5 Simple Steps to Close a Retail Sale
When you are shopping in a store, what is it with the lines that retail employees always seem to ask? Questions such as "Can I help you find something?" or "Are you finding everything okay?" The common thread among these phrases is that they're all lame excuses for trying to drum up some interaction with customers to close a retail sale.
There's a fine line between blending into the background and being overly aggressive when working in a retail setting. Sometimes management wants employees to be a little more forceful, to push sales. Plant the seed and then "move in for the kill" is closer to what they mean.
We're not all natural born salespeople
The truth is that we're not all salespeople. Some people are just wired to be natural salespeople and others are not. I fall into the latter category—I always feel hard selling to someone feels too contrived and just downright cheesy.
One company I was working with needed to drum up additional sales, and so purchased a self-guided sales training toolkit for its employees. After paging through it, I felt it offered those same hard sell, contrived techniques that are part of sales training kits everywhere—it just wasn't me.
Selling shouldn't be so hard on you or your customer.
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5 simple steps to close a retail sale
The tenets of selling are the same, no matter what (or where) you're selling. You just have to follow these simple steps:
1. Proactively engage the customer
Don't just ask the customer if you can help them find something. Greet them warmly, then tell them about a sale that's going on or a new product line that's just come in. The number of people who tell me they're amazed that no one even says hi anymore when a customer walks in is staggering. Stand out from your competition.
2. Uncover the customer's needs
Ask open-ended questions. Probe. If they're browsing and looking at a particular item, proceed to tell them one, two, or three interesting things about the product or brand.
3. Recommend a variety of solutions
Offer two or three options once you've uncovered the customer's needs. You'll instantly become the expert in their minds.
4. Overcome buying objections
If you sense resistance to buy, try to determine if it is because of size, quantity, price? Probe, and then go back to recommending solutions. If you know what the customer's issue is, you can find a solution that works for them. It's all about the customer and their needs. It shouldn't be about your need to sell the biggest or most expensive item, it's to sell the customer what they want and need.
5. Close the sale and leave a lasting impression
This is the part that makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck: "Shall I wrap this up for you?" or "How would you like to pay for this?" You've heard all the lines before. I like the "Shall I put this behind the checkout for you [so you don't have to carry it around]?" line. It's helpful and fairly unassuming.
As for the lasting impression, you know the drill. Thank them by name. Carry the bag around the front of the cash wrap and hand it to them. Warmly thank them and ask them to let you know how the product is working for them.
It shouldn't be so painful to close a retail sale
Selling doesn’t have to be so hardcore that it's uncomfortable for you and the customer. Just follow the steps and work through the process to close a retail sale. You'll see your sales increase as a result.
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