Client says, "I'm just looking around." - Retail Sales

welcome to the sales influence podcast where we talk about finding the why in how people buy I'm your host Victor Antonio and today I want to talk about a question I received and I've been getting a lot of questions about retail you know how do you some of the selling techniques I teach on retail cuz I'm usually talking about business-to-business so many you were writing in and saying Victor let's do some b2c stuff let's talk about business to consumer and I'm getting a lot of retail questions so this question comes from Joanne she said sir by the way when you send me an email don't put sir anyway sir may I consult you quickly if the client says they have no type or they're just browsing how do you think we can make a sale and they're already in the store but that's what they say so in other words I have to assume she didn't give me a lot of detail so I'll have to fill in some of the context here let's just say assume that she's working in a clothing store and we've all done this right we've walked into a store so he says can I help you find something and you say no I'm just looking around but most people don't know that simply asking that question can I help you find something studies have shown that sales are increased by 30% by simply asking that question so the question by itself is already an influencer mechanism it gets people to buy 30% more the time now that said let's let's take a step back before I answer the question what should she say what should she do let's go back and look at Robert Chow Dedes book called influence now if you're listening to this and if you've not read the book influenced by Robert shell Dini who talks about six principles and talks about the psychology of persuasion you are missing out robert cialdini's book influenced the psychology of persuasion and in there there are six principles of influence that he talks about now I want to highlight three because a three that I wanna highlight actually can be used in a retail sale situation the first one is social proof now social proof is a very fascinating thing when you see other people doing something that makes you want to do it let me give an example social proof when you see a long line at a restaurant you think what hmm that must be a good restaurant but if you see an empty restaurant you say maybe that's not such a good restaurant you keep walking now why did a long line attract you why because other people are eating there that social proof when you see other people doing it you must think hey that must be the right thing to do you ever walk into a situation let's say some I don't know an elegant party or ceremony of some sort and you don't know how to behave so the first thing you begin to do is to look around to see what other people are doing and again you mimic them right that's you're looking for social proof what you need to do now when you see other people doing something like I say somebody owns a house you say well there's social proof that somebody can't own a house and maybe I can own that also so social proof is really about looking at other people and having them prove to you that whatever they're doing is possible for you the second thing he talks about is scarcity oh we've all heard that sales pitch before well there's only three left that's scarcity when you talk a buyer into buying something by letting them believe that if they don't make a decision right now they're going to miss out on an opportunity and that's scarcity the third principle he talks about is like you know this is important as simple as that statement may be liking it's an important statement because people who are like you people who are like you aren't what are gonna like you in other words when people sound like you when people look like you when people behave like you at a subconscious level you like them more in fact one study showed that if I simply said to you you know I really like you immediately you're going to have a positive reaction towards me and you're going to start liking me also why because I told you I like you so when people know you like them or you're very similar to them there's a connection there there's some type of synchronicity going on so again three of the six principles of influence that Robert Cialdini talks about is social prove what other people are doing is proof that maybe you should do that also scarcity get it while it lasts and liking if I like you and you like me I guess we like each other and people buy from people they like we've all heard this right so now let's go back to Joanna's question sir may I consult you quickly if a client says they have no time or they're browsing how do you think we can make a sale and they're already in the store but that's what they say so in other words well he says I'm just looking around I'm just browsing what do you say what's not only about what you say it's what you do so here's what I would suggest jo-ann first of all always smile be friendly but here's the important component their smile there's being friendly but also be excited there's something about enthusiasm part of selling is transferring that enthusiasm so when somebody walks in you smile no matter what their attitude is you're going to smile you can be friendly and you're going to be excited about what your son says and if they say Lehr just browsing you say something like this well we love it in fact you say I love it when people come in here to browse we have such a lot of things going on and then you say something like this let me highlight just a few things and then you maybe point them in that direction or walk with them in a certain direction so see right here and let's say it's men's clothing right you could today we have these shirts on sale these are fantastic shirts and then what you can do is add a benefit add some social proof and add a little scarcity here's how you do it you say well let me just highlight and let me start from beginning so you make sure you get it all smile be friendly get excited