Posts Tagged 'retail sales skills'

Add-on Selling is a Must Do!

Published April 12, 2016 Tips Leave a Comment
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An important but often overlooked aspect of the sales process, add-on’s are seen by most salespeople as a burden on the customer. In other cases, salespeople are either indifferent to or even scared of suggesting add-on’s because of the fear of losing the sale.

Contrary to that fear, the best time to suggest an add-on is right after the main sale is closed. The fact that the customer has already said yes indicates that s/he saw the value in your offering, chances of them changing their mind because of an add-on suggestion is slim. Far from it. in fact, studies show that in most cases, provided that the add-on conversation is designed and sold properly, the additional item has enriched the satisfaction they got out of their main purchase.

The benefit of add-on sales on store profitability is tremendous. That is the reason some retail experts suggest that UPT (units per transaction) should be a prime measurement of store productivity. We don’t want to get into a lengthy KPI discussion here, but everything else being equal, you can make a huge difference in your profitability and overall success by increasing your UPT. Most of the increase usually comes from successful add-on sales.

To recap:

1. Contrary to popular belief, immediately after the sale is the best time to sell add-on’s.

2. Increases profitability dramatically.

3.Extends the satisfaction value of the purchase.

4. Your customer will appreciate you for it.

So, make it an agenda item in your next sales meeting and discuss the add-on products, the sales process, the expectations from each staff member and count those extra profit dollars pouring in.

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Something to Think About – “Thank You” Gift

Published October 31, 2013 News 2 Comments
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This is an excerpt from Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service Fundamentals YourTime Study Course:

It appears that even a warm, friendly comment of gratitude will activate the obligation to reciprocate on the customer’s part.
People3

Real Life Study Shows:
A New York University conducted an experiment in a medium-sized electronics store. A subject entering the store was told in a warm and friendly manner: “Thank you for shopping here today. We appreciate having you as our customer.” As a control, the next shopper entering the store was not told anything.

The average amount of money spent by subjects who received the appreciatory comment was $408.03; the average amount spent by the 100 subjects who were not told anything was $240.54.

And it didn’t cost a penny to say Thank You!

Get your copy of Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service Fundamentals YourTime Study Course and increase your sales and delight your customers !

Get more out of your seasonal staff

Published October 26, 2012 Articles Leave a Comment
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It’s that time of year again. Many retailers are on a mission to beef up their staff rosters so they’ll have enough floor coverage and extra help, to handle the increased traffic coming into their stores. And, let’s face it, many of our customers are going to be subjected to some confused new hires who don’t know as much as they should. But let’s not be too quick to blame those new seasonal employees.

Even though many of the new seasonal hires will only be with you for a few weeks, they can add a lot of value if you do certain things right. Over the years, both as a customer and as a District/Regional Manager I’ve heard lots of comments about seasonal people…usually implying that something went wrong in service delivery, or mark downs, or visual display, or cleanliness or, whatever… due to the fact that seasonal people were involved.

That’s a cop out and it’s unfair. If you’re going to invest the time and effort to recruit and hire people – seasonal or not – then you’ve got to make the most of the investment. There’s no room for the excuse “s/he’s just a temp” when it comes to your store(s) and your company’s reputation.

One of the greatest benefits of hiring seasonal employees is that you get to see them in action; it’s like a working interview and you can determine quickly and easily if the seasonal employee is someone you’d like to bring on permanently after the holidays. Lots of retailers get some of their ‘gems’ this way, and here’s why…

People who are looking for seasonal employment may not be your regular job seekers. Some want to get into the workforce temporarily to earn a bit of extra income, and some may want to see if retail is something they’d like. Others may find that it’s easier to land a job when so many employers are trying to find people. Whatever the reason, once hired, many of them shine. There have always been at least a few seasonal employees that I encouraged Store Managers to hire on a permanent basis following the holiday period.

Of course, there are the others as well…the ones that make you say “What were we thinking?”. You know…the party animals who show up late for their shifts looking like death warme d over, and the chatterboxes, and the timid ones standing as far away from customers as possible, and the loud, boisterous ones who think they know everything (when they clearly do not), and the list goes on.

