You want to talk, or do you want to play?

Games you can use to teach employees how to sell

The title is the punch line from a joke about a person deciding what they want to do next; talk or get something done. Yet, it seems odd that playing could be taken as getting something done.

In our stores we are going to find that playing is going to accomplish a lot more than anything we could say. The situation we are examining is that of having our employees be salespeople instead of cashiers.
How do you know which of the two you have? Our solution is not a matter of opinion but one that you can easily determine from your point of sale system.

Envision a customer walking into your shop and purchasing some fabric, two spools of thread, and a pack of needles for their machine. This represents a purchase of four items. (Yes, buying two or more of an item is counted as individual items.)

Your point of sale should be able to tell you the number of items sold over the course of a month or year. The second number you need is the number of times a sale was rang up for the same month or year. Divide the total items by the number of sales. What is the answer?

The answer has to be one or more. However, if the answer is less than two it means the average customer has come in and purchased only one item; occasionally there have been customers that have made a purchase of two or more items.

There is no selling involved when your average is less than two. The customer came into your shop and somebody rang up their purchase. Surely, you did not hire people to be cashiers; you wanted salespeople!

There cannot be many situations where a customer walks into your store and needs only one item. In all likelihood, the person who is getting only one item is the individual who forgot something on their last visit. In our store, we politely explained to our staff that a customer coming back because they “forgot something” was most likely an example of poor sales skills on the part of the person who was first waiting on them.

The “talk” part of the title is what many of us do in an effort to resolve the situation we have just described. We get our staff together for a meeting and explain they need to make an effort to sell something; tell the customer what is new or showing them where the sale table is. We want them to do something more than just ringing up their selection.

Most of us have tried the “talk” component many times over while receiving the same results; little or nothing.

The “play” part of the article title is where you will find the solution to achieving the sales you are desiring. As we share these games that help people learn how to sell as well as encouraging competition among them, know this is not a solution you use one time. Just as a person learning to play piano or a professional athlete, learning to be a better salesperson requires frequently repeated practice. From personal experience, this writer shares that our staff met for an hour of “practice” once every other week.

This practice is held in the form of games with employees competing against each other. Some of the games involve everyone at the same time in an elimination process; getting to the person who possesses the best skill set according to that game. Other games are designed so that individuals compete against each other.

You may find employees who say they do not like the competition. The reality is retailing is competitive; you are competing against other businesses in an effort to persuade a customer to spend their discretionary income with your business instead of another business.

Think about it; the competition is not just another quilt shop. Someone who has a Saturday to do as they please might decide to spend their money going out to dinner and attending a movie. There is competition everywhere!

A common thread through the games is that of engaging customers. One of the challenges frequently seen in retail salespeople is that of trying to share all of the information they have. With a sense of humor, we referred this situation as “information throw up” or “verbal vomit”. People do not buy because they understand; they buy because they think you understand.

The second challenge we worked to overcome is the situation where a salesperson wants to read a product label to the customer. We referred to this person as a “feature reader”. Customers do not need someone reading the label to them.  

You do not play every game every week; just remember that even a professional baseball player takes batting practice before every game.
As we detail the games, let us define three terms as they apply to the products we sell. A product has a feature; it may be red; it is made of cotton; the fabric is 45 inches wide. A feature is a fact. Most of the facts are obvious or stated on the package of a product. In an effort to sell the product to the customer, we attempt to explain the features in terms such that the feature becomes an advantage of this product over another. If a customer is creating something that is 54 inches wide, then a 60 inch wide fabric definitely has an advantage over a 45 inch fabric.

The idea of a benefit occurs only if the customer sees the advantage as a benefit to them.

With the feature/advantage/benefit concept explained, let us share the seven games which can help you turn some cashiers into extraordinary salespeople.

Remember playing the game of hot potato as a child? Everyone sat in a circle and the potato was passed from person to person. The leader has had a bell that was rung and if the potato was in your hand when the bell rung, you were out of the game.

In our game the potato was replaced by a product we sell. When you receive the product you have to name a feature of the product and convert the feature into an advantage.

