The Changing Retail Selling Process
The profession of selling is challenging and even more so with the “internet of things” happening all around us.
For decades, even centuries the basic selling process remained unchanged and would yield acceptable results.
Today the consumer is in charge like never before and the old selling process is not as effective as it once was and it is losing momentum rapidly. Clients spend more time shopping on line than off line, averaging 10.4 websites and they know what they want before they even enter a showroom.
I am going to propose that you change the sales process. Like learning a new dance, the new process will eliminate some old steps, increase the complexity of other steps and move certain aspects of the process around.
In Daniel H. Pink’s book “To Sell is Human” “adopting an attitude of service is the natural way for the profession of selling to advance.” You must believe in the value of your products and how they impact your customer. Selling an item or collection because there is a spiff that can be received has only a one way benefit. Putting the wants needs and desires of the client first is paramount in the new world of engagement.
Change your role to achieve your goal.
Salesperson – a person whose job is to sell things.
Adviser – A person who gives advice, typically associated with a professional.
The internet has taken away the role of the “Gate Keeper of Information” from the 21st century sales professional. At one time the salesperson was the only way to get any information on the product or service the consumer wanted. Today that’s not the case. Now the consumer comes to the store with various degrees of knowledge. It is our job to fill in the gaps in information that they may have and to advise and direct them to the best solutions for their situation.
The sales role has changed and has become more complex than ever in the past and it is time to embrace the changes because there will be no going back.
Technological advances have made great changes in the way products go to market and how we must sell to people in the 21st century. One of the most significant changes is that the “E-World” attempts to sterilize the sales process by removing or at the very least limiting the human personalization from the interaction. So as technology attempts to separate the human aspect from the sales process, I say relationships and Human to Human connection are more important than ever.
Retailers are discovering that the best way to sell is to be open and honest with their customers. Customers don’t want the old school, high pressure sales tactics or manipulation that has permeated the sales process for many years. Instead, customers expect to be greeted by a genuine person that demonstrates through words and actions they can be a trusted advisor, there to assist them with their purchase. The lighting sales professional of today must know the technical aspect of what the sell and how it will work and they must also have an eye for design. They must know each vendors products inside and out. Assisting the customers in the understanding of lumen depreciation as well as the quality of materials being used and the latest style trends.
In an effort to combat the nullification of the salesperson’s role a lift in expertise needed.
I suggest selling customers the “E – Way.” Engage, Educate and Effective Activitey.
What will the lighting salesperson of the future look like?
Engage:
When a customer visits your showroom they are there to do more than to check out the lighting. Whether they are aware of it or not, the customers are forming an emotional opinion of how they feel about the showroom, the interaction of the sales team with them and others on the staff. This will determine not only if the customer does business with you but also how much they will spend. Even if it ends in a purchase will they return for additional items or recommend the showroom and its staff to others.
Sales teams that are enthusiastic, engaged and full of life, that demonstrate a dedication to their work are more productive, have higher success rates, and customers love them. In the past the individuals that had these traits was also known as “Self Motivated or Directed.”
In a U.S. workplace study, Gallup found that only 30% of American employees are engaged in their jobs, while 52% are not engaged and 18% are actively disengaged. Millennials are the least engaging of the generations and for the showrooms to thrive we must train and expose this group of future leaders in the art of engagement. When sales people are not engaged in their roles, how will they ever transfer the enthusiasm and excitement they must bring to the table for the customer? As Zig Ziglar said “Timid (disengaged) salespeople have skinny kids.”
(http://www.gallup.com/poll/181289/majority-employees-not-engaged-despite-gains-2014.aspx)
Educate:
Educating a showroom team goes beyond PK training, many times the plugged in consumer already has more PK than they need. The education must be on the soft skills of human to human interaction that are not being taught in schools and the future generations are less in touch with those skills as a matter of the time period they were born into.
In the ‘90’s I attended a seminar held by Dr. Daniel Goleman on EQ, emotional intelligence. I was forever moved from the “old way” of doing things. Fast forward to 2015 and the soft skills of EQ are the missing building blocks of connection we need to instill in our showroom teams and the internet of things has made these skills more important than ever.
In the profession of sales, customer service and management having a high proficiency in the soft skills is a requirement.
Learning the soft skills is based in experience and is people related. Because it is a behavioral skill the best way to build proficiency is by interacting with people in real life situations or in mock situations, yes the dreaded role-playing. In either case having a candid coaching session at the conclusion will help the learner understand the emotional impact of a situation and guide them to realization. There is no quick or easy way to learn, adopt and apply the soft skills of EQ. It takes time and repetitive practice to transform experience into learning. When the combination of technical knowledge and soft skills are melded into customer connections success is sure to follow. In weekly meetings I worked with my staff on their professional development and my suggestion is to take a topic from the following list and incorporate the desired skill into your staff meetings. If you or your management are not skilled in these areas then your first step is to learn yourself.
- The Art of Questioning
- Listening Skills is more than waiting to talk
- Problem Solving
- Presentation Skills
- Story Telling
- Building Genuine Rapport
- Build a Mission or Branding Statement
Effective Activity:
Sales is all about effective activities. Nothing written about the methods above will make an impact if there is no activity. Even poor execution is better than not making the effort. It has been said in the past that the skill of selling is more art than it is science. I disagree. If anything it is at least a balance of the two that may weigh heavier towards science. In the end nothing happens without a sale.
What does effective activity in sales look like? It means that the day-to-day events performed by your sales staff are done in the ways that can be measured to be proven effective.
Key Performance Indicators (KPI). While sales volume may be a KPI, others indicators provide additional information and can be included, similar to these; email address collection, category penetration, customer contacts and gross margin.
Applying a system of managing in-process projects in your pipeline in order to promote the highest level of confidence with your customer.
Connecting with your customer base to increase lifelong retention and increase future sales.
Scheduled consistent group and individual reviews of wins and losses. The feedback on the implementation of the plan will develop the efficacy of your sales team. Consistency in meeting with staff, providing advice on the losses and promoting the benefit of the wins is the prime reason for sales success.
Continually working on the basics to refine the team’s edge is hard work and it is easy to become complacent or let the big matter of little things get in your way. If the sales team is expected to execute the strategy then it becomes the management / owners responsibility to actively the support what they need to be the best they can.
There Are No Shortcuts
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