I was upsold
Upselling is one of the major strategies of all the retailers in the world. It increases the sales “Average Per Bill” (APB). Upselling does not happen on its own. It requires the presence of the mind of the salesforce. In other words, the salesforce should not be mentally and emotionally absent.
The salesperson should use “Inbuilt Intelligence” to study and satisfy the customer. Let us understand the types of customer satisfaction;
Type 1: Hearing about the Product
When the customers hear about a new product, they develop an imaginary satisfaction yet it is incomplete
Type 2: Seeing the Product
By seeing the product, the customers gain a certain degree of satisfaction yet it is incomplete
Type 3: Touching the Products
The customers gain more satisfaction when they get an opportunity to touch the product they imagined about
Type 4: Buying the Product
Buying the product does not give complete satisfaction. It is still incomplete.
Type 5: Enjoying the Product
At this stage of the shopping, the customers feel that their satisfaction is complete.
Most of the time, none of the above helps upselling. It helps only in selling. There is one more satisfaction that is “Treatment Satisfaction” which has no connection to the products at all. Before buying the products, customers go through different phases of treatment:
Door Keeper: a bright smile and a pleasant greeting from the gatekeeper contributes 10% of the upselling
Welcome Executive: Thanking the customer for visiting the store and refreshing them according to the weather conditions and then directing them to the right salesperson contributes another 10%
Sales Doctor: Doctors deal with the diseases of the patients. “Salespeople deal with the desires” of the customers. Diseases can be diagnosed. It is difficult to discover the desires of the customers. Just like the doctor operates on the patients, the salesman should operate with patience. Because patience is the prime attribute of Love. If the customer feels the love of the salesperson, the satisfaction of the customer becomes independent of the products. “Upselling relies purely on the relationship-building skills of the salesperson”. 80% of upselling lies with the salesman.
I went to a store in Tirunelveli to buy a smartwatch. I was ill-treated by the salesperson. He was not honest and tried to sell something that I did not want. He made me pay the amount and then said that the desired watch is not available and recommended buying another one. I asked them to pay my money back as I felt mistreated.
With the same bitter experience, I went to another shop where I was treated well. The salesperson built a great relationship with me in just 2 minutes of my arrival. He made me feel comfortable and sold me the smartwatch. Along with the watch, he upsold a data cable and a power bank. I was happy to be upsold because he gave me satisfactory treatment.
One of the major factors that lead to upselling is the “treatment satisfaction”. If you want to excel in upselling, then the key is relationship building.
How good are your sales forces at building customer relationships?
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
What do salespeople do during dull hours in the store?
Whether it is a dull hour or a busy hour, the salespeople are in their working hours. They are paid for the dull hours as well. There is no concept of dull working hours.
Let us see how the good and bad salespeople approach the dull sales hours in the store.
Good Salespeople:
– plan and prepare the previous day to make use of the non-busy hours
– beautify the merchandise
– following up with prospective customers
– study the customer’s behavior
– reflect upon the challenges faced in sales
– clean the display area and keep it attractive
Bad Salespeople:
– call their friends and chat
– get into gossip in the store
– use mobile to watch videos
– go into a semi-sleeping mode
– going out for smoking or tea
– trying to flirt
– day-dreaming
– applying for a new job
Salespeople should know that a dull hour is not a holiday. More dull hours will lead to more dead stock. Dull hours will let the store die.
Salespeople should be innovative in turning dull hours into selling hours.
Thanks
Retail Sales Engineer
Sale is the precious child of a pleasant follow-up.
Sales do not happen in the blink of an eye. Sales are not like supplies. Sales require a lot of back and forth conversation with humongous patience. A salesperson without patience slays the customers.
I have come across many salespeople who have been patient with customers for more than 8 years to sell their products. I have personally been patient with a client for more than 8 months to sell our services.
Patience does not mean that you will not call them or try to reach out to them. You do call and try to reach out to them with an attitude of happily accepting their no and rejection while keeping a visible channel for back and forth interaction. Over time, the salesperson can get irritated and humiliated multiple times. This should not be a reason for you to express your unhappiness at all.
Selling is a battle between sale and slay. The one who has the art of a pleasant follow-up wins the hearts of the customers and eventually makes successful sales.
A fine-tuned follow-up gives birth to a child called Sales.
Thanks
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Why do customers leave your store without buying?
Everyone who walks into your showroom comes with two sets of shopping desires, namely, desires with purchasing ability and desires without purchasing ability.
Desires without purchasing ability will not result in immediate sales. The customer may not be able to buy anything because of the lack of a source. The one who is not buying should be treated with the utmost honor so that he or she could carry your friendship when they leave the store, which in turn brings the customer back when he gets purchasing power. This will not spoil the business.
If the customer with purchasing power leaves the store without buying anything, then it will be a grievous problem. Let us see why customers leave without buying…
– lack of collection: Either the store manager is sleeping or management is killing the business.
– Inefficient Salesforce: Either the salesforce is to be trained or replaced.
Very well calculated collections along with a finely tuned salesforce can stop customers from leaving without buying anything.
Hence, lack of collection and inefficient salespeople are the reasons for the customers to leave without buying.
Retailers have to address the above to avoid sending customers away empty-handed.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Salespeople should make fans, not customers.
Every customer can be converted into a fan if the salesperson becomes a salesbrity. Celebrities have a lot of fans. Salesbrities too, can have a lot of fans.
Who is a salebrity?
Salesbrity is a salesperson who is very famous in the store. He or she becomes famous in the store for hard work. Some of the traits of salesbrity;
1. Always come to the store 15 minutes before
2. Always groomed well (head to toe)
3. Always dress well
4. Always speaks with kindness
5. Always patient
6. Always put other interests first
7. Always liked by customers
8. Always achieves the target
9. Always joyful
10. Always stay away from bad habits
Like celebrities, salesbrities also have more fans. Fans do not only buy from you but also celebrate their shopping with you, which in turn gains more and more fans for your store.
Customers only buy. Fans will multiply buyers.
Have more fans.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Can a salesperson feel defeated?
No. Not at all.
Every defeat is a wake-up call to strengthen your weaknesses. The salesperson should not feel defeated but should feel challenged.
It is the challenge that breaks the unused potential within you. Defeat should not depress you; rather, it should dare you. A life without challenge is like honey without sweetness.
Salespeople are bound to be defeated by 99% every single day. The COVID has made business much harder. Selling is not an easy job anymore. It is going to be a 1% success among the 99% failures. So, you have to prepare yourself to be happy with 99 no’s to get 1 yes.
Use 99 Nos to learn and 1 Yes to earn.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Upselling Principle: Ask
Asking the customer is the beginning of the upsell. It is said, “Ask, and it will be given.” Usually, the salespeople sell what the customer is asking for. On the other hand, upselling is selling what is not asked for.
