HARDISON’S TIPS – NOVEMBER 16, 2020 – RETAIL SALES DEPARTMENT STORES (BIG BOX)
Are you a retailer (or retail sales associate) who’s struggling with how to approach shoppers? Worried that you lack the magic touch, or that you’ll come off as an annoying salesperson? Would you rather be awkwardly staring at your store’s point of sale software screen than actually talking to the customer in front of you?
You should keep reading because, after years of being one of the strongest sellers at my store, I can assure you: anyone can sell.
That’s not to say it’s not going to take a lot of practice. But over the years, I’ve found that a customer will tell you verbally and/or physically how to sell to them. If you’re listening properly and looking for the right cues, you can always tell if a customer is interested in what you have to say, what approach to take with them, and what exactly they’re looking for.
Check out the tips below, put them into action, and you should find yourself successfully closing sales:
Practice Active Listening
Active listening isn’t just about standing in front a customer silently. There are a few important things you should be doing to engage in this practice:
- The most important part of active listening is to not form a response while the customer is speaking.This is really hard to do, and is going to take a lot of practice. It’s very natural to latch on to one part of a comment and form a response to it, and then shut out the rest of the comment. To become a good listener, a sales person must resist doing this.
- Active listening should engage your whole body. Things like nodding and having an open stanceshow the customer that you are listening to what they have to say.
- Once it’s time for you to speak, give the customer a quick summary of what they said.This has a few purposes. First, it allows you to come up with a response post-comment without things being awkwardly silent. Second, showing the customer that you heard everything they had to say will often open them up to providing you with more information than they initially supplied.
Practicing active listening means that you are fully engaged with learning what the customer wants. This engagement makes a huge difference. Not only will you understand what the customer wants in a deeper way, but you also gain their trust easier.
Make it a champion day!
