Mastering the World of Selling: The Ultimate Training Resource from the Biggest Names in Sales

Chapter 79. No Thanks, I'm Just Looking!: Professional Retail Sales Techniques for Turning Shoppers into Buyers

Harry J. Friedman

The Friedman Group

THE PRIMARY GOAL OF OPENING THE SALE IS TO GET PAST RESISTANCE

What happens when a salesperson greets a customer in a retail store? Do you think you can predict the response in 90 percent of all these contacts? You bet you can: It's "No thanks, I'm just looking." It's amazing how many salespeople hear this and never seem to figure out how to get beyond that reply. I'm not talking about how to handle it once you have heard it—I mean how to avoid getting that response to begin with. I was in a store recently where the salesperson asked, "Are you looking for anything in particular, or are you just looking?" Talk about sleeping on the job! I had the irresistible desire to smack him and tell him to wake up!

ESTABLISH A PERSON-TO-PERSON RELATIONSHIP RATHER THAN A SALESPERSON-TO-CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP

A person-to-person relationship is the opposite of what I refer to as "clerking." Think of the last time you were in a store. Can you remember the kind of relationship you had with the salesperson? Or how about doing this exercise: Write down the stores and the salespeople you can name that you go back to time and time again because of the personal relationship and the terrific service.

This entire process begins in the opening of the sale. Take the few extra seconds in the beginning and you will have a customer who not only enjoys the process, but ...