I would like to share my interaction with a jewellery store salesperson; A customer came to the showroom with a predetermined shopping mind. She planned to buy a few bangles worth Rs. 3 lakhs, and she bought them as well. As the sale was about to be closed, the salesperson asked the customer, “Would you like to see a long chain (maalai)?” The customer checked the maalai because the salesperson asked. The customer liked the maalai and bought it for Rs. 4 lakhs.
A customer came to buy gold valued at Rs. 3 lakhs and went out to buy gold for Rs. 7 lakhs. It all happened just by asking.
How are you upselling? Do you ask your customers?
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Kindness builds unity among the salespeople.
Unity is the most important element in any business. A team in a business without unity fails. Unity in the organization keeps the business, vendors, and customers joyful.
Kindness does not mean that you can allow evil elements in the organization. It means erasing evil using kind measures.
Being kind to one another in the sales team is the key to achieving the sales target. In my research, I have discovered that a store with unity achieves more than the sales target, while a store without unity achieves only around 60 % of the sales target.
Unity is the child of kindness, which in turn multiplies the sales. A team that multiplies sales does not worry about the target, because they have the art of selling, which is built on unity. A unified team can achieve any impossible target.
– Kindness gives birth to unity.
– Unity gives birth to an energetic team.
– Energetic team achieves the target
How is your sales team’s unity?
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Can your store watchman help increase sales?
A sale is a junction where customers and salespeople meet each other. Every customer has to get past the watchman at the store gate.
Salespeople have to wake up to the fact that their customers are meeting the watchman first before they enter the store and connect with the salesforce.
If the gatekeeper is happy, he will surely influence the customers with grace and send them in happily. If he is not happy, he may influence negatively and not be able to send them in happily. Selling to a happy customer is easier than selling to an unhappy customer. The role of a watchman in conversion is to be considered crucial.
In one of my training sessions, I asked the store manager, “Do you wish your watchman?” He said no. Then I advised him to wish the watchman. A few days later, the store manager was so excited to tell me that this idea worked well and said that he would continue doing it.
Keep your watchmen happy. They will surely make your customer’s entry memorable. There are some ways to keep your watchman happy. Ask the following questions when you come to the store:
Good Morning.
How are you?
How is your family doing?
Had food?
Good afternoon.
Had food?
Do you want me to buy you food?
Good night.
Thank you so much for keeping the store safe.
Have a good sleep.
I’ll see you in the morning.
Say these words to your watchman regularly. They will help you increase conversion.
Watchman is a salesman at the door
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
How should salespeople prepare for the day?
On average, every salesperson spends about 10 hours a day at the store. Most of the time, they stand and sell their products. During rush hours, they have to fly on the floor to deal with various customers. On the whole, selling is a tiring job. It is this job that builds the domestic economy. They are the savior of all the manufacturers in the world.
If there is no sale, there will be no need for manufacturing. Salespeople play a vital role in nation-building. Because they are important to the country, they have to prepare themselves to face the day.
The preparation may seem simple yet powerful;
– go to sleep before 11 p.m. on the previous day
– get up before 6 am
– 20 minutes of meditation in the morning
– no skipping breakfast
– reach the store 15 minutes earlier
– plan to accomplish the pending work
– start the day
Preparation is the key for a salesperson to be successful in sales.
Not preparing is equal to not living
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
What Does a Salesperson Mean?
S incere to the brand
A ttentive to the daily targets
L oving the customers
E ncouraging the weak co-staff
S elfless on all the grounds
P unctual every day
E nergetic all the time
R esponsible to store growth
S acrifices own sales credits
O pen to correction
N ever gives up
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
How should seniors treat freshers in the sales team?
At the outset, let us understand the fact that every senior was fresher once. Seniors should remember their beginnings and respect the beginners in their team.
In a sales team, beginners are like small babies; they do not know anything. They need an elder. In other words, they need a father-like senior salesperson to handhold them and show them the path. This will give the freshers great confidence and eventually result in higher collective sales growth.
I have heard many sales managers tell me that newcomers are leaving in a month or two. The management is perennially struggling to match the workforce gap. This kind of shortage is like an invisible decay in the system.
Of course, freshers will leave when they get a better offer, which is inevitable.
If the senior members of the sales team rejoice when a newcomer joins the team, the freshers will also be happy to be part of it. The equation will energize the team to achieve the given goals.
Remember… a fresher is like a newborn child in a family. Rejoice, celebrate, and care. Surely, this child will be a great contributor to your sales growth.
Freshers are not stones that do not move. Freshers are fresh-force. They will become a vast sales army one day.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Your attention, please!
How do you survive the competition in sales?
Every sale is a victory over your competitor. The competitors are not your enemies, but surely they will kill you if you are not vigilant. Every product comes to your store with a customer’s name on it. It is the salesperson who is responsible for finding it. Stay alert because there is always a company that will overtake you.
The Economic Times reported that more than 5 lakh companies went out of business while over 7 lakh new companies were set up in the last nearly six years.
Production without sales is like pregnancy without delivery. Salespeople have a major role to play in keeping the store alive.
But how?
Salespeople need to be aggressive and persuasive to sustain the store in the market.
I happened to witness some aggressive salespeople in T Nagar. Three shops in a row sell the same products. Salespeople from two shops were extremely aggressive in pulling the crowd into the shop. But the other one had no one to pull people into the shop. I saw this shop having zero customers while the other two were overflowing with customers. A store that is aggressive will thrive.
Be aggressive or be ready to vanish.
How are your salespeople?
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
The salespeople should be like water.
Water has the greatest quality of flourishing wherever it flows. A place without water looks dry, and a place with water looks green and fruitful.
In a store, there are so many divisions and categories. Some do well, whereas others may not. At times, the management will shuffle salespeople from one division to another or from one floor to another to achieve balanced store growth. Dislocation of the salesforce should not affect the business.
I have come across salespeople showing resentment when they are shifted from their existing division or the floor. It shouldn’t be disturbing them. They should use this as an opportunity to bring about positive changes. They should shine as much as they have been shining in the previous spot.
It is possible only when the salespeople are like water. They should have the qualities of water that transform dry land.
Be like water and transform the dry store.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
The most powerful 8-letter business word?
C enter of your Business
U ser of your Products
S eeker of your Values
T ester of your Credibility
O pportunity of your Sales
M arketer of your brand
E nergy of your Target
R evenue of your Company
It is the customer who rules. If the salespeople try to rule the customers, the business will be ruined. Do not rule them; rather, serve them.
The customer is your Giver
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
The power of Good Morning for the Sales Team
Every word that comes from your mouth has the power to build and break as well.
