DMSRetail

Here’s your Holiday Tip # 2 and Hint of the Day.

Anytime you’re heading into a busy season, it pays to take some time to talk to all of your management and staff about selling what you’ve got in stock.

This is often referred to as SWAT – Sell What’s Available Today.

To all of you Retail Business Owners and Store Managers… don’t accept excuses or complaints. Whatever your store does not have available to sell on any given day…it simply cannot sell and it serves no purpose, whatsoever, to complain about this.

It’s just a fact of life at that particular moment.

And, even if it is their fault, buyers, allocators and suppliers can try harder next year…but that won’t help you now.

Maybe you didn’t get enough of a popular item. Perhaps another store, or even another retailer got more, maybe replenishment is too slow. It really doesn’t matter what the reason…the fact that it is not available to sell to your customer means you need to sell something else. Period.

The alternative to selling something else is to sell nothing…and that really isn’t going to help, is it?

So, not having the perfect inventory can not, and must not, be used as a reason, or excuse, for lack of productivity.

Having said that, however, DMSRetail always advocates excellence in customer service which includes selling the right product to your customer based on their needs and wants.

So here’s how we’d go about it.

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Not sure if all your people can sell? Get the Retail Selling Skills and Customer Service Fundamentals Self Study course quick – no time to waste…digital version available for immediate download-only $97. Buy here.

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It is very often possible to find an alternative for your customer…particularly during gift giving seasons; one that will be of value to them and will suit their needs very well. And they will likely appreciate your efforts as it will save them time looking elsewhere.

Your Sales Associates should be knowledgeable enough to interest customers in a solid alternative that you do have in stock.

And, quite apart from the benefit to the customer, remember one critically important fact – you have inventory in your store that the company owns; probably many thousands of dollars worth of inventory, and it must be sold at some point.

The fact that you may not have enough of the merchandise that is easy to sell is unfortunate but, again, you do have inventory to sell. And provided that you are giving your customer value with a good alternative, it’s your job to do just that – sell your inventory.

Of course, sometimes a customer wants a specific item and cannot be persuaded to purchase an alternative, and that’s fine. At least you’ve tried to help them and to make a sale. At no time would we suggest trying to push an unwanted item on a customer.

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Not sure if all your people can sell? Get the Retail Selling Skills and Customer Service Fundamentals Self Study course quick – no time to waste…digital version available

for immediate download-only $97. Buy here.

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Hint of the day: Stay on top of product knowledge more than ever during the holiday season; check out new items that are coming in so you’re aware of what you’ve got in store – what alternatives you have. Keep the idea of alternatives in mind when asking your open ended questions during the ‘determining needs’ step of the selling process.

All the Success!
DMSRetail

PS: Quick and easy help for the busy selling season, and beyond, is available in the Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service Fundamentals Self Study Course. Get the knowledge, skills and tips anywhere, anytime, at your convenience…and without all of the travel expenses of attending the workshop in person. Digital version is only $97. Check it out here
PPS: If you have a friend or colleague who might be interested in our Tips, feel free to forward this to them. Better yet, they can sign up for their own copy and get a free copy of ’22 Ways of Highly Successful Retail Managers’ as a sign up gift. Sign up is free and takes about 3 seconds, right here.
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