Retail Sales Tips on Approaching Potential Customers

Retail sales tips on how to increase sales with one simple technique.

Use this sales skill to get more of your potential customers talking to you.

This one simple action will break down the barriers between retail sales people and their customers.

A retail sales training idea that has worked for many types of showrooms, shops, and direct sales outlets.

Approach prospects with confidence beacuse you have a great introduction.

Move away from tired old fashioned ways of approaching customers and build an instant relationship that will increase retail sales.



Make this one simple change

Think about the increased sales you or your sales team could make if you could get more of your retail customers talking to you.

Increase the number of customers that talk to you.

That will increase the number of customers that buy from you.

With these retail sales tips customers see sales people as advisors, experts, and there to help them.

Not high pressure closers waiting to pounce on a buying signal.

How much could you increase your retail sales by if you could get more of your customers to talk to you.


Put this retail sales training into action

To put this retail sales training into action all you have to do to is:

Stop asking your customers: How can I help you?

And start telling them: What I can do for you is...


A retail sales training example

In some retail and showroom sales outlets I can see how they could double their sales.

Let me show you how.

Here’s a typical example of what happens when a customer enters a shop, showroom, or forecourt. This can be a large or small retailer, selling anything from big ticket items to low value, one off, over the counter sales.


Example

The customer enters and a sales person approaches them and asks a question such as:

Can I help you?

Do you want any assistance?

Are you okay there?

Be honest, what type of answers do you expect from customers?

Unless the customer is really looking to buy, or desperately wants information, you will get answers such as:

I’m okay

I’m just looking

And, no thank you

In any sales or telesales situation you will get a greater response to sales questions if you first give the prospect a reason why they should answer. You will close more deals and increase retail sales.


Here’s the important part of these retail sales tips:

Before asking a question you should state your credentials and give the buyer a potential benefit that they can gain from talking to you.

This can take just a few seconds, but it sets the scene and gets the customers talking.


Retail sales training tips

When you first approach a retail customer tell them what you can do for them.

Tell them something, briefly about your experience, position in the business, qualifications, and how you can help them.

Introduce yourself as an expert, an advisor, and someone that can help them to make informed choices.

For more information on introducing yourself to customers open Elevator pitch for sales people.


The next of the retail sales tips is to get the customer talking.

Once you have introduced yourself you can then ask them an open question to start the conversation and gain the information you need to close the sale.

If you don’t know which questions to use to open a conversation take a look at Sales questioning techniques


Retail sales tips for your introduction

Here’s how to increase retail sales by doubling the number of customers that talk to you.

Write a new, brief, introduction that you will now use when approaching customers.

The key elements of your new introduction are:

  • Your name
  • Position, skill, qualification, or experience
  • How you can help them
  • An open question to start the conversation


Remember the aim of this retail sales training is to:

Make the customer feel comfortable, and not see you as someone waiting to hit them with a sales close. You can even tell them that in your introduction. Tell them that you are there to offer information and advice.



Some examples to help you increase retail sales

Here are some examples of lines you can use in your introduction when you approach retail customers.

Fashion / Clothing – You can give the customer the look they want because…

Car sales – As a (engineer, mechanic, 10 years experience, safety expert,) you can help the customer by…

Home / DIY – You are a . . . . . So you can help the customer select the (best, safest, most economic,) products for their needs.

Business to Business – With your experience of helping other businesses to . . . . . you can give sound advice and talk them through the information they will need before deciding to buy.



More help building your retail sales introduction

I’m a working sales manager and I rely on the training I give to my sales teams to keep my job and earn a good living.

The sales training workbook course, Selling Success, is the course my teams use to build new sales pitches, from the introduction stage, through to closing the sale.

It will show you how to build a complete sales pitch and has already helped many people to increase retail sales.

The step by step exercises show you how to use your own words and phrases to build unique sales stages for your products or services.

Learn more about the Selling Success workbook training course by clicking the link or the image above.