Want to really add value to the seasonal hiring effort this year? Want to get something out of the process? You don’t have to put tons of time in or take your other people out of their stores/districts to make this happen. If you have hired seasonal employees who are new to retail, or sales and customer service functions then give them a copy of the Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service Fundamentals Self Study Course – something that t hey can get through quickly and easily.. something that will help them get ‘in tune’ with what you expect from them and give them some skills to bring to the job. Give them this self study course and the party animals, the timid, the chatterboxes and the know it alls will, at the very least, understand that you expect more from them and that you’re investing to make sure you get what you expect. We guarantee it.

This time of year is way too important to leave this to chance. If you can help your new people get up to speed quickly enough to make a difference this season, why wouldn’t you? Consider this very simple example.

Your seasonal employee, Jane, will help clean and organize the stockroom, she’ll change lightbulbs and keep displays tidy, she might even be a really friendly greeter when positioned at your lease line. You may be very happy with Jane. But if Jane learns some sales & customer service skills she can be more productive by actively selling to customers, in addition to her other duties . Depending on your average sale, if Jane made just a few good sales, you’d recover your investment in the Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service Fundamentals Self Study Course in no time.

You can decide to make your seasonal employees a valuable asset this year.

All the Success!

DMSRetail

P.S.: Get your copy of the Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service Fundamentals Self Study Course now and take advantage of the $50 off!

Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service Fundamentals YourTime Study Course

Published August 30, 2012 Uncategorized 2 Comments
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Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service Fundamentals YourTime Study Course

This is an excerpt from Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service Fundamentals YourTime Study Course: It appears that even a warm, friendly comment of gratitude will activate the obligation to reciprocate on the customer’s part.

 Image

Real Life Study Shows:

A New York University conducted an experiment in a medium-sized electronics store. A subject entering the store was told in a warm and friendly manner: “Thank you for shopping here today. We appreciate having you as our customer.” As a control, the next shopper entering the store was not told anything.

The average amount of money spent by subjects who received the appreciatory comment was $408.03; the average amount spent by the 100 subjects who were not told anything was $240.54.

And it didn’t cost a penny to say Thank You!

Get your copy of Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service Fundamentals YourTime Study Course  today!

All the Success!

DMSRetail

PS. You can find numerous examples and real life solutions at the Retail District Management Workshop happening in San Diego – Join Us! 

 

Basics of Retail Success

Published July 25, 2012 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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All of us are looking for success in our retail businesses. Apart from and beyond everything else, sustainable success requires consistency. What do we mean by that?
We mean being consistently great in all aspects of our retail business.

Short term successes are possible due to some lucky combination of factors. But, we can not rely on lucky combinations. They are too far in between.

What we need to do is to set the foundations of our business right so that we can repeat our successes consistently.

This also has a profound impact on customer satisfaction. Your customers expect a certain level of performance from you on the basis of perception you created. By being consistent at your skill set and service levels, you at minimum, satisfy the expectations. And if you put a degree of constant improvement process in place, you created a winning combination for your retail operation.

At minimum, some of the areas you must deliver on a consistent basis:

1. Sales Skills (Trained staff on professional retail sales skills)

2. Good to Great Products and/or Services

3. Quick response to all sorts of customer issues (Rapid response procedures in place)

4. Clean, tidy and efficient store environment (Great visual merchandising and maintenance)

5. Streamlined and customer friendly checkout process.

Pretty basic right? Yet, just wander around the mall and see for yourself how many retailers are failing in consistent delivery of the basics.

Companies who understood this simple philosophy went on to create retail empires…

Anyhow, once you graduate from the basics and ready to consistently deliver on a more sophisticated and profitable level, you may need some solid resources… there is always Super Retail Success Bundle to give you all the hints, techniques, advice and the methods. There is also a powerful self study program on DVD for boosting your sales and customer service or satisfaction results called Retail Selling Skills & Customer Service YourTime Study Course

Retail Managers who took advantage of these resources scored very high on results in terms of sales, profitability and customer satisfaction.

You can order them risk free to see what they can do for you and your staff.

