I hate working out. Like, I hate working out the way that Taylor Swift hates Katy Perry: we got some bad blood. Literally. I’ve bled badly at the gym before. But despite this hatred, in the past year, I’ve become someone who goes to the gym three times or more a week. I even kinda look forward to my work out.
How did that happen? Did I get hit by bus and have some type of minor amnesia that caused me to forget the passion with which I hated the gym? Surprisingly, no. I actually just made a series of really small changes that slowly led to me becoming someone who works out.
Small changes are awesome because they’re really easy to implement, and they add up to some big results. The best part of small changes is that it’s pretty hard not make them concrete things, instead of vague, un-implementable ideas that big changes tend to turn into. It’s the difference between “eat less carbs” and “replace bag of potato chips at lunch with carrot sticks.” One thing you’re never gonna do because it’s so vague (it probably thinks this post is about it). The other thing may be a little less tasty, but it’s definitely easy to remember to do.
So per my title, I believe that you can easily have your sales associates implement some really small changes around your store that ultimately add up to some huge customer satisfaction (and therefore sales) differences. To get you started, here is a list of small changes I’ve come up with based on the things I learned while working the floor.
1. Smile. Naturally.
“Smile” is such a classic line of retail sales advice that you will find it literally everywhere. I’m adding the word naturally to it, though, because I used to have district manager who would come to our store once a quarter and basically run around insisting the sales associates never stop smiling.
And here’s the thing: you shouldn’t smile while you’re dealing with a complaint (you shouldn’t look angry, either, but seriously, don’t look gleeful); you shouldn’t smile like an idiot while you’re engaged in a conversation with a customer – no one does that in real life. And you shouldn’t smile if a normal person wouldn’t be smiling at that person. (And by normal: I mean someone who’s overly friendly.)
Customers can smell inauthenticity a mile off. Be careful.
But also smile because customers like friendly sales associates.
Basically, walk the line and keep your eyes wide open all the time.
2. Say hi.
Or at least smile and wave. It’s important to let customers know that you’ve noticed their presence in the store. They’ll feel more comfortable asking questions – and they’ll feel less comfortable purloining your merch.
3. Acknowledge your customers waiting in line.
When you’ve got a good queue going, customers tend to get antsy. If the line is long enough, customers will leave – and leave with a terrible impression of your store.
One of the easiest ways to help fix this is to acknowledge that your customers are doing you a favor, and show them in return that you’re doing your very best. What exactly does that mean?
- Staffing all your registers. Trust me, I totally get how hard it is when you’re having a busy day and you’re understaffed. I have been there and done that. But nothing pisses a customer off like waiting in line while there’s only one person ringing, and there’s two other open registers. Do what you can. Maybe you pull the stock person out to the register.
- Making sure that the people actually staffing the register talk to and make eye contact with the people waiting in line. A lot of sales associates get put off by the tension that can develop in a queue of waiting customers and cope by flat out ignoring it and making as little eye contact as possible, making the situation worse. Teach your associates to use phrases like, “Thank you so much for waiting!” and “I’ll be right with you.” These types of phrases will help keep the sympathy of the crowd.
- Ringing efficiently. This suggestion sounds like a no brainer – you should always ring efficiently. But when there’s a line, associates should do their very best efficient ringing. People are more likely to accept a line if they see it’s moving quickly.
4. Pack up customers’ purchases beautifully.
In cooking, presentation is such an important part of a dish that when it can really make the difference between a good cook and a great one. Working in retail is no different. As you know, presentation of floor goods can be a real make or break for a store. You should approach bagging and wrapping products with the same attitude.
Small touches like pretty tissue paper, ribbons, or even just sturdy bags can remind customers when they get home of how much they like your store. Additionally, depending on the size of your products, good wrapping can make customers feel like they bought themselves a gift.
5. When you’re working with a customer, prioritize them.
Once you start working with a customer, whether you’re answering a question they have on the floor, ringing them up, or actively styling them, put their requests and needs first. The rest of your work can wait. The sweaters were going to turn back into a mess anyway.
Doing something a customer asks for immediately can leave a big impression of how much you care about them.
As an example, I once had a customer call my store from 5 states away. She was looking for a dress to wear to her sister’s funeral and she had been told by corporate that my store had the last dress in her size. I immediately went and found the dress and walked her through the transaction. I explained that I would send the dress out via overnight, but since it was so late in the day I wasn’t positive that if the dress would go out that day and arrive the next, or get pushed back a day. I told her, though, that I was pretty sure I could get the dress out in time, and I would include a note instructing whoever did the return that they should return the shipping charges in case the dress should not arrive in time. Once I hung up, I ran to the back and packaged the dress to go out as fast as I could. I managed to get it into the FedEx guy’s hands right as he was on the way out with our other packages.
A week or two later, I came into work and was handed a thank you note by manager. My customer had been so touched by how much effort I had put in for her and how quickly I had been able to get her dress to her that she took the time to write me. Not only did she send me a thank you note, but I was told by one of my coworkers that the same customer called to purchase more merchandise specifically from our store at a later date just because of that interaction.
Moral of the story: It really does pay to run to the back to check for that shirt in a different size, no matter how annoying it is.
Last bit: I know that on busy days it can be hard to do this. Remember that most customers will only ask for your complete attention momentarily – to answer a question or to grab one new product. You can definitely do that, even on a slamming day. And with the one or two customers who come in that day who ask for your full attention for an extended period of time – do your very best. You may not be able to devote as much attention to them as they want, but give them everything you can.
6. Listen.
Like most service jobs, working in retail is like being a really underpaid therapist. I’ve literally had customers crying on my shoulder. Customers want you to hear their problems and help them. Because here’s the thing: when you work in a store, you’re not selling products, so much as you’re selling a lifestyle. Your products allow your customers to live better lives. And because of that, you’re going to hear and help solve a lot of problems.
So listen when your customers talk. Figure out what they really need and help them solve their problems.
7. Go the extra mile.
This is a very vague “small” change, so I hesitated including it. But I believe that all sales and service people should approach every situation with a willingness to do whatever it takes to make a customer happy. Often those things are rather small things that really do make a big difference. In order to make this less vague, I’ll share several examples of what I mean.
- We once had a customer come in with her husband. She was very old and had Alzheimer’s, so she was no longer able to dress herself. Her husband was the one who dressed her. We had an all-women dressing room, for the comfort of many of our customer. However, we knew that this woman would be unable to try anything on without bringing her husband in the fitting room. We quickly decided to suspend our policy, and with the permission of all the women already in the fitting room, we allowed our customer’s husband to accompany her in. Just doing that one little thing made a big difference in her experience of our store.
- Brooks Brothers employees send thank you notes to their customers after purchases. My husband and I once spent only $16 at their outlet (we bought socks and tights). Two weeks later, a very thoughtful thank you note arrived in our mail – even though we’d probably spent the least amount of money anyone has ever spent at that store. That one little note made me want to continue going back to that store (even though neither one of us is actually a fan of their clothes).
- You’ve probably seen the story that went viral about the McDonald’s employee who went out and helped a customer cut and eat his meal. It’s a really touching story, so if you haven’t seen it, click the link above. This story tells of one small thing an employee did to go the extra mile and make sure that his customer was happy, and it made such a big splash that the whole internet found out.
More?
What other small things do you recommend retail salespeople do that can make big impacts in sales? Do you have any suggestions for easy ways stores can increase sales?
The post 7 Small Things Your Sales Associates Can Do That Make a Big Difference in Your Sales appeared first on Capterra Blog.