I’ve always said, “The body should go when the mind goes.”
Unfortunately, that’s usually six weeks or more later.
Zappos has a program that pays new employees $4000 to quit the company during initial training sessions. The policy is designed to make sure new employees are committed to working at the online retailer beyond just a paycheck.
Is this something you should do? Continue reading Zappos Pays People To Quit – Should you? »
When we think of retail sales training, we rarely think of the most often asked questions of an employee. But the worst place to learn is in front of a customer where an employee is shamed for not knowing.
Here are six common questions, the thought behind the customer’s question, how to correctly answer it and what to avoid.
1. If I buy this and Continue reading Six Questions Your Employees Must Be Able To Answer »
I can tell a great retail store just by listening. Can you?
One of the outcomes we find when conditions are right in a retail store is that people are:
And laughter ensues.
Laughter…
The sound of joy, acceptance and yes…
Making the sale.
Laughter as in an easy joke, an aside, or gentle kidding. I’ve seen the best salespeople deliver it in spades in a variety of sales situations. Is it something that can be forced or trained?
Doubtful.
Which is why I’ve avoided writing this post for awhile. I can hear the Analytical personality styles now, “So are we supposed to learn a bunch of jokes and use them on everyone?”
No.
But I am saying, if you make a great hire, train them well, encourage them to not be a robot by saying the same thing to everyone, you’ll find laughter on your sales floor.
And laughter is one of the most powerful ways to surprise and delight custoemrs.
Nope, surprise and delight isn’t achieved with a Groupon, another Friends and family day or “no tax” promotion. No.
Laughter shows a customer has found a real person. Open, engaging, engaged.
One of the most common ways they do this is by telling stories. Brief bits about their own experience with a product or situation, their background or finding moments when they can laugh at themselves. (*Note it is not about laughing at other customers or team members.)
At a recent conference, I heard alot about companies who are “coaching” all their employees on the floor. At the expense in one case, of reducing their core training from 3 hours to 90 minutes. Or from other retailers who have used tablets to dump all their call center information into the hands of their associates to “help” them quickly help a customer. Then constantly “mentor” these employees to be the same to everyone they encounter.
I don’t hear a lot of laughter in those stores.
Why? Becuase it assumes there is a “right” sales person. A “right” way people want to be dealt with.
After nearly thirty years as a luxury sales trainer, I can tell you this much about sales training; it still has a lot of mystery around it.
That’s because what people say they want, and what they really want are often two different things. As customers what we want we rarely truly ask for.
As customers, we start the conversation with what we need. That’s where the sloppy clerks thrive – filling the needs like a point-and-click on the web.
To get past that and the countless articles your customers just read on the internet, something like ”12 ways to Be a Cheap Bastard When Shopping for Your:
That means those employees must be comfortable on your sales floor. Not worrying someone is looking over their shoulder looking to “mentor” away their personal style into a lifeless, joyless clone.
They should be creating laughter with the people in front of them, the ones they are serving. Not between themselves or on the phone but with the customers.
When people ask me to evaluate a business I can tell just by listening for the laughter. Can you?
Please comment below:
The first question you ask in a conversation steers the outcome. You get them to listen or put them on the defense.
“Why didn’t you put the trash out last night?” immediately puts the other person on the defensive.
When we are in the presence of a great salesperson, they mindfully stay away from the untrained masses of, Continue reading Retail Sales Consultant Tip: The question you ask »
The three deadliest words in retail sales training are, “I get it.” They are a form of short-hand that discounts the need for further explanation as in a friend talking to another friend about being dumped, “I get it, you’re bitter, go on.”
How often do you hear that in a film, on the TV or say it to your friends? I’ll bet a lot.
I have created some fairly expansive sales training programs that take about a month for an employee to fully be trained. They all end with Continue reading 3 Deadliest Words In Retail Sales Training »
