• (Retail Stores) How Many Salespeople Do You Need?

Are you paying five salespeople during times when you could get by with two? Or worse yet, are you losing potential sales because you're understaffed at busy times?

• 25 Ways To Increase Your Sales Today (Doug Fleener)

(from Doug Fleener August 4, 2010 Newsletter)

If you own a retail business or restaurant, I urge you to print out this list and follow it. Also, make sure you subscribe to the Doug Fleener Newsletter (information at the end of this article). It's FREE.

1. Sell more. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.) 
 
2. Be "on" from the moment you walk onto the sales floor. You have an important role to play so play it well.
 
3. Be genuine. If you can't, you need to change either your attitude, mindset, or job.
 
4. Never stalk a customer. If when you first engage a customer she gives you the cold shoulder, back off and give her a chance to get comfortable in the store and to see for herself that you're different from most salespeople. The way you engage others allows them to experience for themselves that you're interested in them as a person, not just as a customer.
 
5. Skip small talk and engage with purpose. For most of us that means developing a relationship with our customer and making sure he/she has a great experience in our store. Remember: never ask a customer a question if you don't care what the answer is.
 
6. Listen more, talk less.
 
7. Never talk over your customer. It's not only bad manners but it tells her you're not listening.
 
8. Don't show products, sell them. The difference is that when you're selling a product it means you know enough about the customer to choose the right product for him.
 
9. Focus the conversation on the outcome of the product and its benefits. As an example, people don't buy luggage for the sake of buying luggage but because they wish to transport clothing and other belongings from one location to another. Focus on how the end result at that destination will be enhanced because of the product itself.
 
10. Assume the customer is buying. Remove the idea that anyone is a "looker."
 
11. Do something nice and unexpected for your customer. It will almost always result in a stronger relationship.
 
12. Never ask a customer how he's doing. The phrase is trite, completely overused and most people who ask it don't really care about the answer. The same is true with "May I help you?" and "Can I answer any questions?"
 
13. Don't over greet or over welcome your customer. Once a customer is well into the store a simple smile and "hello" is sufficient. Customers would rather be ignored than greeted excessively.
 
14. Having a large selection of products for the customer to choose from increases the likelihood that the customer will make a purchase.
 
15. Reducing the number of products you show a customer increases the odds of making a sale even more.
 
16. Recommending one or two of those products improves the chance even more.
 
17. Skip telling the customer everything you know about a product. Instead give them the information they need to make an informed decision.
 
18. The only way to be able to do that is to gather information from the customer. That's why just showing products costs sales.
 
19. Help the customer make the purchase. If we've done our job it is only appropriate to give the customer an opportunity to buy what we're selling.
 
20. Forget trying to "add-on" to a sale. That's completely internally focused and self-serving. "Enhance" the customer's life with the products they're buying and you're guaranteed to sell more.
 
21. Don't stop enhancing until the customer says so. We like to compare it to the all-you- can-eat buffet. Your customer will tell you when he's full.
 
22. Use the kind of manners during checkout that would make your mother or grandmother proud. Use a lot of "please," "thank-you" and "you're welcome."
 
23. Always see a customer bringing a product into the store as an opportunity, not a burden. Assume it's a return until you've learned otherwise.
 
24. Follow-up a customer's purchase with a thank-you note, email, or phone call.
 
25. Contact a good customer to tell him about something new in the store and why you think it's something he would like.
 
26. Always go above and beyond for every customer. If it doesn't result in a sale today, it will tomorrow. 

Doug Fleener is president of Dynamic Experiences Group, LLC, a retail and customer experience consulting firm. He is the author of The Profitable Retailer: 56 Surprisingly Simple and Effective Lessons to Boost Your Sales and Profits. Doug also publishes several industry newsletters including the popular Daily Retail Experience.

To read more about Doug Fleener, subscribe to his FREE newsletter and to receive a FREE copy of his book, The Profitable Retailer, go to:

http://www.dougfleener.com/