Here are five methods to increase your overall sales and profits
while not making a sale. Sound confusing? Perhaps at first, but I’m convinced
that if you do certain things with every customer you’ll make more sales
even when not making a sale.
1. Believe that every customer who walks
into your store will buy. Run your floor as if there is no such thing as a
looker. The minute we label a customer “just a looker” we’ve decided they aren’t
buying. Most customer are “just looking” because that’s what they’ve been
programmed to do. No one walks into a wine store who doesn’t have some interest
in wine. No one walks into a luggage store if they don’t have an interest in
luggage. For now on let’s call “lookers” “undecided buyers.”.
2. Try to sell something to every customer. Oh no, it’s that
four letter word, sell! I could change it to try to exchange product for
money with every customer. Very few retailers try to sell something to every
customer. They greet customers. They show products. They ring sales. They help
people. But very few retailers try to sell the customer something. Our own
shopping experiences prove that. If you’re looking at two different sweaters,
chances are the retail associate, assuming one is even attempting to help you,
will tell you which one she likes. She might say something like “That one’s
cute.” Or she might say “I like that one on you better.” The successful retailer
who is out to make sales will say, “You should buy that one, it looks great on
you.” That’s how you try to sell something to every customer.
3. Know why someone is leaving the store without making a purchase.
Obviously if you’re in a high traffic store this can be difficult,
but most of us should be able to engage and establish enough of a relationship
with a customer to know why he is leaving without buying something. Remember, we
can’t say he was just looking.
4. Thank every customer for visiting the store and invite him/her
to come back. Many retailers thank a buying customer and invite her back, but
most don’t extend an invitation to return to those who exit without buying
something. Most consumers today are very busy and when they come into our store
and give us an opportunity to share our products with them and present us with
the chance to make a sale, it is only right to thank them for their time.
Inviting the customer back just makes sense because we want another opportunity
to share our store with him/her.
5. Capture the customers contact information. I’m sure I sound
like a broken record to long-term newsletter readers, but getting customer
contact information isn’t enough of a priority for retailers. If a person is in
your store you know he/she has an interest in what you sell, so doesn’t it make
sense to get contact information and talk to them again? Imagine how much your
sales will increase if you get half of the people who walk in your door to come
back within a month and make a purchase. Find an incentive for customers, both
buyers and non-buyers, to share with you their contact information. Perhaps you
could be something like a drawing for a shopping spree each quarter. Once a week
sweep the names and then send the customer a $5 gift card. The worst thing that
can happen is they come back and only spend $5 for products that cost you $2.50
or so. For every customer who does that, there will be plenty of others who will
spend a lot more. Getting the customer back in again will also increases the
likelihood that he/she will become - and remain - your customer.
- Doug
About the author:
Doug Fleener is a veteran retailer with over 25
years of hands-on retail experience with world-class retailers including Bose
Corporation and The Sharper Image. He has also owned and operated his own
specialty stores. In his ten years at Bose, Doug grew the Retail Direct Group
from four to 100 stores and was instrumental in developing Bose’s unique and
engaging retail methods.
Doug is now president and managing partner of
Dynamic Experiences Group LLC, a Lexington, MA based retail and customer
experience consulting firm dedicated to helping retailers improve their customer
experiences that results in higher sales and profits.
Fleener is the author of the book The Profitable
Retailer: 56 surprisingly simple and effective lessons to boost your sales and
profits. He is a frequent speaker around the world on retail issues and his
insights has been covered in leading business media including The New York
Times, Entrepreneur, and Shopping Centers Today. Along with
partner Matt Norcia they write the popular retail blog Retail Contrarian.
Doug lives in Lexington, Massachusetts with his
wife and two daughters, where in his free time he barbecues while listening to
Jimmy Buffet music.