The first job of every salesperson should be to wish the team members individually Good Morning. Because the word Good Morning helps the team to start with good and positive vibes.
The team can reap a lot of benefits by saying Good Morning to each other…
1. It creates a polite atmosphere.
2. Everyone feels welcome.
3. It opens the door for bonding.
4. Everyone is counted as important.
5. It breaks the mental stress
6. It builds humanity.
7. It prepares you to perform.
Good Morning makes the morning good and keeps the sale greater.
Good Morning!
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Can we have a Customer-free Store?
Nope!
We can have a hassle-free store but not a customer-free store. My recent visit to an internationally acclaimed mall was shocking as I witnessed that 95 % of the stores are empty. In some stores, mannequins are more than customers. They are in fact, customer-free stores.
Stores are decorative yet dead. Between 2 pm – 5 pm, it is grievous.
Salespeople in the store have to come together and think systematically to destroy these cursed hours.
Salespeople may encourage customers to visit the store during these hours so that they can do a hassle-free shopping. To do this, salespeople should be having a great rapport with the customers.
The customer-free store is a business cancer.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Do you think for your customer?
Thinking means caring. Salespeople have to think fast and be relevant to comfort the customers. Such salespeople can make a great impression.
I went out with my family to have dinner at a famous restaurant. We were four (myself, my wife, 5-year, and 1-year-old daughters). At first, my wife ordered 5 wheat parottas and 1/2 grilled chicken. A few minutes later, she also ordered a biryani. The waiter went to the kitchen to place the order. Immediately, he came back and suggested to us that 5 parottas and 1/2 grill would be too heavy for you. He advised us to cancel the biryani and also said if we still wanted it after eating all these, we could place the order. We felt full after eating the parotta and the grill.
We were so happy because the salesperson did not try to sell but he/she comforted us. Focusing on the people rather than the product is one of the greatest qualities of a great salesperson.
Think about your customers. In turn, they will think about you whenever they set out shopping.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Blind Salesman
Every store gets new visitors as well as old visitors. They visit your store to buy or check out the merchandise.
It is easy to supply the visitor who comes to buy. The person who comes to check out the merchandise needs to be given extra attention and drawn into a pleasant conversation. This is the prime responsibility of the salesman. The salesman should not be a daydreamer who can’t see the customer standing in front of him.
I came across a salesman who had eyes but was blind. I went to check out a product at a counter in a store. The salesman is standing just opposite me. I am looking at his face and anticipating that he will wish me well and ask how I can be helped. I stood in front of him for about 5 minutes. He never uttered a word and tried to strike up a conversation with me. He was extremely negligible. I felt sorry for the store.
The salesman is the father of the store, which craves customers. If the salesman does not know how to pay attention to the customer, the store will starve and will not pay the salesman his salary.
The Marks of a Blind Salesman
– do not wish the customer
– do not try to make a conversation
– do not give the right information
– do not present yourself nicely
– do not speak politely.
– do not send them off well if they don’t buy
– do not care at all
Salesmen…. “Be a blessing and do not be blind.”
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
First 7 seconds in Sales
There is a saying that you’ll never get a second chance to make a great first impression. It takes only a tenth of a second to form an impression. According to Princeton University’s psychologists, on average, it takes about 7 seconds to form a first impression.
The customer who enters your showroom takes just 7 seconds to get impressed. In those 7 seconds, if you impress negatively, the sales will not be impressive. If the impression is pleasant, the sales will be overwhelming.
If you are a salesman, you have just 7 seconds to impress your customer. In 7 seconds, what should you do?
– Make sure your appearance is stunning; dress well and be well groomed.
– Have great body language; shower the customer with your big, blissful smile.
My 7 seconds in the stores
97 % of my 7 seconds with the salespeople were not pleasing at all as I experienced bad appearance and body language. No smiles on their faces and no willingness to say good morning. I saw and heard the following;
– not tucked in
– not shaved
– wearing dirty clothes or a uniform
– oily face
– nails turning like swords
– shoes with a toe sticking out
– socks spreading the aroma
– no smile
– no good morning
– irritating with what do you want to see
The customers who walk in are not animals but human beings. They have tastes and preferences. A well-trained and tuned salesperson will be able to impress the customers in just 7 seconds.
They are not 7 seconds. They are your sales Seconds.
How are your 7 seconds?
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Does SMILE matter in sales?
Yes. It does.
S haring the happiness
M aking an emotional connection
I nterested in the sales
L oving the customer
E ncouraging customers to visit again
I met a 66 years old salesman (Kuppusamy) at Hot Chips in Pallikarnai near Jayachandran Textiles. He comes to the outlet at 6 a.m. and leaves at 10.30 p.m. This is his routine. I witnessed a gracious smile on his face even at 10 p.m. tonight. He served me with a face full of smiles.
I asked him what makes him maintain his smiles throughout the day. He innocently said, “I don’t know.” He stands and serves the whole day, yet he is not seen as tired. Moreover, his left leg has been operated on. Now I am convinced that age is just a number.
I have come across young salespeople who do not smile in the morning itself. How can we expect them to smile at night?
A smile has the power to attract the crowd and also inspires the customers to market your brand, just like I am writing about Hot Chips.
A smile matters in sales. Do you smile?
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Billsmile
The billing section of the store plays a vital role in sending the customers off with great memories.
Before leaving, every customer has to go through the billing. The shopping experience will turn bitter if the billing executives fail to handle the customers with care.
Often, the billing officers will be focusing on perfect delivery and will not have time to look at the faces of the customers. Yes, it is a hectic task during busy hours.
But, they must look at their faces and give a nice smile and a gentle thank you for coming. This will help the customers carry the products with pleasure.
Once, I had a chance to stand at the counter and deliver the goods to the customers. I delivered to 150 customers with a big smile and a thank you. I could feel the customers’ happiness on their faces while leaving.
Customers are humans. They need respect and recognition.
Let the billing counter flood with smiles and thank yous.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Do customers deserve your wish?
Yes, of course!
The customers who enter the showroom are met by two departments, namely, security and the welcome team. Then they proceed with the purchase.
I did a recce in the hub of shopping in Chennai. I entered a few showrooms there. I keenly observed what the gatekeeper and the welcome team did. It was not warmth.
In one of the large showrooms, the welcome girl stood at the entrance and was dreaming. She could not notice me passing her. She was physically present and mentally somewhere else.
In another showroom, the executive came toward me and stopped halfway. Maybe he assumed that I would not buy anything. Whether one buys or not, he or she should be wished well and welcomed.
Why should you wish the customers well?
