Retail Selling Techniques

RETAIL SELLING TECHNIQUES AND SKILLS

Customer is the KING. If an organization cannot at least meet its customers' expectations it will struggle. Customers normally become delighted when a supplier under-promises and over-delivers. To over-promise and under-deliver is a recipe for customers to become very dissatisfied. Rule No 1 - You cannot assume that you know what a customer's expectations are ... You must ask. Rule No 2 - Customer expectations will constantly change so they must be determined on an on-going basis.

The expectations of different customers for the same product or service will vary according to: social and demographic factors economic situation educational standards competitor products Experience Therefore, given all these variable factors, it is no surprise that one size certainly does not fit all.

Ask your customers what is important to them. Find out why your customers do business with you. There are a wide variety of relationship drivers. For example: quality price product location customer service What service features will keep your customers loyal to you? Find out.

AIDA Selling Technique AIDA describes the basic process by which people become motivated to act on external stimulus, including the way that successful selling happens and sales are made. This technique is also known as 'Hierarchy of Effects‘. A - Attention I - Interest D - Desire A - Action

Simply, Something first gets customer’s attention If it's relevant to the customer, they are interested to learn or hear more about it If the product or service then appears to closely match their needs and/or aspirations, and resources, particularly if it is special, unique, or rare, they begin to desire it If they are prompted or stimulated to overcome their natural caution they may then become motivated or susceptible to taking action to buy.

Attention Getting the other person's attention sets the tone: first impressions count The ambience of the store Approach to the store, facade, Cleanliness, Music and Smell Merchandise set up and display Visibility of merchandise according to the season Moving space in the store – ‘Back Brush Effect’ Visual Merchandising Merchandise stacking – Density of merchandise Window display Cross Display Color Blocking Promotion and offers display

Interest You now have maybe 5-15 seconds in which to create some interest. Something begins to look interesting if it is relevant and potentially advantageous. You must approach the other person at a suitable time You must empathize with and understand the other person's situation and issues, and be able to express yourself in their terms (i.e. talk their language).

Desire The sales person needs to be able to identify and agree the prospect's situation, needs, priorities and constraints You must build rapport and trust, and a preparedness in the prospect's mind to buy something from you. You must obviously understand your product (specification, options, features, advantages, and benefits), and particularly all relevance and implications for your prospect. You must be able to present, explain and convey solutions with credibility and enthusiasm. The key is being able to demonstrate how you and your product will suitably, reliably and sustainably 'match' the prospect's needs identified and agreed, within all constraints.

Action Simply the conversion of potential into actuality, to achieve or move closer to whatever is the aim. Natural inertia and caution often dictate that clear opportunities are not acted upon, particularly by purchasers of all sorts, so the sales person must suggest, or encourage agreement to move to complete the sale or move to the next stage. The better the preceding three stages have been conducted, then the less emphasis is required for the action stage

Selling Process PRE-SALE PREPARATION OPENING THE SALE PROGRESSING THE SALE SALES PRESENTATION OBJECTION HANDLING CLOSING THE SALE POST SALE RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

Pre Sale Preparation What are the preparations before a sale ? Preparing yourself Personal Hygiene Appearance Dressing Preparing the Workplace Knowledge of your shop - area, floors, products Knowledge of your floor - area, departments, sections Knowledge of your section - Product/Brand History, Sizes, Material Knowledge of your inventory system - How/When to order, Stock Arrangement and Displays - Color Co-ordination, Stacking Procedures, Cleanliness

Pre Sale Preparation Market Awareness Trends and Fashions New stores opening in the market Special features of competing stores Knowledge of Customers Types of customers - indicators of their lifestyles Buying motivations for various customers

