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Selling Strategies and Interacting with Customers Free
Learn how to increase your sales through pleasant interactions with your customers in retail. This course covers how to effectively greet customers as soon as they enter the store, using questions, value, and curiosity to sell your products, as well as closing your hard-earned sales!
Selling Strategies and Interacting with Customers Lessons
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- Greeting Customers
- Selling by Asking Questions
- Using Curiosity to Sell
- Value-based Selling
- Sale Closing Techniques
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Selling Strategies and Interacting with Customers course excerpts
Greeting Customers
Greeting Customers
Walking into a retail store may feel like a new experience for some people. They may also find navigating the store or looking for an employee to answer their inquiries intimidating.
Rather than looking for an employee, some potential customers can just leave without talking to anyone and buying anything.
By appropriately greeting customers the moment they enter your store, grabbing sales to these potential customers can be successful!
In this lesson, you'll find out the best practices on how to greet your customers in order to: Increase sales Improve your customer's comfort level Promote repeat business By applying recognition, small talk, commonality, and orientation, a simple greeting can increase a customer's chance of buying!
What are the effects of appropriately greeting your customers upon entering a store? Select all that applies
Recognition Upon entering the store, try to show that you recognize a customer as soon as you see them. If you don't remember or know their name, you can let them know that you recognize them and are happy to see them. An effective greeting can be: "Hi! It's nice to see you here again!". Customers tend to return to secure and friendly environments so if you show that you recognize them, most likely they'll want to come back! If you really don't recognize them, you can also ask if they've been in the store before. This greeting may remind the customer that they've been in the business in the past, so it's a familiar place. The feeling of being familiar can mean safe, and safety leads to trust. Now if they trust the store, they will realize that it's a safe place to spend! Here are some other greetings that you can say to a customer to boost their familiarity: "Welcome back! How have you been?" "Hi! It's great to see you again!" "What brings you in to see us again?"
Orientation is the way you welcome and familiarize customers with the space in our store.
This type of interaction provide the information that they need and also help them feel comfortable shopping.
An example of customer orientation about changes made in the store
Other times, customers will tell you what they are looking for and in that case, orientation is more straightforward.
You can guide those individuals to go exactly where they need to go and offer helpful information they might have not thought of.
An example of straightforward orientation with additional information
For customers that tell you that they're "Just looking.", you can respond with: "I see! Personally, I like starting from this part of the store and work my way around. " "Take your time looking around, some people stay here for an hour just exploring."
After your initial engagement with them, you can check in with that customer with questions such as: "Would you like a basket?" "How about I free up a fitting room while you're looking around?" "Were you able to find what you're looking for, or can I help you with it?"
An example of using small talk to uncover what the customer needs
** Commonality**
Commonality is the idea of representing the people behind the business or brand and share a piece of yourself with the customers.
This establishes a relationship through something that happens in common between you and the customer.
By establishing commonality with customers, we provide them something to connect with.
A shared value, idea, or even voice can make our brand relatable which instills trust in our customers.
Here are some questions and statements that you can tell your customers to establish commonality: I like your___ (shoes, hairstyle, bag, etc.). How do you manage to stay dry with all this rain? Are you enjoying the sunny afternoon so far? Have you tried the coffee around store X? Their mix is one of my personal favourites.
Selling by Asking Questions
**Selling by Asking Questions **
Asking the right question is just as important as knowing what to say when working in the retail industry. Sometimes, all you need to do is ask one question, and the customer will share all the information you need.
"Why do I have to ask questions?"
As a salesperson, you'll need to lead several lines of questions to get understand your customer's entire situation. Understanding their situation better helps you formulate a solution based on the products or services you offer that can lead to a sale!
Asking the right questions help: Identify opportunities Discover the customer's needs Smoke out objections that may prevent the sale
You don't always have to limit yourself to a single type of question -- in this lesson, you'll learn about the three types of questions and how to ask them to lead great conversations and get more sales! Ready? Hit that continue button to learn more!
Open-ended questions are:
Opposite to an open question, closed or closed-ended questions are a type of question that elicits a "yes" or "no" response.
Follow-Up Questions
Now that you know about open and closed-ended questions, it is time to know the last type of question you can ask your customers -- **follow-up questions. **
Try not to take what your customers say at face value. You can always dig deeper through follow-up questions. It questions why they think in a certain way, and how they plan to achieve what they intend which helps you understand them better.
When selling something to a customer, it is important to understand the full picture of what's going on in order to come up with the most effective solution you can offer based on their need. This can only be done by asking follow-up questions and gaining greater insight from your customer.
By asking follow-up questions, you: Push your customer to think in a different way Understand why they're thinking the way they are Steer them in the right direction and ask questions that will help understand the customer better Show that you're listening and engaged
Using Curiosity to Sell
**Using Curiosity to Sell **
One of the most common challenges in our industry is to realize that selling is not something we do that makes the customer buy, it's what our customer does.