Because they determine the following:
Your salary
Your livelihood
Your food
Your family’s needs
Your children’s education
And many more…
Wishing is an honor that the customers deserve. Do not fail to honor them.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Dead rat on the rack
One of the major issues for retailers is unsold products that sit around for a long time. It is a dead rat on the rack. Deadstock kills the cash flow and eventually kills the business.
On the other hand, they are the children of dead salespeople. The salespeople should be on high alert to ensure that they do not allow any dead stock on their racks. No salesman allows a rotten rat on their rack because it stinks.
Do you smell the odor of your dead stock?
If yes, what stops you from getting rid of it then?
Thanks
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Can salespeople cheat their customers?
A big fat NO.
Cheating an innocent customer is relatively easy. On the other hand, an intelligent customer can easily smell the deceit in your talk. It is important to be genuine with customers, irrespective of their background.
My wife and I went to buy a cake for my second daughter’s first birthday. The bakery is a well-known shop in Tirunelveli. The salesperson in the shop said that there was a cake for Rs. 750. It looked nice, and my wife chose the same cake. When we went to pay the amount, they said that it was Rs. 2000. The cake was very nice, and it gave a sense of satisfaction for the birthday party.
The salesperson influenced the customer’s emotions with a low price and left the customer with no choice but to buy at a higher price. As my wife was busy getting things done for the celebration, she did not notice the deceit in the sales.
When I questioned them, my wife realized that she had been cheated on. Then we dealt with the issue and set it right. We developed a negative mindset toward the shop. Deceit will damage your brand.
Do not deceive your customers.
Do delight your customers.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Who is a Retail Dhoni?
M. S. Dhoni was a successful captain because he focused on every single run and had excellent fielding as a keeper. By scoring singles, the team’s run gradually increases. By fielding, the team can defend the opponent’s runs.
A successful store manager is a Retail Dhoni who focuses on making one extra sale and defending customers.
Retail hinges on the customer and their purchases. If you fail to defend your customers, your opponents will defeat you. If you fail to sell one extra product, your sales will be lower and eventually invite dead stock.
Managers should inspire the team to excel in these two;
1. Excellent Customer Relationship
2. One Extra Sale
Every store manager should follow the principles of MSD to run the store successfully.
Follow Dhoni to be a Retail Dhoni.
Thanks
Christy
Retail Sale Engineer
Experienced Employees (vs) Exhausted Employees
“Experienced” means having sufficient skills and knowledge gained through repeated efforts, which in turn sharpen the inexperienced. Hence, experienced employees will nurture their inexperienced colleagues as long as they do not stop making efforts to gain more knowledge and skills.
Exhausted means a state of emptiness that drains the learning of new skills and making efforts to gain knowledge, which in turn shatters the inexperienced co-workers.
I have personally come across many retail employees with 20 to 25 years of working for the same company, yet they have not helped one newcomer shine. The number of years in the company may not be considered experience. Experience is the skill that they gain over several years.
Do not be deceived into thinking that someone has been with you for several years and that their experience will add value to you. Perhaps, they will not be hired in the market and stick to you forever.
Have a sound judgement between an experienced employee and an exhausted employee.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Alphabets of a Salesperson
A– Attractive
B– Brisk
C– Compassionate
D– Dedicated
E– Energetic
F– Faithful
G– Gentle
H– Honest
I– Inspiring
J– Joyful
K– Knowledgeable
L– Learning
M– Managing
N– Networking
O– Organised
P– Passionate
Q– Qualitative
R– Responsible
S– Sensitive
T– Thriving
U– Understanding
V– Valient
W– Work-hard
X– Xerophilious
Y– Yielding
Z– Zealous
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Do not kill your regular customer.
It is a blessing to have regular customers at your store. What makes a customer a regular at your store? Something that your store has may not be available elsewhere, and that draws customers to come to you regularly.
You can’t afford to spoil the momentum at any cost. When the customer feels that something is missing, then the store will definitely miss the customer for sure. If you want a customer to be regular, you better be regular in serving the customer what the customer wants.
I regularly went to a store to have donuts. I always had the same donut, which I liked very much. I became a regular customer of the store just because I liked the donuts they served me. Today, I went with my daughter to enjoy the same. Unfortunately, the donut was a little hard, and I expressed my unhappiness to the store people. They did not consider my unhappiness and paid no attention to us. I went to pay the bill even though we did not eat it completely. The manager took money from us and had no concerns about what just happened. They did not even say sorry for serving a bad-quality donut. They did not realize that they had just killed a regular customer either.
We decided to never visit the store again.
Salespeople, learn to say a sincere “sorry” if you are wrong.
Your sorry can save your store.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Jonty Rhodes of Retail
Jonty Rhodes, the man who revolutionized fielding in the 1990s. Rhodes was the first fielding superstar in world cricket. He is the fielding coach of the Mumbai Indians. One of his daughters’ name is India.
He is extremely good at studying the batsman and making the right move to stop him from scoring runs, which in turn helps the South African team win the match.
How can you be a Jonty Rhodes of Retail?
You can become a Jonty Rhodes of retail by studying your customers thoroughly and serving them according to their tastes and preferences, which in turn stops them from going to other shops. Eventually, you will be a successful retailer.
Train your store staff to be a Jonty Rhodes and stop losing your customers.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Why should you keep all the premises of your store CLEAN?
“Keeping the store clean is an act of inviting the customer to honor the store.”
Christy, Retail Sales Engineer
“Customers are the food of the store.” They feed the store so it can grow. If they stop feeding, the store will die gradually.
C are for the store
L et the customer experience the store
E ncourage the staff to maintain tidiness
A ttract the shoppers to visit again
N ever let the store down
Keep the store clean, and the customers, too, will feel like keeping it clean. If the store is unclean, they will dirty it and make it much worse.
I happened to witness a bizarre act by a customer in a very busy store. A toddler made poop in the store. The parents removed the diaper and looked around the floor to dispose of it. They found a dirty sack that was kept in a corner of the store and stuffed the pooped diaper into it. This act of the customer was noticed by any of the staff in the store. The customer ducked out of the store thereafter.
Had the store been kept clean, the customer would have not sat at the store.
Let us keep all the premises of the store clean.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Merchandise (vs) Menchandise
Merchandising is the presentation of goods that are available for customers to purchase. Merchandising is important for retailers looking to cultivate their brand, improve the experience of customers, compete with others in the sector, and ultimately, foster sales.
Menchandise is the presentation of the staff who are available to serve and sell the products to customers. Menchandise is equally important for retailers to enhance brand values, and entertain the customers, being a unique sales force in the market and ultimately, attracting more customers.
I have come across stores that keep the merchandise unique. The presentation is not the same every day. It is always altered. The merchandise officer beautifies the store with his or her creativity to exhibit the look of the store new every morning. In the same way, the people officer should present all the staff in the store as new and fresh.
