planning to eventually
make a purchase. It is up to you to decide if you want your store
to be a member of the first group of stores, or one of the leading
stores in this exclusive second group.
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This article is copyrighted by Tom Shay and Profits Plus Solutions, who can be reached at: PO Box 128, Dardanelle, AR. 72834. Phone 727-823-7205. It may be printed for an individual to read, but not duplicated or distributed without expressed written consent of the copyright owner.
MAY 2024 Have the Small Business Advisories and News sent to your inbox. Subscribe HERE
The May Small Business Advisory is titled "Planning for a successful accountant" and is appropriate for many with the April 15 tax deadline having passed.
Did you work with your accountant? Or, did you just give them a bunch of papers and wait to receive a completed tax return?
Successfully working with an accountant requires a partnership. This month's Small Business Advisory gives suggestions of how to make this happen in 2024.
We see that many small business owners have too much of a focus on the "top line" of their income statement.
Increasing revenue is great, but it is not a cure all for any challenges your business is facing. And sometimes, incresing revenue can create a challenge.
Article of the Month
Who is your customer? Some small businesses have no focus. Their customer is whoever calls or walks in the door.
And some small businesses have determined which customers, in sufficient numbers, they should spend their efforts to attract.
The article of the month shares an old Southern rhyming couplet about business; "The bertter you niche, the more you get rich."
Book of the Month
Lean Startup by Eric Reis is our suggested book for May.
As the title suggests, the reader of the book would be someone that is starting their business. However, we see more value than just that.
Perhaps you have been in business for many years. We think this book could give insight to items, and methods, that a small business owner should think about with their business today.
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With over 25 years of frontline experience Tom Shay is America's leading Small Business
Management
Expert. He's a "Must Have" for your next event.
The May Small Business Advisory is titled "Planning for a successful accountant" and is appropriate for many with the April 15 tax deadline having passed.
Did you work with your accountant? Or, did you just give them a bunch of papers and wait to receive a completed tax return?
Successfully working with an accountant requires a partnership. This month's Small Business Advisory gives suggestions of how to make this happen in 2024.
We see that many small business owners have too much of a focus on the "top line" of their income statement.
Increasing revenue is great, but it is not a cure all for any challenges your business is facing. And sometimes, incresing revenue can create a challenge.
Article of the Month
Who is your customer? Some small businesses have no focus. Their customer is whoever calls or walks in the door.
And some small businesses have determined which customers, in sufficient numbers, they should spend their efforts to attract.
The article of the month shares an old Southern rhyming couplet about business; "The bertter you niche, the more you get rich."
Book of the Month
Lean Startup by Eric Reis is our suggested book for May.
As the title suggests, the reader of the book would be someone that is starting their business. However, we see more value than just that.
Perhaps you have been in business for many years. We think this book could give insight to items, and methods, that a small business owner should think about with their business today.