Let me paint the picture here. You’re standing around your store chatting with your coworkers, when all of a sudden a customer comes in. You open with a, “Can I help you?” To which the customer replies with, “No thanks, I’m just looking.” You just dug yourself a hole and made the sale just that much harder. Here’s how you avoid the dreaded, “No thanks, I’m just looking.”
The first step in your approach begins before a customer even walks into your store. Ever hear the saying, “A good employee doesn’t wait for tasks, they make tasks?” You might not believe it but it helps with the approach. Even doing small things that aren’t really tasks, like looking through your merchandise or being on the computer, is a lot better than standing around. As long as you look like you’re doing something and giving the illusion that you’re busy. That way when a customer walks into your store they won’t see you as a vulture waiting for an easy kill.
The other mistake was approaching and starting a conversation with them by using a closed ended question. They can answer you with one word and end the conversation right there. Examples of this are, “How are you?” and the “Can I help you?” Get them talking, so you can build a connection with them and they’re more likely to trust you which means they’re more likely to buy from you. It’s a process called, “building rapport.” Pick up on things they have or are wearing and ask them about it. Questions like “Oh I see you have a bag from x company, I haven’t been there lately, what kind of things do they have in there now?” Or another good greeting is, “I like your shirt, where did you get it from?” Basically ask them something that will take more than a yes or no answer, don’t even worry about the sale just yet.
This may sound off topic but research things on the internet about “How to pick up a woman” or “How to approach women.” The fundamentals are pretty much the same as what you’re trying to do in sales, but instead of trying to get their phone number you’re trying to sell them something. In both scenarios, it’s all about the approach. You only have one chance to make a good approach and earn their trust.
It takes practice to stop greeting customers with, “Can I help you?” It took me a solid month before I stopped greeting customers that way. On your dead time at work pull out a pen and paper and come up with some good greetings. It helps you with your approach and it makes you look busy like we discussed. Practice makes permanent.
image provided by Sufi Nawaz
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