When you walk into a retail store, what is the most common
question you are asked by the shop assistant?
Is it...”Can I help you?”
I bet it is...and if so, what is your normal response?
Well I’m guessing that most people just turn on the auto pilot
and respond...”No thanks, I’m just looking”.
After that brief interaction, some people might choose to buy,
and others might just walk out of the store empty handed.
If this is as common as I think it is, imagine the bucket loads
of cash that are being lost simply by the failure of the sales
assistant to engage the customer in a fact finding conversation.
What if there was a way that you could turn this around, and
dramatically improve the conversion of lookers into buyers.
Well, there is a simple 6 step process that can be used by a
sales person in almost any selling situation, to engage the
customer and have them reaching for their pockets and begging
you to take their money.
Let’s take the example of a person walking into a furniture
store who is looking for a sofa.
Step 1 - The opening statement of the sales person needs to
quickly establish rapport by making the customer feel
welcome and stimulating their interest in talking to you.
So the sales assistant could say “Hi, have you been here
before?”
Step 2 - The sales person then needs to establish what the
prospect wants. This should be done through a line of open
and closed probing questions.
For example “Welcome to ABC furniture, my name is ...,
thanks for visiting us. Is it ok to ask how you found us?”
If the prospect says that they were just passing and saw
something in the window, the sales assistant could follow
with “I see, what caught your eye?”
Questioning should then continue until you have established
the key need that has to be fulfilled.
Step 3 - Once you know your prospect’s needs, you must then
spend a few moments telling the prospect about the value of
being involved with your company and the reasons why they
should deal with you.
The sales assistant could say “We have been in operation for
12 years and we source the highest grade materials from
around the country to ensure that our sofas are built for
long lasting wear and durability.”
Step 4 - At this point you want to be able to remind the
prospect of their problem and show them how you can
solve it.
In an earlier part of the conversation, the prospect may
have mentioned that they have a growing family and need a
larger sofa for everyone to fit.
The sales assistant could add “We find this modular sofa
that you are looking at here to be one of our best sellers.
It comfortably seats a family of 5 which means that after
dinner when you all sit down to watch your favorite
television show, the last person to be seated won’t end
up on the floor.”
Step 5 - You now need to be prepared to deal with any objections.
To avoid objections, you must thoroughly qualify your
customer while establishing need, and the key to this
is to ask questions, questions and more questions.
If you have done a good job on the first 4 steps, you
shouldn’t have too much trouble overcoming objections.
Step 6 - The final step is to close the sale.
Most people are not good at making decisions so it is the
sales person’s job to help the prospect make the decision
to purchase.
But what ever you do, you must close when the opportunity
presents itself.
There are many ways to close...one way is to use assumptive
statements.
In the example with our customer looking for a sofa, after
reaffirming need established in the qualifying questions,
the sales person could start writing up the order and say
“For no extra charge, would you like us to arrange for your
sofa to receive a special finish that will help protect it
from spills?”
After making this type of assumptive statement, the sales
assistant should say nothing further until the prospect
responds. The prospect will be logically lead to the
conclusion that they should purchase this sofa, and there
is a strong likelihood that they will say “YES”.
There it is...the simple 6 step process that can be used in
almost any selling situation.
Start training your team to use this selling process in your
business and watch your sales skyrocket as more and more
prospects are converted to paying customers.
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