“Features tell but benefits sell“
After learning this chapter, you will be able to understand:
- ·
how to make customers
to feel comfortable
- ·
how to make customers
to come back
- ·
how to be a successful
salesperson
11.4.1 The Customer Servant’s or Sales Person´s Attitude and Characteristics
Think: What characteristics are important for a customer servant or a sales person and how they can be developed?
A good customer servant or a sales person is customer-orientated, believes in hard work, and is enthusiastic about his work. He needs both certain personal characteristics and the support of his company for his success. There are also other characteristics he needs to have:
When you work as a customer servant, the right attitude for the job is important. It means being aware of the value of your work and respect for your own professional skills. The right attitude towards the customer means respect for the customer and willingness to serve. It is good to remember that serving a customer is always a chance to sell. Selling is serving the customer and producing him benefit.
A customer servant or a sales person is always sincerely interested in serving the customer, target-oriented and committed. He is brave, enthusiastic to learn new things, positive and solution-orientated, willing and able to make decisions. He is also a good team worker.
A good customer servant or sales person is an expert in his field. He is available, polite and friendly, accurate and quick, reliable and honest, flexible and understanding the customer’s situation and wishes. He knows the services and procedures or finds them out for the customer. He masters the professional vocabulary and his product knowledge is excellent.
There are more characteristics that define a good sales person. He stands in a straight posture, speaks clearly and in a voice loud enough so that the customers can hear and understand him. He is tidy and neat in his appearance; he makes sure that his working outfit is clean and according to the rules. In addition, he takes good care of himself. At work, there are various practices about tattoos and piercing. If the company does not have a working outfit as such, one should follow any guidelines given about this. Fresh appearance comes from cleanliness.
11.4.2 How to be a Good Customer Servant or Salesperson?
Think: What are the five most important characteristics of a good customer servant? List also five most important characteristics of a good sales person. Are there any differences?
A good customer servant or a sales person wants to provide his customer with his best competence; does not press anything upon the customer and accepts their opinion. He never lies to the customer, finds facts out, if he cannot answer or does not know something. He also notices the possibility for add-on sale and makes use of it, does a favor to the customer by offering a product that provides extra help to this and wants to handle customer service until it is complete.
A good customer servant or a sales person also masters his own products, knows the products of his shop, or at least their places in the shop and does not even think that he knows every novelty. He understands that customer satisfaction is the most important thing when closing a deal and is able to create a good atmosphere for it.
In addition to that, a good customer servant or sales person masters the right question techniques for identifying the needs of the customer. The right question technique has checking questions, open questions and suggestive questions. Remember that the way of presenting counts.
How to Become a Successful Sales Person?
Think: Do you have favorite shops in which you shop again and again? What are your reasons for buying right there and not anywhere else?
To be a good sales person means that you have to have focus on a lot of things. First, you have to have a customer oriented attitude. If a product is sold in various stores, customers shop either where the goods are cheap or where they feel comfortable. Today it is the sales person, not just the product that is the biggest factor influencing the customer to return to your shop or not. You will therefore check if you have the right skills and attitudes to make customers feel comfortable and return to your shop.
Second, to be a good sales person, you have to consider the tasks of a sales person. You have to keep the store tidy for the customer, to place the goods on racks, and check the condition of the goods on the racks. You have to assist in window dressing. You also have to encourage the customer to buy, and before that, determine the needs of the customer. You have to inform them about the new developments, supply them with promotion material. Also, you have to inform the customer about the usage and price of a product, and about payment terms. You have to issue invoices or receipts of the goods sold. Apart from these tasks, a good sales person has to ensure that products received by the enterprise are being delivered to the warehouse, obtain information about needs and stocks. He has to receive goods that are being delivered to the warehouse by counting them and deliver the goods requested from the warehouse on a timely basis by counting them again. He has to perform stock control and tracking of the product. In addition, he has to classify goods to be sold according to their types, classify damaged goods and those out of condition to send them to the relevant units.
Third, a good sales person knows how to get prepared for selling. It starts with welcoming the customer and asking questions to understand the desires and needs of the customer. After that a sales person offers a suitable product and provides information about it. He must be prepared to deal with objections and to answer questions.
Finally, he has to be able to handle cash desk procedures, not to forget after-sales service.
11.4.3 A Salesperson´s Appearance
One of the most important elements that influences the customer when being welcomed and during the sales process is the outer appearance of the personnel. The salesperson, the cashier, and all employees working in the store environment should appear clean and regularly take a shower, the mouth and teeth should be well-cared for. The hair should be clean and neatly combed. Male personnel should shave every day. Female personnel should have neat hair and light make-up for a dynamic appearance. The hands and nails should be clean and well-cared for, and the clothes clean and ironed, the shoes clean and polished. Name badges should definitely be worn, but exaggerated jewelry and accessories should be avoided.
Case: Improving selling skills
Agnes and Rihan are both good customer servants in Alma’s shoe store. Alma has noticed that Agnes sells more than Rihan. Alma would like to improve Rihan´s selling skills. She asks help from you. What are your tips for her?