1. Here are four critical mistakes salespeople frequently make which end up costing them the sale.
Attempting to match price instead of selling value. Everyone wants the best price. We also know that people want quality, value, and service. Sometimes we must examine our presentation to make sure we are giving the customer the appropriate benefit so they can make a good buying decision.
My barber charges $30 per haircut - outrageous! But he’s good (quality, value, and service). I could go to the Phoenix Barber College and get my hair cut for $6. And that’s what I would get - a $6 haircut. Successful salespeople sell value, not price.
2. Prejudging a customer. When we prejudge a customer we potentially lose a great sale. After all, how many times have you seen someone walk into your store dressed in cutoffs, a tank top, wearing sandals, and reach into a pocket and come up with a wad of cash to make a large purchase. What about the other scenario - a well-dressed person with a suit, tie, and shined shoes who cannot even qualify for $50 of credit.
We simply cannot afford to prejudge people when they walk into the store. One of the great promoters of all time, P. T. Barnum, once said, “Fifty percent of all the advertising I do is a total waste of my time; the only problem is I can’t decide which fifty percent it is.”Our duty is not to prejudge, but to help everyone who walks into the store.
3. Underrating product and sales training. How many people attend product, sales, and motivational seminars leaving with great intentions, only to fall back into the same routine? I work with many jewelers who invested in sales training for their people to little or no avail. That is because the owner/manager thinks that once the salesperson is “trained” he/she is “reformed” or “remade.” Actually the training has just begun. It is the responsibility of the owner/manager to work with each salesperson individually to maximize the newly learned skills.
Ambitious salespeople should not have to wait for prompting from their manager. If they want to be successful they should be proactive as opposed to reactive.
What about the material sent to you by your vendors? Does anyone even read it or does it just get buried on the shelf? I will never forget the time I watched a salesperson attempting to sell a multi-function watch to a customer. Both were reading the instructions and trying to “learn about” the watch.
Informed salespeople create informed customers.
4. Not handling the product with care. When dining in a fine restaurant one evening I noticed the proud, almost loving manner in which our waiter presented the meal. Each main course had a covered plate and was placed in front of the patron. Then, as if on cue, several staffers appeared and in dramatic flourish lifted the stainless steel covers from the meal. The meal was good, not great. But each of us was made to feel so special that we felt like kings.
There’s a hidden message here. The salesperson who handles merchandise in a careless, casual fashion telegraphs a message to his customer. Look at it this way; if the merchandise would sell itself, why not just let the customer walk in and decide what he/she wants. Since that won’t work, we must handle the merchandise as though it is worth 10 times its retail value.
I once observed a jewelry salesperson romance a $30 Timex watch with a selvyt cloth as though it was a $10,000 Rolex. We are in the business of selling perception, quality, and value.
Do you see yourself in any of these scenarios? If so, now is the time to change because you can be sure the competition isn’t slowing down one bit.
Attempting to match price instead of selling value. Everyone wants the best price. We also know that people want quality, value, and service. Sometimes we must examine our presentation to make sure we are giving the customer the appropriate benefit so they can make a good buying decision.
My barber charges $30 per haircut - outrageous! But he’s good (quality, value, and service). I could go to the Phoenix Barber College and get my hair cut for $6. And that’s what I would get - a $6 haircut. Successful salespeople sell value, not price.
2. Prejudging a customer. When we prejudge a customer we potentially lose a great sale. After all, how many times have you seen someone walk into your store dressed in cutoffs, a tank top, wearing sandals, and reach into a pocket and come up with a wad of cash to make a large purchase. What about the other scenario - a well-dressed person with a suit, tie, and shined shoes who cannot even qualify for $50 of credit.
We simply cannot afford to prejudge people when they walk into the store. One of the great promoters of all time, P. T. Barnum, once said, “Fifty percent of all the advertising I do is a total waste of my time; the only problem is I can’t decide which fifty percent it is.”Our duty is not to prejudge, but to help everyone who walks into the store.
3. Underrating product and sales training. How many people attend product, sales, and motivational seminars leaving with great intentions, only to fall back into the same routine? I work with many jewelers who invested in sales training for their people to little or no avail. That is because the owner/manager thinks that once the salesperson is “trained” he/she is “reformed” or “remade.” Actually the training has just begun. It is the responsibility of the owner/manager to work with each salesperson individually to maximize the newly learned skills.
Ambitious salespeople should not have to wait for prompting from their manager. If they want to be successful they should be proactive as opposed to reactive.
What about the material sent to you by your vendors? Does anyone even read it or does it just get buried on the shelf? I will never forget the time I watched a salesperson attempting to sell a multi-function watch to a customer. Both were reading the instructions and trying to “learn about” the watch.
Informed salespeople create informed customers.
4. Not handling the product with care. When dining in a fine restaurant one evening I noticed the proud, almost loving manner in which our waiter presented the meal. Each main course had a covered plate and was placed in front of the patron. Then, as if on cue, several staffers appeared and in dramatic flourish lifted the stainless steel covers from the meal. The meal was good, not great. But each of us was made to feel so special that we felt like kings.
There’s a hidden message here. The salesperson who handles merchandise in a careless, casual fashion telegraphs a message to his customer. Look at it this way; if the merchandise would sell itself, why not just let the customer walk in and decide what he/she wants. Since that won’t work, we must handle the merchandise as though it is worth 10 times its retail value.
I once observed a jewelry salesperson romance a $30 Timex watch with a selvyt cloth as though it was a $10,000 Rolex. We are in the business of selling perception, quality, and value.
Do you see yourself in any of these scenarios? If so, now is the time to change because you can be sure the competition isn’t slowing down one bit.
4 Critical Mistakes
Salespeople
Frequently Make
Salespeople
Frequently Make
David W. Richardson, CSP is an Internationally Renowned Sales and Management Trainer. As founder of the Richardson Resource Group, David W. Richardson, CSP, International award-winning professional business presenter, brings his twenty years of real world jewelry sales and management training experience. Dynamic and compelling as a speaker, Dave shares his secrets for presenting and selling high-ticket jewelry items with confidence and easy-to-use closing techniques that drive the increased profits.
Taking The Trade To New Dimensions