According to marginal utility theory, people will lose interest in the things that they see every day. All the staff should show something different every day in their approach towards the customers and keep them from the effect of marginal utility aspects.
How is your menchandising? Some of the bizarre looks of the staff I came across in the stores;
– Not shaved properly
– Not combed properly
– Not tucked in properly
– Not ironed the clothe properly
– Not buttoning the shirt properly
– Not wearing proper shoes/sandals
– Wearing unclean uniforms
– Dull face and unwilling to wish with smiles
– Looking tired as the day approaches the dusk
– Physically present and mentally absent
– the list is unlimited
As we give importance to presenting the products, we have to give priority to presenting our manpower as well and make sure that they look sharp and pleasing.
Let us menchandise the store
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Do not kill your regular Customer
It is a blessing to have regular customers at your store. What makes a customer regular to your store? Something that your store has may not be available out there and that draws the customers to come to you regularly.
You can’t afford to spoil the momentum at any cost. When the customer feels that something is missing, then the store will miss the customer for sure. If you want a customer to be regular, you better be regular in serving the customer what the customer wants.
I regularly went to a store to have donuts. I always had the same donut that I liked very much. I became a regular customer of the store just because I liked the donut they served me. Today, I went with my daughter to enjoy the same. Unfortunately, the donut was a little hard and I expressed my unhappiness to the store people. They did not consider my unhappiness and paid no attention to us. I went to pay the bill even though we did not eat it completely. The manager took money from us and had no concerns about what just happened. They did not even say sorry for serving a bad-quality donut. They did not realise that they have just killed a regular customer either.
We decided to never visit the store again.
Salespeople, learn to say a sincere sorry if you are wrong.
Your sorry can save your store.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Retail Employees" Performance Formula
Blessing: Right Man in the Right Job*
Curse I: Right man in the wrong job
Curse II: Wrong man in the right job
Progress: Preparing the people to be right in the right job
Let us prepare people to be right to have a retail blessing as we are celebrating Dewali.
Happy Dewali!
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Devastating Salesforce in the Store?
The informal meaning of devastating is extremely impressive and effective. It is a blessing to have devastating retail sales employees.
Let us see some of the traits of devastating retail sales employees;
- Capable: They take selling serious and accomplish the target within the stipulated period.
- Curious: They avoid assumptions and ask a lot of relevant questions to convert every walk-in.
- Assertive: They are polite yet very forceful to sell the products.
- Forgiving: They easily get rid of the hurts done by the customers & colleagues and move on.
- Immune: They can’t be influenced by the internal politics in the shop and resist bad companions.
- Respectful: They do not put their colleagues down and protect every customer’s honour in the shop.
- Truthful: They do not rely on lies to make extra sales and keep their Yes be Yes and No be No
- Precise: They are masters in explaining the products in very few words and do not waste customers’ time and energy.
- Fair: They do not show partiality to the customers. They welcome & send off the shoppers and the window shoppers with the same amount of respect and experience.
- Flexible: They do come out of their comfort zone and be cooperative with the changes in the management. They do not give in to their ego and look for what works for better performance in the shop.
Soak your salesforce in these attributes to make them devastating.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Do your salespeople know Product Application?
Regularly, the salespeople will get training on product knowledge. Of course, It is an important part of development. Product knowledge alone can not help salespeople to do extraordinary sales.
What is more crucial is Product Application. What is product application? It is a salesperson’s intellectual calculation of the product on the customers before even they get to see and touch the products.
Product application helps the salesperson to inspire the customers to make the right choice and be satisfied with all kinds of purchases.
I interviewed a rich customer recently. He is an owner of a reputed furniture showroom. He looked nice in his formal attire. But his shoes were brown and the belt was black which is a mismatch. I asked him why didn’t buy a belt of the same colour as the shoes. He said I am not aware that the shoes and the belt should match. He asked me why the salesman did not advise me to buy a belt that matches my shoes?
This question from the customer made me realise that salespeople should be on alert to find all the avenues to sell one extra product.
Product application helps upsell and cross-selling.
How many of your salespeople know the product application?
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Supply (vs) Sales
In stores, the majority of products are supplied and very meagre per cent are sold.
Supply is giving what is predetermined by the customers. Sales are what customers buy due to the interaction of the salespeople. Supply brings growth to the store but sales bring business transformation.
I interviewed around 30 salespeople and discussed the difference between supply and sales. 99 % of them do not know the difference between the two.
I also asked them whether they sell more or supply more. The responses were eye-popping. One of them said that she has been only supplying and had no selling at all.
Through my study, I could understand that only 5 % of them sell more than supply. The rest of the 95 % supply more than sales. They just do delivery service, not sales.
It is high time to check whether your sales forces are supplying or selling.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Do your salespeople identify Shopaholics?
There is a lot of difference between shoppers and shopaholics. Shoppers buy what is needed and do not enjoy the same. On the other hand, shopaholics buy what is exciting and enjoy spending every single penny they have.
I recently met a customer who had never worn watches in the past 35 years. But his wife enjoys shopping. She seems like a shopaholic. She took him to a watch shop and made him feel excited about wearing a watch. Even though he was a little reluctant, the shopaholic wife made him realise that he will look nice with a watch on him. He wore it and felt great about it.
If you want to increase the sales of your store, then the salespeople should be psychologically trained to identify the potential shopaholics and build a close and harmonious relationship with them.
Shoppers add to the sales
Shopaholics multiply the sales
Christy
Retail Sales Engineering
Can salespeople be better than a lift?
The lift carries people up and down tirelessly. It is not a human to connect with users emotionally. It functions the way it is programmed. It does not fail to honour everyone who enters. The lift welcomes everyone and wishes them graciously.
Nowadays, almost all retail showrooms are inbuilt with lifts. The number of people who uses lifts is increasing. People prefer lifts to staircases.
The lift says persistently to all the visitors the following;
Welcome
Have a nice day
Blended with soothing music
I interviewed around 1000 retail sales staff and asked them do you wish all the customers? the answer is no. On the other hand lifts (of course, programmed) wish all who enter. 95 % of the sales staff do not wish because of shyness. By the way, shyness is the biggest enemy of sales
The sales staff also told that we can’t wish everyone. It is impossible. Maybe it is impossible, but do they discover the best possible way to pay attention to everyone and wish them better than a lift? It is possible.
Let us programme the sales forces with an eloquent welcome note in their minds. They are to be inspired to wish everyone tirelessly and make the customer feel awesome.
மதியாதார் தலைவாசல் மிதியாதே – தமிழ் பழமொழி
It is a Tamil adage that emphasizes “do not enter the house that does not respect”.
Welcoming customers is an act of respect. People do not expect respect from machines (lifts) but surely from humans.
