Show and Sell

After watching the sales floor for a good six months now, I have observed that the company loses substantial amounts of business in the following manner:

A customer (or a potential customer) comes in to shop. A friend or friends come in with them. The main person is helped by a salesperson while the friend roams around NOT being helped. The same happens when people come in for a repair. The person themselves end up wandering around while they wait and their friends do as well.

This happens every day and is significant on busy days when the regular salespeople are busy with customers.

In the past, we kind of just let these people wander around. Occasionally a sales assistant would ask, “Can I help you with something?” And 90% of the time the person would just say, “No” or “I am just looking.” This is wasteful because nearly ANYONE can become a customer if shown the right thing in the right manner.

Almost anyone has someone for whom they can buy a little estate piece. Almost every man can become interested in a fine Swiss watch if shown in the correct manner and with enthusiasm.

From today forward, every person in the store should be approached and handled by a salesperson, a sales assistant or by repair staff. If they are all busy then the Receptionist or Sales Manager may ask others from any part of the store to come out and help.

When you do this you treat this person you are helping like a NEW, REAL, LIVE, POTENTIAL CUSTOMER.

You simply ask them what you can show them and start showing them something. You speak with them and get to know them. You ask them to be on the mailing list.

You do all this while being interested and excited about making a new customer!

And then you try to sell them something.

If you do, you will get a commission. If you don’t, you will turn them over to a salesperson once they leave by giving the name and address details to a salesperson. Since you helped the person, it would be best if you enter them into the computer and fill in the notes on exactly what you showed them and what their interests were. Then e-mail a salesperson to take over the new customer.

In the past, there was some reluctance for one salesperson to help the friends of another salesperson’s customer. This was because there was the idea that the friends of the customer should automatically go to the salesperson helping the main customer. The problem with this is that the salesperson rarely has any time to help the friends that are wandering around and when the main customer is finished, they all leave.

From this point on, the policy is this:

If a customer is wandering around the store while they are waiting for a repair, waiting for a friend or waiting for anything, they are to be helped by any free salesperson or sales assistant. If that salesperson strikes up a relationship, gets their name and address or better yet, sells them something, then that salesperson would take them over. If the person has been in before they should be asked, “Who normally helps you?” And if they don’t know or if they have not been contacted by their salesperson for 3 months or more, then they are taken over by the new salesperson.

The idea is not for salespeople or sales assistants to “steal” other people’s customers. The intention is to see that every person in the store is helped by someone. If the person has never been in before then it is really not a problem.

Yes, occasionally a salesperson will “lose” someone from their customer list this way. But if they are attentive to the sales floor, they will “gain” some this way as well.

If there is any question over “whose customer is it” then the Sales Manager can decide after the sale is made but THAT sale belongs to the person that made it.

The policy on “Hey! That’s My Customer” can also be consulted.

Let’s help all customers by showing them estate, HOF, watches or anything else. Custom work can be brought up and discussed as well. A great question is, “Have you ever thought of making a one of a kind piece for someone? Or for yourself?” Then just start talking about it!

Let’s SHOW AND SELL!