All the Success!
DMSRetail
http://www.dmsretail.com

PS. Super Retail Success Bundle and Retail Selling Skills YourTime Study Course are must have resources for every retail manager or owner who are focused on improving their retail operations’ effectiveness. Get your copies of each resource today:
http://www.dmsretail.com/superbundle.htm

http://www.dmsretail.com/retailsellingandserviceskillshs.htm

Who doesn’t want more success and less stress?

Published November 20, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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As every retailer knows, the holiday season is the biggest opportunity we get to make things happen in a big way. We have more people in our stores and that provides us with a huge opportunity to work hard to convert them into buying customers. Are your Store Manager’s ready for that challenge? Do they know how to increase their conversion rates to make the most out of all of that extra traffic? The Super Retail Success Bundle includes the Retailer’s Guide to Emotional Hot Buttons. It’s an easy read for all of your people and it will make a huge difference in the conversion rate.

By working hard, we mean doing everything we can, in store, to ensure the customer chooses to buy from us. We have to make our windows and stores attractive to draw them in. We have to have plenty of friendly and knowledgable staff to greet them, build rapport, determine their needs, present the appropriate options and, finally, close the sale. You’ll find the fundamental selling steps in Winning at Store Management…included in the Super Retail Success Bundle. Those open ended questions are critical to your success – let all of your people learn all about them.

Our people have to be well trained and they must know what is expected of them. They have to understand that customers always come first, regardless of the tasks at hand. Do you know how you are going to make sure your management and their teams are ready to make the most of the opportunities ahead? We can help you with that. 22 Ways of Highly Successful Retail Managers gives you so many tips on how to manage your people to achieve higher results than you thought possible. And, yes, it is included in the Super Retail Success Bundle!

The stores need to be exceptionally clean and well maintained at all times; inventory has to be in the right place at the right time; the work schedules have to be well thought out so that the needs of the business and the needs of the employees are all taken care of. Do your Managers have an Organizer/Planner that is designed specifically for them? You get the one and only Store Manager’s Organizer/Planner with the Super Retail Success Bundle.

In short, you and your Store Managers need to be Superheros before, and during, the holidays. We know it’s tough and, because DMSRetail is in the business of ‘making retailers successful’, we are currently offering an incredible promotion on the Super Retail Success Bundle. You and your people can become Superheroes, in retail, by applying the knowledge gained from this giant bundle of retail management information, best practices, success tips and how-to’s.

This is the bundle of Success Guides, Tools & DVD’s that provides all the information needed to succeed and reach Superhero status! So far we have only mentioned 4 of the amazing Success Guides & Tools you’ll get with the Super Retail Success Bundle. There are 4 more – Retail Math Made Simple – 2nd Edition; Retail Customer Service Fundamentals (excellent for your new hires – permanent or temporary); Managing for Higher Retail Success and ‘I Succeed’ Retail Employee Evaluation System (invaluable for quick coaching and performance discussions). And, don’t forget, there is a 6 DVD Collection and 5 Bonuses.

Now here’s where it gets really interesting ..first of all, we have reduced the price of the electronic instant download version of the Super Retail Success Bundle by a whopping $50.00. That means you get the 8 Success Guides and Tools mentioned above PLUS a 6 DVD Collection PLUS 5 professional development bonuses all for only $147.

But, as great as this sounds, that’s not even the end of the savings. There’s more. We are going to ship the DVD Collection, that goes with the electronic instant download version of the Super Retail Success Bundle, at no charge to you. That’s right, free shipping of the DVD’s to anywhere in the world.

The total savings amount to $69.95 off of the regular selling price of the Super Retail Success Bundle – that’s a 32% savings for you. And it’s a savings of 65% off the cost of the individual Success Guides, Tools, DVD’s and Professional Development Bonuses when purchased separately. When you think of how much more business you’ll do as a result of being the owner of a Super Retail Success Bundle…well, the value is unquantifiable. You can manage your stores and your teams with much more success. Achieve those targets! Increase sales and profit! Who doesn’t want to have a lot less stress and a lot more success?

Get it now while you still have time to benefit from the Super Retail Success Bundle:
http://www.dmsretail.com/superbundle.htm

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