Let us welcome all the customers
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Smile Stimulates Shopping
A pleasant welcome makes the customers feel at home in the shop and also feel honoured. One of the best ways to welcome customers is by receiving them with pleasing smiles.
I interviewed around 40 salespeople. I asked them about welcoming customers with smiling faces. 99 % of them said that they do not welcome customers with smiling faces. Some of them had pleasing smiles yet did not use them for making the customers’ visit joyful.
A French physician Guillaume Duchenne studied facial expressions in the nineteenth century and proved that smiling faces can enhance consumer joy and increase brand appeal which in turn increases the purchase of the customers.
Let us Smile and Sell
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Shyness smashes Sales
Shyness is a feeling of hesitation that hinders what is desired to be done. It is the biggest enemy of retailers who aspire to spread their wings. Most of the time, salespeople duck out as they are extremely shy.
I did extensive research on why 95 % of billing officers do not volunteer to wish and connect with customers to build memorable relationships. The blatant answer is SHY.
S hivering to speak
H esitating to initiate
Y ucking to be rejected
I observed around 7000 customers approaching the bill counters to pay for the products. The cashiers did not wish them before receiving the money. The cashiers kept themselves busy taking the money and delivering the products. No wish, No welcome, no smile. The cash counter is the last stop of the customer journey. The cashiers are responsible for sending the customers with pleasant memories and experiences.
It is a highly competitive retail world. Products alone can not pull the customers forever. The customers should experience something exciting in the store. The staff’s interaction creates memories. The customers should feel that we are VVIPs at the store.
Let us slay the shyness and strengthen the sales.
Christy
Retail Sale Engineering
Sense the Search
Selling what is searched through the racks is the base for brilliant selling. At times, customers return without buying as they do not find what they searched for. The knowledge of product availability by the salesperson helps the customers to buy what they searching for.
Salespeople should be at the disposal of the customers all the time. You can’t afford to let the customers miss their shopping items. Salespeople should search along with the customers from a distance. It requires a sharp presence of sense. They have to quickly sense what the customers are looking for which in turn makes the customer’s shopping experience memorable.
Today, I did quick salespeople’s sense study in a bookstore. I was searching for leadership books. The salesman was intently looking into my eyes and reading my mind as he was searching along with me for what I wanted from a distance. After a few seconds, he advised me exactly what I was longing to buy for a long time. I was awestruck at the sense of the salesman who quickly sensed my search.
Salespeople should be like a Platypus that can accurately sense its prey even in the deepest of waters.
Let us sense and sell
Christy
Retail Sales Engineering
Fail daily to Fly highly
Everyone is a leader in their lives. Strong leadership drives success. A leader is born of a mother called failure. The mother does not hate the child. Love your failure because she will teach you to be a winner.
The more you fail the more you grow. You need guts to fail as much as you need guts to win. A win without a fail is none.
Michael Jordon missed more than 9,000 shots in his career. He has lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times he was trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. He failed over and over and over again in his life. And that is why he succeeded.
Abraham Lincoln failed 18 times before he became the president of America.
I can list out millions of leaders who failed before they achieved.
You are responsible for making all the efforts to lead your life and achieve your goals and keep yourself victorious.
You fail first because you do not know at first. You do not fail the next time because the first failure is already your teacher. Likewise, your second failure will be a teacher for your second success. The third failure will be a teacher for your third success and so on.
If you want to be successful in 1000 different fields, you should have the guts to fail a minimum of 1000 times.
Failure is an unpaid teacher.
Let us fail to fly.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Three Letter snake in the Store
The English word “ego” is the Latin word for “I.” Literally translated, ego means “I.” It makes you feel that you are entitled to air your opinion and demand acceptance. If your ideas or points are rejected, then a grudge develops that destroys the surroundings. The ego indeed is an invisible snake in the store. You do not know when it spews. It is extremely poisonous and kills opponents quickly.
E – Entitled
G – Grudges
O – Opinionated
I have interacted with more than 3000 retail professionals in the last 8 months. I discovered 99 % of them suffer from a certain degree of ego. Around 50 % are looking very ferocious when their ego is hit. About 10 % are stone-hearted to take revenge to protect their ego.
How do you find out the one who is struggling with ego?
It is very simple. If they are “I-Me-Mine”, surely they are struggling with ego.
How do you handle a person with an ego?
Most importantly, do not tell them that you are an egoist person. They will explode. Help them understand the importance of looking into the interest of others.
Ego spoils the team spirit and there will be no team unity in the store. Because team unity paves the way for achieving the sales target. Ego ends the enterprising.
purge the ego or fire the person
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
50 - 50 Retail Leadership
Leadership is the main hinge on which the team is hanging. The door is the team which hangs on the hinge called leadership. If the hinge is not strong, the door will be unstable and fall eventually.
The functions of the hinge;
– holds the door from falling
– helps the door move smooth
– helps the door open and closing
– allows the door to protect the house
A strong door with a weak hinge will collapse and can’t protect the house. On the other hand, a weak door with a strong hinge can still stay firm.
Yes… A strong team with a weak
leadership will destroy the business and strong leadership with a weak team can still survive and eventually will become strong enough to support the business.
I interviewed a few retail professionals about the leadership of their team. 99 % of them said the leader does not care at all. They graded the leader 3 out of 10. The team shared the following to substantiate their points;
– do not deal with the conflicts immediately
– do not know what the team needs
– do not take part in the sufferings of the team
– do not understand their pain
– do not have a plan for their growth
– do not volunteer to pay attention
The team looked strong but the leader was extremely weak. It was not a good combination.
I am reminded of Alexander the Great who wrote that an army of sheep led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a sheep.
Let us have a strong leadership
Christy
Retail Sales Engineering
Follow-up is an Intimation NOT Irritation
First of all, let us wake up to the fact that we do not sell our products & services to animals, birds, fishes and reptiles. We sell our goods and services to other human beings with various professional titles. Titles do not separate humans. Humans carry titles. Titles do not carry humans.
Invariably, all the sales are towards human beings. Non-humans can not pay you (programmed robots are exempted).
Follow-up is the most crucial element of any sales. A well-planned follow-up will surely bring profits. An unorganised follow-up will annoy the opponent. Your customers should feel that you are following up to add value or give a solution, not trying to sell a product.
If the customers smell that you are after him or them to achieve your sales target, then surely they will be irritated. Follow-up should not turn out to be a f**k-up.
A few things to note in sales follow-up;
– Number of times in a day/week/month
– What time of the day
– What day of the week
– What week of the month
– No showing up without appointments
– Send a message before calling / meeting
– Also do not cut off completely
Do not call and meet yet make a channel to be in the vicinity. This is an extremely tough method but pays hefty. Learn the art of creating a channel to be in the vicinity of your customer. I have learnt it the hard way by paying a big price in my entire career.