At some point in the selling process, your customer decides if the products we sell will satisfy their need and quench their thirst.
So, the big question is: How can you create the thirst?
**By using curiosity. ** By generating curiosity, you can draw customers toward you and make them want to know more.
As they become curious about what you're selling, you can use that as an opportunity to provide them the information that will lead them to where you want them to go -- buying!
In order to generate customer curiosity, we'll need to: Establish a difference between what they want to know and what they know Provide partial pieces of information in order to maintain their interest
In this lesson, you'll learn about the two principles that you can practice in your everyday role in order to generate customer curiosity: **Stimulation and Partiality **
Novelty makes people want to explore further in order to... Select all that applies
Words Through the use of the right words, you can stimulate and establish a desire for the customer to want to know more. Words can be effectively used to induce emotion, however, you need to show genuine emotion as well when saying them. In doing so, there is a tendency to trigger your customer's empathetic emotion. Not only that, it also evokes their rational approach about their needs which can be your window of opportunity to make a sale!
..and the sale continues.
Value-based Selling
**Value-based Selling **
In the retail industry, customers usually weigh the price as one of the main factors in their decision when considering a product or service.
While that is true, one factor might be even more important and that is the amount of value that they will get from the purchase!
As long as a customer's budget allows it, the price that they are willing to pay for a product is a reflection of how they see its value.
Remember: Price ≠ Value Price is different from value. A product's price is what you pay to get it and value is what you get.
By learning value-based selling, you can show your customers that what you are selling will help them achieve their goals, whether that means improved productivity or a sense of luxury lifestyle.
In this lesson, you will learn about some of the principles of value-based selling that you can use in order to focus on how you can provide value to your customers!
Listening To Customers
While most salespeople pride themselves on their ability to talk, those who are great listeners are the best when it comes to value-based selling.
Understanding where value lies will always start with listening to your customer -- whether they are talking about their needs, wants, or even fears!
There is no "one size fits all" type of solution for the different types of customers you encounter every day. If you try to apply the same solution for everyone, you won't end up adding value for anyone.
To sell based on the value of what you're selling, listening to your customer helps you focus on your target market and understand where and how your product fits in with what they want or need.
If a customer buys a piece of expensive luggage, they're not just buying it to have storage for their clothes, it's more than that. They're buying into an elegant travel-oriented lifestyle, whether they consciously know it or not. When customers see the experiential benefit or result of what you sell, the value of the product also rises accordingly. When that happens, they will be more interested in the product that you offer and the price won't matter as much. As a result, there will be less haggling and a higher chance of closing the sale!
**Timing The Pitch **
**Pro tip: ** When selling, try not to jump into your sales pitch too early.
Avoid giving in to the temptation to dive into your sales pitch as soon as your customer engages in a conversation.
Even if you are confident with your knowledge about the products that we sell and know what to suggest the moment you start talking to them, nothing beats hearing directly from the customers themselves.
Instead of closing the sale with a generic sales pitch, practice giving customers space to explain their current situation and what they're looking for.
In doing so, not only you help build trust between the customer and the business -- it also provides you insight on how to provide the best value for the customer which lets you position your product better for the sale!
Maintaining a Personable Approach By interacting with your customers in a conversational and personable tone, you show that you have a genuine interest in them. This also makes them feel that you are not merely talking to them just to make a sale. Aside from increasing your chances of closing the sale, it also builds trust between you and your customer which adds value to their shopping experience. Proceed to the next page for some tips to keep things conversational!
How can one maintain a personable approach with customers? Select all that apply.
Sale Closing Techniques
**Sales Closing Techniques **
In the retail industry, choosing the right phrases to close a sales deal is critical as it could be a make-or-break moment.
Why? Closing a deal is considered a make-or-break moment as it's likely the final verdict that will determine whether or not your efforts will amount to anything at all.
Don't worry! You're not the only person who feels anxious about closing a sale. Without that feeling of risk, closing a sale wouldn't be so thrilling at all, which drives salespeople like you to strive for more.
In this lesson, you'll learn about some of the few proven closing techniques developed by sales professionals over the years!
A sample of "now-or-never" close in action
What do you have to do when using a summary closing? Select all that apply.
**The "Sharp Angle" Close **
There are times that potential buyers would ask for a discount or ad-ons because they know they have the upper hand and know that you also expect it.
If the situation permits and: There is an ongoing promotion that we offer You have the approval of your manager to do so You can try the sharp angle closing technique to catch the customer by surprise to make the sale!
**When they ask you something such as... **
You can reply...
Chances are high that they won't expect that kind of response because you agreed to their request and you proposed closing the sale today!
An assumptive close in action
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