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Is Your Staff Selling or Socializing?
My mother and I were out shopping this weekend for Christmas presents. We visited eight stores, a selection that included independents and department stores, and not once did any "salesperson" actually try to "sell" anything to either of us.
At The Bay, my Mom wanted to get some sheets. She was interested in striped sheets. There were three salespeople chatting at the cash desk. I asked one if they had any striped sheets. "No," she said, "I don't have anything like that." She then returned to her conversation with the other two women. She didn't attempt to show us anything different. She didn't ask what price range my Mom had in mind or what quality of sheets she was interested in. Nothing. Apparently socializing with her colleagues was more important than making money for the store that employs her.
At another independent shop, we stopped and selected a candleholder as a gift. I asked the salesperson if they had any candles. "No," she said. She didn't volunteer any other information (e.g. where we might get candles). She didn't do anything other than say that she would put the candleholder back on the shelf for us if we didn't want it. "Okay," I said.
In store after store, the same scene played out. No-one seems to get the fact that "selling" is a part of retail. Considering the economy, all retailers should be really focused on increasing their conversion rate. The customer is in your store, sell him or her something! Ask who they're shopping for; make a suggestion; make two or three suggestions. Socializing can wait. Folding towels can wait. Unpacking boxes of product can wait. Customers who are not getting any service won't wait. They'll leave, often without buying anything.
I've used this space before to ask whether your employees are salespeople or clerks. If your staff members aren't actively "selling," they aren't converting browsers into buyers, and it's your store's bottom line that's suffering. Can you afford it?
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Lori Smith, , Editor-in-Chief
Lori Smith is the editor of Gifts and Tablewares, Canada's premiere gifts and tablewares magazine. Written for retailers of gifts, tablewares, housewares, stationery and home furnishing accessories, its objective is to help readers increase their sales and run their businesses more profitably by providing information on new products, merchandising, small business management, customer service, consumer behavior and industry news. The magazine is published six times a year by BIG Magazines, LP, a leading Canadian information company.
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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on December 15, 2008 5:05 PM.
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