and say you know well I love it when people come in to browse let me highlight a couple of things you move in that direction you point you see these shirts here today they're on sale now they're extremely comfortable and have a soft cut and other men who bought those shirts really love it and they're going fast and again right there in that small statement I just inserted a benefit social proof and some scarcity benefit here are some shirts they're extremely soft men who've purchased these shirt love them scarcity they're going fast and again you can then point over to some pair of pants and do the same thing see these pants right here these are pests are very popular right now because of the material that they're made of and the good thing is that they're good for bottle sizes or and then you talk about you know right there those just went on sale this week and they're going like hotcakes again come up with your own phraseology and then you say something like this and then add the dressing room is right over there my name is Joanne if you need anything let me know I'm here to help you now the good thing about that approach is that somebody wants to come in some people really don't like to be bothered when they just want to look around but everybody everybody listen carefully everybody wants to know about a sale that's going on everybody wants to know about some benefit that may benefit them so by highlighting some shirts that are on sale they're extremely soft men love them that's telling the customer hey here's some products you might want to look at and then you talk about some pants just pick one or two things that's it one or two things and just highlight those two things if you're in the clothing store most likely somebody's going to come in for shorts or pants so by highlighting one specific thing don't highlight 20 things okay that'll just confuse them remember a confused mind will never make a decision but just highlighting two things that they should be aware of mention the benefit again mention why it's good for them talk about social proof other people buying it and then if there's scarcity because it's a sale and there only so many left we don't have any more on inventory mention that as well people need to feel comfortable when they walk into your store they need to feel like they're at home they don't need to feel pressured but that's what that's what the pitch does and makes people feel comfortable when they walk into the store that's all people want lastly I just want to emphasize this to my friend Joanne and those of you listening when somebody comes into the store and you know sometimes people just have a negative attitude right they just had a bad day they just look like you know somebody just shot their dog right and now I was like I'm just looking around and they have that look now there is a difference a fundamental difference between reacting and responding if they're negative and you follow their lead in other words they come in with a bad attitude and you just give them a half-hearted welcome well guess what you're reacting to their negative disposition that's never good what I want you to do is never react always respond in other words if they come in with a negative attitude you're not going to follow their lead you're going to still overpower them with your enthusiasm you're going to be smiled you'll be friendly you're gonna be excited and you're going to be helpful and again I don't care who the person is if you can highlight something for them Church over here here's some benefits talk about who's buying them social proof by the way they're on sale we don't have that many left you might want to take a look at that over here we have some pants same thing hid the benefit talked about people who are buying it and again we only have so many in inventory and let me know if I can help you in any way my name is Joe and I'll be right over there and then you walk away and guess what people now will feel comfortable in the store you've given them your pitch you walked away now you let them make the decision that's how you sell retail when somebody says I'm just looking around this is Victor Antonia I hope that tip was helpful Joanne thank you for the email that's it for the sales influence podcast don't forget to leave some feedback on iTunes stitcher or you tube let me know what you think I greatly appreciate it for those who you have left feedback especially on iTunes I really do appreciate it thank you very much also check out my sales training website seminars on selling calm where you'll find great training videos for you or your team to help you grow your business lastly I want to thank you for listening this is Victor Antonio always reminding you selling it hard when you don't have take care every manager can feel it the difference between a motivated value-driven sales team and one that's stuck in a rut CEOs know the difference - they can see it clearly in the profit and loss columns the question is how do you get your team to this elite level is there something extra you can do to break through the remaining resistance and equip them with the right mindset to grow your business yes there is but you're not going to do it with one of those cheesy inspirational speakers or some self-proclaimed guru what you need is someone with a real business track record to deliver key insights in a captivating way to give your team the right tools for selling in today's tough marketplace enter victor antonia experienced executive innovative thinker compelling speaker he's ready to deliver the message you need your people to hear not with a canned speech but a customized dynamic keynote designed to deliver results bring Victor Antonio to your next event before the competition does

Channel: Victor Antonio

Views: 216,776

Keywords: retail sales, selling clothes, how to sell, just looking around, just browsing, no thank you, victor antonio, sales expert

Id: PCWWiklUwfM

Length: 11min 40sec (700 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 04 2017