Let us follow-up and not spoil-up
Christy
Retail Sales Engineering
Why do Retail Managers need a To-do list?
Managers should be well aware of things, responsibilities, people and the unexpected to run the store successfully. This is possible only when the manager is equipped with a to-do list.
A To-do list means a list of tasks that need to be completed within a stipulated period to avoid wasting working hours and increase productivity.
I conducted a study on leaders’ time management. I interviewed around 100 managers in retail. On average, each one has 2 hours of unused time every day. Every single person wastes around 50 hours in a month. If we calculate by dividing 50 hours by 10 working hours in a day, 5 days will be wasted in a month. In a year, they are wasting 60 days or 2 months because of not having a to-do list. Hence 100 leaders together waste 200 months in a year.
I also surveyed how many tasks managers forget in a month. The finding is alarming. On average, managers forget 10 tasks in a month, which means around 100 tasks are forgotten in a year.
A proper to-do can help the manager to perform well the following;
- what to do
- when to do
- how to do
- who will do
Let us be organized and advance the organization.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Let us flood the store with smiles
Smiles connect with the hearts. It is a glue that sticks the hearts of the salespeople and the customers together which in turn to the store. Many a time, the smile communicates more than the sales talks. Smiling is a respect that honours the visit of the customer.
About 20 days before, I visited a small and neat restaurant in T Nagar, Chennai for a lunch. The person at the entrance welcomed me with a lovely smile that glued my heart to his store. In 20 days, I visited 7 times and also took one of my friends. I would still want to visit again and again because of his smile.
I also visited another showroom to buy some clothing. I visited 6 floors of the showroom. I was looking at all the staff and searching for smiles. I received none. I left the store with a downcast face.
A French physician Guillaume Duchenne studied facial expressions in the nineteenth century and proved that smiling faces can enhance consumer joy and increase brand appeal which in turn increases the purchase of the customers.
A pleasant smile is the greatest sales weapon that can help you win the competition in the retail market.
Let us influx various ways of smiling in the minds/hearts of the sales forces to gain numerous regular customers.
No Smile No Sales
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Watch out for the Sales-destroyers
Sales happen at a point where customer satisfaction equates to the price paid. Salespeople have to play a major role between customer satisfaction and the price of the products.
Many a time, shoppers go along with friends or family members. When the actual shoppers are accompanied by someone, sales will be influenced by the co-journers as well. They may dissuade the shopping moods of the buyers. They are called Sales-destroyers. Watch out for these people. They may spoil the mood of the buyers.
I interviewed around 10 premium retail sales professionals. They said that in a month, on average 30 customers do not buy because of the co-journers. The shoppers are confused by the people who are accompanying them.
The shoppers are spoiled by the co-shoppers by the following;
– distracted by the online offers
– pointing out the lack of stocks
– spoiling the seriousness of buying
– differences in tastes and preferences
– attitude
Have the discernment to identify the sales-destroyers and keep them away from spoiling the shopping moods of the customers.
Watch out or else, they will walk out
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
MESEN with Customers
M represents mouth
E represents ear
S represents skin
E represents eyes
N represents nose
The mouth should talk in such a way that every word that is spoken is tastier than sweet. Customers should long to listen to your words.
The ear should be wide open to listen to every word that is spoken by the customers. Keeping the ear open helps the salespeople to understand the customers’ requirements. Let your ear be wider than your store entrance.
The skin should be clean and well-groomed. Keep your face pleasant. Do not have oil-falls on your face. Also do not have black-forest on your face. Keep your hands always sanitised and clean so that firm and emotional handshake can be given whenever needed.
The eyes should be able to communicate with the customers. Use your eyes to look straight at the customers’ eyes. Customers get confident when proper eye contact is established.
The nose should be like a sniffing dog to identify bad odours in the store. Make sure that a pleasant smell is maintained throughout the day in the store. Because smell can influence the customers faster.
They are not just 5 senses. They are the pillars of customers relationship.
Let us Mesen with customers
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Are customers your fans?
Customers will become your fans if you can interact with the following attributes;
– Understanding: It is the understanding between the customers and the salespeople that build a platform for a lasting conversation. A fruitful conversation paves the way for a great understanding of the opponent.
– Responsive: Do not tell your situation as a story. Listen to their situation and then respond. Some customers may not be able to express themselves and expect you to figure it out. If you do so, they will become your fans.
-Forbearance: Many a time, customers will visit your store with some constraints. It may be the price. They buy only when the taste matches the price. It does not happen in a wink. If you show great patience, they would love to visit you often.
-Reliability: when a salesperson gets a bad reputation, the news spreads like a virus. Put trust before products. In other words, keep people above sales. Sales are always the result of trust. Customers love to do business with a reliable person.
The list goes on and on. I recently interviewed 25 salespeople. I asked them how many people visit your store for your sake. Some said 40 customers, some said 30 customers and some even said just 2 customers. On average, each had 7 fan customers who visit the store for their sake. Every salesperson should have 100 fan customers to increase the store sales.
Salespeople should constantly invest time and energy in improving their characters and personalities. Because customers’ impressions of the salespeople influence their shopping.
Let us have fans instead of customers
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
What is Retailing?
It is the greatest privilege to satisfy customers with all the goods and services produced in the world.
Retail salespeople are the most blessed professionals who have the privilege to satisfy and comfort the world of customers with what they sell.
Retailers are the saviours of the producers and customers.
Are you proud to be a Retailer?
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
What is Customer Care?
It is the state of mind that pays attention to the needs of the customers who visit your business premises. In other words, it is retailers’ willingness to take responsibility for the customers’ shopping, belongings and protections.
Material loss can be rectified. Human loss and accidents are more painful. It will leave us sorrowful forever.
I took my children to a restaurant with an existing biking game centre. After dinner is completed, my child wanted to play on the bouncy castle slide. As there was a slight rain, it was not safe for the kids to play on the bouncy castle slide. My child risked playing.
The owner of the restaurant immediately came to me to warn and make me cautious about the dangers as it was slippery. It was noticed by the employees as well, yet they did not feel the need to make me alert and keep my child from hurting. Hats Off to the owner (Mr Akram, MD, Cafe Panama).
Why did the owner feel for the safety of his customers while the employees failed to feel the same?
It is very simple. The owner owns the business and the workers work in the business.
Every customer should be given due care as people say No customer No business.
The owner and the workers should own every customer who visits their premises. This is real customer care.
Look after the customers, and in turn, they will provide you with regular business.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Why should you maintain Smiling Faces in the store?
