There is a difference… and you and your people must live with it!

If you sell higher priced items for the most part, hopefully you have real “salespeople” working for you. Most of the time, typical retail sales clerks are the ones often found running a small retail store. And I certainly understand that they have their place. Retail employees are usually hard workers and do a very good job at what they do. In fact, retail sales associates may be just what your particular store needs.

But you need to understand that. Sales employees are basically order takers, and while you may be able to train them to improve their skills, you need to have the right expectations for the person you hire. Are you hiring a vendor or salesperson? A different set of skills is needed for a shopper purchasing a dog treat, greeting card, or teddy bear, compared to a teddy bear. a buyer who is putting together a complete fashion ensemble, a parlor game, or a $2,000 pool table. The real difference is that a person who had the skills and training of a professional salesperson could not only sell the dog treat, but also some dog vitamins and some high-end dog food, turning that sale into several times the sale. single dog original. try.

We all know that retailers make money (or more money) when they make multiple sales. You don’t need me to tell you that your store makes more money when your customers buy more than one item from you.

But if you want more than just sales people working for you, then you need to hire them accordingly and/or seriously train and work with your people to learn the skills and understand the differences. At its simplest level, to get your customers to buy more, your employees must learn the art of making multiple sales. The simplest and most basic trick to get all this on track is to teach them to remember four magic words: did you see this? It is not aggressive. He is not pushy and becomes a key part of increasing sales as well as really listening to the customer.

In a menswear store, if a customer is shopping for a new suit, the salesperson should ask, “Did you see this tie? It looks amazing with that suit!” or “Did you see this shirt?” or “Have you ever considered French cuffs?” The buyer could refuse. Or he might just walk over and take a look at those things, even if he’s just being nice.

You can also buy the new shirt and some cufflinks and be delighted to have a complete outfit AND your full service approach.

You really never know. As long as the customer feels that you are sincerely trying to help, there is nothing wrong with trying to maximize the sale.

Your people should think of it as delivering and providing a complete useful service and completing the package, rather than just taking the dollars out of the customer’s wallet!

What you need to understand is that you should not put or expect retail employees to fill a position that really should be filled by salespeople. This gives you the wrong expectations of your people and puts them in a position they are not prepared or trained for. As a result, you may never be satisfied with them…all because you hired an amateur to do a professional’s job.

There’s nothing wrong with trying to turn your sales people into salespeople, as long as you and they understand the differences from the start. First talk to your people about how you’d like to help them become a sales professional. Get them to start thinking of themselves as salespeople or sales professionals. If they see themselves as a true salesperson, they are also more inclined to act like one. As part of your efforts to build any sales team, get your people to understand the following significant differences between a sales employee and a sales professional:

• A sales clerk believes he is being interrupted by a customer.
• A seller understands that the customer is the objective of the work and the store.
• The sales clerk concentrates on a variety of activities until interrupted.
• The salesperson is looking for the next sale and determining how he can help the customer.
• The sales clerk can be a genius at store stocking and merchandising.
• The salesperson is a genius at listening and understanding the customer’s needs and, more importantly, their “wants.”
• The seller concentrates on the merchandise and what there is to sell.
• The seller focuses on the customer and their needs.
• The vendor may be good at marketing a display of products.
• The vendor is good at talking and selling the products on display.
• The salesperson answers customer questions to the best of his or her ability when asked.
• The salesperson asks questions and tries to establish a human connection with the customer.
• The sales clerk may ask if there is anything else.
• The sales clerk can escort the customer to a part of the store and show them what else!
• A seller may try to ask for the customer’s email or contact information.
• The salesperson explains the benefits of being on the “exclusive” list of preferred customers.
• The clerk takes money from customers when they come to the cash register.
• The seller determines when the customer has made their final purchase decision and is ready to close.
• The sales clerk is usually paid just above the minimum wage.
• The seller earns more and should have incentives to sell more.

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