A feature can be repeated but you can’t repeat the advantage. This requires each person to be listening to everyone through the conversation. (Don’t you want your staff to also learn to listen to the customer?)

If your salesperson cannot convert a feature into an advantage; if they repeat an advantage; or if the person has the product in their hand when the bell rings, they are out of the game.

The game continues until one person is left. That person wins a prize. The prize does not have to be substantial in value. The best salespeople want to win just for the fun of the game.

Our second game is another version of hot potato. The only change is that the game is to name something you would suggest to the customer as an “add on”, when the product in your hand is being sold. Again, if you repeat an item, you are disqualified and if the product is in your hand when the bell rings you are disqualified. The last person “standing” wins the game and prize.

The third game has a nickname of, “David Letterman” because his late night show and his, “top ten things” list routine. The staff is told in advance of this game and are asked to take note of their experiences in other businesses. What are the best things they hear a salesperson saying to a customer? What are the worst things?

When this game is played, a poster board is used and collectively a list of the best is put on one poster and the worst is on another.
One employee is the customer and stands looking at the person who is the salesperson. The list of worst things is hung so that the customer can see it over the salesperson’s shoulder.

The salesperson, facing the customer, is seeing the list of best things to say. The game begins and with interaction, the customer is trying to get the salesperson to say one of the bad items. A scorekeeper is used to track how long the salesperson goes before they say something that collectively the staff has listed as “bad”.

When the salesperson’s time is noted, another pair take the place and the game starts again. The winner of the game is the salesperson who goes the longest. In case of a tie, you have a playoff. Again, there is a prize for the winner.

Game four is very simple. The leader creates a list of 25 products with the items being listed on the left side of the paper. A copy of the list is given to each person with the simple assignment of writing an “add on” item on the right side of the page. Once the leader says to start, the person successfully completing, according to the leader, the list first is the winner.

The fifth game is called, “I have something in my pocket”, and while spoken figuratively, is designed to help salespeople practice using open ended questions. As with the hot potato game, everyone sits in a circle and the leader says the name of the game.

If a person asks if the product is green, they are eliminated because the answer requires a “yes” or “no”. It is a close ended question. The problem with a close ended question is the answer does not lead to another question.

The last person being able to ask an open-ended question wins the game.

Remember a game as a child that started with, “I see something…”? We update the game with a slight name change to, “I sell something…”.

The salesperson might start with a phrase of, “I sell this fabric that is a 50/50 silk wool blend”. The customer in this game responds with a question like, “Do you have something that is a heavier wool blend?”
While many people would respond with a “yes” or “no”, this is a game where we find who are truly salespeople. The great salesperson would respond with an open-ended question that engages the customer to explain why they want something different.

The salesperson can explain why the 50/50 blend is superior or they can suggest another option to the customer. The object being they are not surrendering with a, “no, this is all we have”.

With a successful answer to the customer, the customer then comes back with another question. If the salesperson can handle five questions, they have won this round and move onto the next round.
Each of the winners continue until there is only one left. And there, is the winner of the prize.

Our final game comes as a result of a store that has successfully learned to manage inventory. When a retailer learns they cannot be everything to everybody, they usually decide to eliminate some of the inventory choices.

Poor salespeople in this store frequently begin to complain they can’t make a sale because the store is not stocking what the customer wants. The truth is, this salesperson only wants to ring up a sale and not have to make the effort of selling merchandise. Other than telling the customer, “we don’t stock that”, their other alternative is to offer to special order the item requested.

This game determines who can sell what the store has and who tries to take the easy way out by offering to special order. This game is called, “We shall overcome (special orders)”.

The salesperson offers a suggested item to the customer who responds with an objection. The salesperson explains why they suggested that product. The customer then creates a second objection and the salesperson works to overcome the second challenge. When the salesperson succeeds five times in handling the objection, they have won that round.

Every person gets an opportunity to be a salesperson and with a series of competitions the game gets to a single winner.

And as with all games, “the decision of the judges is final”. However, the real judge in this situation is your cash register, is it going, “cha-ching” and making that cha-ching sound for a higher dollar amount and more frequently?

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