Pre Sale Preparations Check-list Counter/section cleanliness Display of merchandise as per planogram e.g. Color blocking, Ascending order of size stacking, Descending order of size hanging, Co-ordinated displays, Price-point wise displays, Families of merchandise together, Highlighting slow/fast movers Organizing replenishment from receiving bay & back-store areas Ensure circulation plan for the section Check displays & focal points Ensure price & security tags on each item Cleanliness of cash counters Bags, hangers, packing materials are at desired places

Pre Sale Preparations Check-list Knowledge of schemes running across the store Yesterday’s achievement, last week same day’s achievement, today’s target of the department serviced by him/her Lighting is in workable condition Ensure customer convenience facilities (Trial rooms, water coolers, toilets) are clean & accessible) Refresh product knowledge of existing range and acquire the same for new range Filling up of leaves and acquiring approvals for the same Self grooming

Opening the Sale The beginning of the actual sales process. Making the customer feel welcomed and comfortable in the store. Opening the sale involves : Approaching and greeting the customer Why to Greet – making your presence felt, making the customer feel important When to Greet – after the customer is comfortable in the store, when looking around for help Whether to approach or not – leave the customer alone if he/she does not need assistance How to greet – Politely, not in a hurried manner, choose the correct language

Opening the Sale Listening and understanding the customer needs No sales pitch directly What not to do? Making the impression of hard selling from the onset Interrupting the customer Always Remember Higher the number of one to one interactions between the salesperson and the customer, higher is the probability of the customer making a purchase in the store.

Progressing the Sale Part of the selling process immediately following the opening The aim in opening the sale is to close it, and a good opening gives the salesperson a lead into the sales presentation. There are two major aspect of this process : Discovering Customer’s needs – In least possible obtrusive manner, how the customer is behaving, customer’s attire and clothes, his choice of color and style, questioning the customer and picking the clues Always Remember The art of being a good questioner lies in being a good listener

Progressing the Sale Need Analysis – Detect the underlying reason of buying like for comfort, physical pleasure, self esteem or gifting and then sell on these points. There is always some underlying customer motivation behind any purchase decision. And it helps the sales person immensely if they are able to identify this motive and try to sell on those points. A list of such motivators can be given in the form of an acronym like “CREWSADE”. C: COMFORT R: RELIABILITY E: EGO W: WORTH S: SAFETY A: APPEARANCE D: DURABILITY E: ELEGANCE

Sales Presentation The process of sales presentation is tying of two areas i.e. knowledge about the store, the various sections and merchandise kept in them, the customer types, inventory, the display of merchandise and most importantly product knowledge (covered under sales preparation) and customers needs, likes, and dislikes, expectation and most importantly his buying motives (covered under ‘progressing the sale’), in order to give the customer the information that he needs and also help him make the buying decision.

Sales Presentation The various steps are as follows : Linking the product feature and the customer needs and wants and of course, to his buying motives! Reading the customers’ mind – The questions likely to cross customer’s mind Translating facts into benefits, which motivates a customer to buy – talk about the benefits and not technicalities. Developing an appropriate entry point for product presentation – which range to show first Convey value through product handling

Objection Handling It is crucial for the sales associate to realize the importance of objections. These are after all the stepping stone towards closing a sale. By raising an objection, the customer is giving you a chance to convince him about the product or to remove any reservations he might have about acquiring the product. The following concepts are related with the objection handling: Reasons for objections - Some queries about the product, customer is undecided/ apprehensive about making the buying decision. even the sales person - his attitude/behavior can cause objection from the customer.

Objection Handling Responding to Objections – The following points are needed to be kept in mind while responding to objections : Listen carefully to objection. Remain calm Never interrupt Restate the objection phrased as a question Empathizes with the customer Seek the customer’s agreement from your response.

Objection Handling Handling objections : Before starting to solve a problem it is important to figure out whether it is a genuine problem or just an excuse. It is important for the sales person to treat even an excuse objection like a real objection so that the underlying real reason for the objection can emerge. There can be different forms of customer objections and the sales person must have a plethora of ways of overcoming them depending on the specific sales situation. The methods discussed are : Forestalling an objection. The ‘Yes, But” method. The superior point method. The digging technique. The defer technique.

