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Your Success In 2010 Depends On The Next Few Days!
posted: Friday, December 18, 2009
In talking to retailers around the country, I am hearing that for the most part, traffic is up over last year. However, the average sale has decreased. So be it! With that being said, the way to increase sales is to get more people in the store spending less. During the next seven days, you will probably have more new customers come through your doors than at any other time of the year. While I hope it is extremely busy and you do not have time to eat lunch or even take a break, now is the time to plant a seed to help insure your success next year. What you do in the next seven days and how you treat every customer will have a direct reflection on your results next year.
The days of retailers sitting back and waiting or hoping that things are going to improve has long since passed. It is up to all of us to make things happen now. While many stores become more of a clerk environment, rather than a sales environment during the next week, do not fall into the trap. Please do not simply take orders and write up sales slips. With Valentines Day right around the corner, anniversaries, birthdays, graduations, birth of a child etc. all are opportunities to sell future items. I would strongly suggest that with every customer, especially new customers, that you take the time now to capture name, address, telephone, and/or email address WITH PERMISSION FOR FOLLOW-UP.
The job of a salesperson is to convert customers into personal trade customers: people that think of you as their friend in the business. In order to develop friends, you have to capture contact information. In addition, the real skill comes in capturing, and noting, personal information that you can relate back to with the customer during a future phone or email conversation. A month from now when you call and ask about their ski vacation to Steamboat Springs over the holidays, it will be a much different conversation than simply trying to sell additional items. The process of developing friends takes a concentrated effort on the part of the salesperson. The future contact becomes easier and future sales happen based on your ability in the next few days to plant the seed for the future. I assure you, that if you have the customer’s permission to follow-up, and you relate some personal information in your follow-up, additional sales will happen.
FINAO - Failure is Not An Option
Brad Huisken
The days of retailers sitting back and waiting or hoping that things are going to improve has long since passed. It is up to all of us to make things happen now. While many stores become more of a clerk environment, rather than a sales environment during the next week, do not fall into the trap. Please do not simply take orders and write up sales slips. With Valentines Day right around the corner, anniversaries, birthdays, graduations, birth of a child etc. all are opportunities to sell future items. I would strongly suggest that with every customer, especially new customers, that you take the time now to capture name, address, telephone, and/or email address WITH PERMISSION FOR FOLLOW-UP.
The job of a salesperson is to convert customers into personal trade customers: people that think of you as their friend in the business. In order to develop friends, you have to capture contact information. In addition, the real skill comes in capturing, and noting, personal information that you can relate back to with the customer during a future phone or email conversation. A month from now when you call and ask about their ski vacation to Steamboat Springs over the holidays, it will be a much different conversation than simply trying to sell additional items. The process of developing friends takes a concentrated effort on the part of the salesperson. The future contact becomes easier and future sales happen based on your ability in the next few days to plant the seed for the future. I assure you, that if you have the customer’s permission to follow-up, and you relate some personal information in your follow-up, additional sales will happen.
DON'T BE AVERAGE - BE EXCEPTIONAL - MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
FINAO - Failure is Not An Option
Brad Huisken