Smiling helps not only make your customers happy but also the feelings within you which in turn keeps you positive and energetic throughout the day.
Let us have a look into what exactly happens in the mind when you smile.
The brain runs on various chemicals. Smiling activates chemicals in your brain that are designed to defend against stress. These chemicals help communication between neurons in your brain. Also, when you smile, your brain releases chemicals that help lower your anxiety and increase feelings of happiness. Smiling can even lower your heart rate and blood pressure.
A happy salesperson can make customers happy
Happy customers buy more and become regular
This is real customer care.
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Salesful New Year
Gifting increases the customer walk-in.
Gifting is giving which is a form of expression and is even considered one of the five love languages by Dr Gary Chapman.
Expressing yourself with a token of your appreciation can be an effective way to communicate your gratitude to your customers who provide your salary.
I have witnessed a lot of retailers spend lakhs of money on giving away New Year calendars and other gifts which is a remarkable sign of gratitude towards the customers who brings glory to their businesses.
It would be a great opportunity for the salespeople to give away some gifts to their regular customers on the eve of the New Year 2023. This will encourage the customers to build long-lasting relationships with them.
Make use of this New Year to build relationships stronger by gifting 100 customers. They will multiply your sales in 2023.
Gift them to get them back
Happy Christmas & Salesful New Year
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Love your neighbors in the Store
Love is an emotional bonding that pushes us to help others in their needs. In other words, helping one another in sales is called love in the store.
Every sale involves a lot of convincing conversations and the organisation of the merchandise thereafter.
I happened to do a little study on how salespeople help each other in the store. One salesperson was handling a family while the other salespeople were chit-chatting. He needed someone to organise the merchandise as he was spreading a lot of clothes on the table to the customers. No other salespeople were around to give a hand.
The owner of the shop noticed what is going on. He told one of the bystanders (obviously salespeople) to go and support the sale. There was a relief for the salesperson as he got someone to help organise the heaped merchandise on the table.
Salespeople should love one another. This will help the neighbours do more sales and also makes the customers have a smooth shopping experience.
Let the store be built on love
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
RE + RC = RB
Competition and fluctuation are inevitable in the business world. Those who have mastered this are the survivors in business. 784841 companies were shut down as of June 2022 in India. It is an alarming figure. of which many are self-funded and family-run businesses. Is there an escape from shutdown?
Yes. Of course.
The above formula can help any business to sustain itself in the business forever.
RE: Retain Employees
If you can retain your employees, they do not steal the talent and customers from your company. It does not mean you should retain your unproductive staff. However, it means preparing and planting your employees to build a business empire.
RC: Retain Customers
Retaining Employees assure 95 % of Customer Retention which is equally crucial as the customers feed the business. Protect your customers as you protect your children.
If you take care of your children when they are young, they will take care of you when you are old. In the same way, take care of your customers, they will help you retain your business in the competition.
RB: Retain Business
RE builds RC. Both RE and RC give life to your business. Your business is like a train that needs two parallel tracks called Employees and Customers.
Let us shut the shut-down
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Customer is not a Money-lender
It is important to build a good relationship with customers. However, they are not your family members or relatives. Customer Relationship has nature and limitations.
Most salespeople know their limitations and they play within the boundaries. Some take advantage of the same relationship.
As a part of my retail sales engineering research, I keenly study the behaviours of salespeople. In one of the studies, I encountered a bizarre attribute of a salesman who built a great relationship with me in the last 6 months as we visit regularly.
The salesperson came up to me and asked me for Rs. 2000 rupees. I was shocked and told him I don’t have it now. I also told him that I can give him when I visit next time. But he forced me to give Rs. 2000 immediately. I realised that he is taking advantage of me. He should ask the management if he needs some financial support and not the customers. I said no and left the shop.
Immediately after leaving the shop, I decided not to visit the shop anymore. The relationship he built with me helped me have a great opinion about the shop. I kept going to the same shop. This one bizarre behaviour destroyed the shop’s value completely.
He built and broke as well
Watch your salespeople who are good at building a relationship with your valuable customers. They may misuse them in various ways over time.
Product your customers from uninnocuous salespeople
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
No hides Yes
The strength of a store is its collections. The collections will attract more footfall. This also gives energy to the salespeople as they don’t have to say “No, we do not have what you search for”. Because the store is loaded with numerous collections.
A lack of collection will bring down the spirit of the salespeople. I interviewed around 100 Jewellery salespeople about the collections. 99 % of them said that their store has fewer collections than their competitors. Then I surveyed the competitors. They too have customers leaving the store without as they do not find the expected collection.
The salespeople were losing their faith because customers were not willing to buy as the collection is less.
Let us understand the following facts;
1. None of the stores run with 100 % collections.
2. Fewer collections are not equal to no collection.
Salespeople should think that we are here to sell what is in their store and not worry about what is in others’ stores. This blinds the salespeople to see the greatness of what they have and show the same to the customers with full energy.
No mentality fails you to see what is available. Yes… No hides Yes.
Rejoice in the collections of your store and surely customers too rejoice to buy your collections.
Turn your No antenna into Yes
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Retail Snake?
Retail Snake is nothing but the guy who does internal politics. In other words, he or she is called a Backbiter.
Internal Politics refers to blaming and demeaning behaviour of the individuals at the store to obtain advantages which are beyond their control.
How to identify the retail snake?
– the one who does not believe in working hard depends on nasty politics to make his or her position secure at the store.
– the one who plays politics simply to come into the limelight and gain maximum attention and appreciation from the owner.
– the one who does not worry about creating a negative ambience at the store.
– the one who is most interested in leg pulling and backbiting. He or she spends most of their time criticizing their fellow workers.
How to kill the retail snake?
– ask them to do their responsibilities to the fullest
– teach them the difference between reporting and backbiting
– make them understand that internal politics kill productivity and people
– finally, throw them out of the store if they do not follow the above
I have personally come across the retail staff suffering because of internal politics. They cry every day internally. They are demotivated and less interested in selling and leave the store eventually.
Retailers should take a closer look at this issue.
Kill the snake or else the snake will kill you
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
Retail Manager's Word
Words have the power to activate people. Positive words generate energy and negative words empty the energy. In other words, your words can build your team and break it as well.
Managers’ words should not be mere talks, but they should be building blocks. They should be shaping the team and not chasing the team.
I studied 200 managers. 99 % of them said that they are suffering from anger and scolded the team when things are going wrong. Managers should know that scolding will not shape and bring about changes in the team. Only correcting and encouragement build the team.
Managers’ WORD should be creating the following;
– W illiness to work earnestly
– O ptimising the full potential
– R esfreshing the soul
– D elivering the sales targets
Word your team to work and not to be weak
Christy
Retail Sales Engineer
