We just love the great customer service tips from Bob Phibbs “The Retail Doctor”. Check out his web site and enjoy this excerpt from one of his many valuable articles.
Retail Selling Tips: How to Turn a Sale Around
Selling in a retail store means there are times you know a big sale is in trouble. Donna Artz asked me on my Facebook Fan page how to turn a sale around that is “going down the tubes.”
This is the kind of training I do all over the world as part of the Bob Phibbs Experience and can be a complex thing to teach but, address the basics first.
If you’re having a tough time during a sale, pull back and see if there were physical cues things weren’t going well. For example, were either their or your arms crossed?
How about your legs or theirs? Closed body positions show mistrust.
If it is you, you could be unconsciously telegraphing you are afraid of the customer, the product doesn’t do what you say it does or you are wanting to protect yourself because you feel it is so expensive.
If it is the customer who is closed, it shows they do not trust you. Until you get that conquered the sales process is stuck. Try handing them a sample, asking more questions about where the item might be used or using what I call Windows of Contact to find common ground.
You may be trying to sell a person who likes to be seen as independent and risk-taking as if they only select a product that makes sense, is a good value, on sale or popular -which doesn’t work very well.
As a sales trainer, when we playback what went on during a sale, we often find it is a clash between personalities that causes customers to not buy from us, not the lack of need for your products. Or a discount…
David, a friend of mine recently visited a furniture store and told the salesman he was looking for a couch. Being an Amiable personality, David was listening to the guy (an Analytical) tell him everything about how the wood was chosen, how the Dupont fabric resisted stains, how much money he was saving, the “no tax” additional discount, and the fact he could take it home that day.
The information overwhelmed David, tripped his “idiot switch”, and prompted him to inform the salesman that he’d have to think about it.
The guy said to him, “What’s wrong with you, are you sick or something?” Which made David laugh as he walked out the door, never to return.
All David needed to know was how the couch would fit in his house, the salesperson was giving him far too much information and snapped.
The trick is knowing before you or the customer snaps what the signs are and then subtly dealing with the personality in front of you.
This is covered extensively in my book from Wiley The Retail Doctor’s Guide to Growing Your Business.