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Archive for August, 2009

Retail Sales Training: Sears Top Down – No Discount

OK, You might have noticed in my previous post that I got a bit upset about the appliance rebate program coming at us this fall. Apparently America can’t shop without a discount.

We have taught customers that printed price is irrelevant, someone somewhere will pay you to buy whatever it is. The retail landscape has become like Monty Hall’s game show from the sixties, Let’s Make A Deal or a third-world bazaar. images-3

Some of the biggest companies are helping all kinds of product dealers move inventory by paying the customer with rebates. Taking a page from how cars have been sold for the past twenty years – and that’s worked well, right? Everyone is embracing employee discounts, friends and family shopping days and rebate programs.

Why not just improve your sales team?

When I began my retail career, it was common knowledge that in many appliance stores there used to be a “loss-leader” that was heavily advertised; a washer with a “the golden spike” in it if you will. The understanding was if you the saleman sold one, you would be gone because you couldn’t sell; a salesperson’s job was to sell the profitable item.

sears vintage exterior

Sears’ had a different sales strategy I’m told by a former principal, “Sears sold up by selling down.” They presented a full line of each appliance, from a stripped down model you probably didn’t want, to a model with gadgets that you really didn’t need.

They didn’t expect to sell many from the top or bottom of the spectrum. The sales strategy was to present the full line quickly, identifying the shortcomings of the low end model and the gee-whiz features of the top-of-the-line.

Depending on how the sale was going, the salesperson would say, “Let me be honest with you. You’re paying for features in the top-of-the-line model that you probably will never use. I don’t think this is the best value for you. The model under it has features that you will use and for a lot less than the top of the line. I suggest you save some money by buying the next model down.

Sears made a profit, the customer got what they wanted, everyone was happy. Nowadays in most appliance stores, if a clerk came over, they’d ask if you “found everything ok” and a sign would tell you there was a rebate on it.

Of course, that was then. One of the people I follow on Twitter, EdisoftFan alerted me that at their local Sears is a chart ranking associates by credit card applications – nothing to do with sales. Is it a mystery Sears is flailing these days?

In a related story in today’s Los Angeles Times details how IKEA is struggling for profitability in China, Beijing loves IKEA. People flock to the store but not for shopping. Linda Xu, a company spokeswoman rolled her eyes when she came upon a trio of slumbering customers, ”The brand awareness is great, but the question is, how do we get people to open up their wallets and spend money?” That’s a salesperson’s job.

An office manager visiting with his family said he bought a couch elsewhere that looked just like IKEA furniture. “Why spend so much money when you can have the same thing cheaper?’ he said.” That’s a salesperson’s job.

The only way your store will standout from your competitors, that your crew will be different than any other, that you’ll make a profit as we come out of this stubborn recession is to learn to sell better. Your merch can’t do it alone. That comes from having a process, being coached and tracking results.

That’s why I’m hosting an intensive selling workshop in Chicago Monday, Sept. 21 for anyone looking to sell more of their products or services.It is based on the same sales strategies I’ve used for small mom & pops to companies like Brother, Yamaha and Hunter Douglas. Full details are here.

Consumer sentiment is up – are you ready to sell the merch or continue sitting there looking for a pathetic handout like Whirlpool?

Sales training is the magic bullet to growing your sales, not discounts. I have the track record to prove it in any economy.You won’t be able to use the excuse its “the economy” any longer. Change or die my friends.

Take my challenge and meet me in Chicago next month.

Retail Sales Training: Fire Bitter Betty Employees

From 2008….I was reading Maureen Dowd’s post in the New York Times while riding Amtrak into NYC today titled “High Anxiety in the Mile High City,” Ms. Dowd relayed the story of Carol, a former Hillary volunteer. Carol stood at the back of the Democratic woman’s caucus in Denver Tuesday in her Hillary T-shirt and hat signed by Hillary and “Nobama” button. She booed every time any of the women speakers mentioned Obama’s name. She’s had nothing nice to say about the Obamas.

“What about the kids?” Dowd asked.
“Adorable,” she said.
“Well, Michelle raised them,” Dowd replied.
“I think her mother did,” Carol shot back.

This type of person is deadly in a business. I call them Bitter Betties.

My point is not whether you are a McCain, Hillary or Obama supporter; this story illustrates the negativity, cynicism and outright hostility plaguing American business.

This is the person who loudly wants the world to know they were personally wronged. Doesn’t matter when or where – their dissatisfaction with themselves and their lives must be center stage, poisoning others as it wafts over the unsuspecting.

You know you have one like her on your payroll right now. Whether she’s a friend, he’s a long-time worker or even if you are married to them.

When I see Bitter Betty at a store during one of my business makeovers I usually tell the owner to get rid of her – immediately if they want to grow sales.