Closing the Sale It is important to reiterate the point that the aim of opening any sale is to close it. All the efforts being made during the sale, right from pre-sale preparation upto the actual sale process would go waste if the sales person messes up at the closing stage. There topics at this step are as follows : The buying signals from the customer - both in the form of verbal as well as non-verbal signals. Like the customer flexing the shoe to check the quality of the leather and conveying approval

Closing the Sale Some sales closing techniques - The direct close : when the customer is asked directly about his buying decision. Like, “ Shall I pack this up, sir?” “ Would you like to buy this kurta?” “ Shall I make the bill?” The assumption close : when the customers body language indicates that he has already made the purchase decision. Example, “how do you wish to pay for this?” The limited choice close : giving the customer a limited positive choice to make the buying decision easier, more so when the customer is not able to make up his mind. Like, “which will it be, sir, the suede or the leather jacket?”

Closing the Sale The suggestion close : when the buyer requires a gentle push towards the final purchase decision. For instance, “may I suggest that you go for the black trouser since it can be worn with just about every color”. The summary close : here the sales person summarizes the benefits of the product and ends with a question. For example, “this business suit is ideal office wear for winter because of it's thick material and the color, and the wrinkle free texture makes look good throughout the day. Shall I pack this up for you, madam?” The isolation stage : when the customer has a wide range of product to choose from, then after assessing the customer needs, the sales person shortlists it to 2-3 most suitable item and then by elimination brings it down to one final choice.

Closing the Sale The urgency or impending close : urge the customer to act immediately rather than putting off the buying decision by offering something special. Like, “sir, the buy two get one free offer is valid only for this week”.

Post Sale The sales person performs an important function of being the product consultant or advisor, while offering related products that go well with the primary purchase. And this is done through ‘suggestion’, the sales person makes suggestion to the customer and according to data, one out of every four says ‘Yes’ to the suggestion. The important components of this step are as follows : When to make suggestions – The timing is important as you have already closed a sale and instead of asking “will that be all, madam?” try to suggest a complementary item. Suggestion can also be made when you don’t have exactly what the customer is looking for. And likewise there are a number of occasions when you can help the customer with your knowledge about his needs and also the knowledge about the product.

Post Sale The suggestion can be made at the following points : When the customer seems undecided about the purchase. When you don’t have exactly what the customer is looking for. When you recognize a benefit to the customer that may not be readily apparent. When you feel the customer is making a decision that is not in his best interest. When you receive an objection.

Post Sale What Suggestion to make Suggest complementary items and accessories. Suggest substitutes or alternatives. Remind customer of special offers or sales Suggest multiples. Suggest additional items that the customer may need or want in order to use the main purchase. Educate the customer about higher value purchase. Suggest solutions to customer problems.

Post Sale Selling Add-ons The style of selling add-ons should be very subtle. Since the sales person should look for increasing sale without appearing to be doing so. The sales person must come across as a product consultant or advisor. The customer should never feel that the sales person is pushing him to buy. The examples can be as follows : Suit - shirt/tie shirt/trouser - tie, belt shoe - socks nail polish - glitters/nail polish remover lipstick - lip gloss jeans - T-shirt salwar kameez - dupatta

Relationship Building The aim is building strong and long term customer relationships that look beyond the sale. The various concepts at this step are as follows : The Lifetime Value Of The customer – The purchase the customer would be making in his lifetime. The Personal Customer: A personal customer is a customer whom the sales associate gets to know on a personal basis. This customer is one with whom a relationship is built. The sales associate makes an effort to know more about this customer, his family, his preferences, his birthday, and his interests. Keeping a Customer Database: This could be a dairy / or a file provided to the sales associate, where he/she can record information about the personal customer. The Telephone as an effective selling tool!

Retail Selling Techniques

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