Invariably I get the defensive, “Oh her, she’s just (name). She’s there every day at 10am, I can count on her.”

I reply, “That’s exactly my point – she’s there every day. You have no idea how much money you are losing due to her attitude.”

Get only a couple of these disempowered people on board and they can ruin your business. Trust me, I’ve seen it first hand.

It could start with an email you sent out for the holiday promotion, drink, fill in the blank isn’t up to their standards. You respond to them politely but they don’t feel listened to. They then tell everyone on the floor their concerns. People who don’t even feel that way are suddenly questioning everything. It spirals into camps of who said this and who said that. It does no one any good.

I can assure you Bitter Betty is on your team somewhere; answering phones, emails, designing graphics, running your training department or on your sales floor.

And just because someone has been there a long time does not mean they are your best employee. Often the best leave because when Bitter Betty is in charge, as they say in the south, “Ain’t nobody happy.”

How can you identify him or her? Simple. Who wants to work with them?

Better yet, who doesn’t want to work with them?

Fire the Bitter Bettys of the world for your own sake. Cynicism isn’t funny or something to be tolerated in this day and age. It’s bad energy sabotaging your retail sales training at every turn.

If you are Bitter Betty, get some help. We all have a cousin who’s getting a divorce, or a father in a hospital bed alone, sick and yet we can’t change the inevitable, have an autistic child, a suicidal family member, fill in the blank – we don’t need you to bring your drama and bad attitude into our lives on a daily basis. Forgive the hurt, the passed over promotion, the rotten marriage, the home sale at 30% less than you hoped, the fact your son or daughter didn’t win the game and be done with it.

Is it time to fire an employee? Take my free firing quiz here.

Discounts Come Out of Your Pocket

When I was in seventh grade, I sold holiday greeting cards door-to-door in the hot Toledo, Ohio summer. Prices were fixed and a customer got a discount if they ordered more than 3 boxes.

I also sold candy for school. If I gave a discount, or ate any as the case may be, it came out of my pocket. That’s basic capitalism.

Cause and effect.

With retailers looking for a handout to move their products from vendors, there is nothing out of their pocket – its someone else’s money. Same with the CEO’s of the companies running big discounts still, it’s not their money really.

For the mom and pop retailer, any discount IS their money, their livelihood, their mortgage payment.

Retailers and service proviers have gotten so bad at selling anything that we can’t without a “deal.” That cripples our economy. People mark things down to make the sale, not make a living.

Retail sales training is the magic bullet to growing your sales, not discounts.

Tomorrow, the legacy of Sears sales training…

Retail Advertising and Marketing: Have a Light Touch With the Devil

After living there for forty years, I consider myself a California boy and so was interested in today’s Los Angeles Times front page story about a new ad campaign from Nevada courting California businesses. The state of Nevada created two 30-second spots gently poking at California business owners to relocate to Nevada and find no state income tax, no corporate taxes and low workers comp rates.

The office of California Assemblyman Jose Solorio has created a website where you can see California’s response as well as the Nevada ads at http://californiaisgolden.com/.

What is so compelling about the California ad is the tagline they came up with, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but what happens in California makes the world go ’round.” They then show a smattering of the major businesses that are located in California. Brilliant. Each state considers the other the devil to show how they are the angel.

If you are of a certain age, you may remember the Pepsi challenge from the mid-seventies where purported “average Joes” chose Pepsi in a blind taste-test over Coca-Cola. They were the angel to the devil Coke.

When I rescued a little coffee roaster in Long Beach, California and the story propelled me to national attention, one of the tactics I used was making Starbucks the Devil to our Angel. For example, I’d have a tray of their French roast coffee with the word, “Theirs,” and our French roast with the word, “Ours.” ”Theirs” had many beans that were broken and misshapen, ours were perfect.

The tagline, since we were 75 feet from them became, “Down the street from ordinary.” An independent marketing study revealed 70% of shoppers on the street knew that tagline within six months of launch; sales went up 50% for the year.

Some coffee houses tried to fight Starbucks by relentlessly saying Starbucks beans were burned. This turns customers off. Even if some may believe it, it comes across as sniping. The secret to making angel/devil advertising work is to infer about the other business without saying the other guy is rotten.

The beauty of the California vs. Nevada media war right now is they both keep it light. That’s because Angels know the limits of comparisons, show their virtue and infer the rest. Could this work for you? Sure, if you can pick a fight and keep it light.

Learn how I turned several businesses around.

Increase Retail Sales With Jugglers

Slow sales have produced a retail sales force that is used to working with just one person. It’s like a juggler who can only keep one ball in the air. Or an ostrich with their head in the sand; they are oblivious to the rest of the customers in the store. That can cost you sales – big time.