Whether you are working in a retail sales job that puts you in direct contact with customers, or if you are in the position of supervising those who do, there are several tips that need to be understood by all in order to accomplish a high level of customer satisfaction. Some of these may sound like common sense practices, but are mentioned here because they are not always as common as some may think, and even so, are a good reminder and refresher to everyone.
1. Never promise more than you can deliver. Lofty and compelling words can really motivate someone to make a purchase, but are your words always truth? Make sure they are, because even though you may be able to make a quick sell, it will almost always come back to haunt you later. When a customer is given one expectation, and then later learns that what they were told was not the absolute truth, it makes for frustrated and aggravated customers that will most likely be back to complain, and could lead to spreading bad reviews to others, hurting the business.
2. Take a different approach. Retail sales can be competitive, especially if you are in an area where there are other companies providing similar products and services. Instead of just competing, try to find a new unique way to reach your goals while providing a pleasurable and positive impression with your customers.
3. Use "special" words. There are many words that help to instill confidence in a customer, and here is a list of them as reported by other sites: free, new, you, discover, save, guaranteed, introducing, results, benefits, easy, proven, love, alternative, now, win, gain, happy, trustworthy, beautiful, comfortable, proud, healthy, safe, right, security, fun, value, advice, wanted, people and why. On the other hand, there are also words you should seek to avoid, such as: buy, purchase, obligation, failure, bad, sell, loss, liability, difficult, wrong, decision, deal, hard, death, order, fail, cost, worry and contract.
4. Sell them on the benefit, not the product. Simply presenting the item to a customer is not the task, but selling them on the great benefits it provides is the real key. Explain its function, the benefits of what it does, give real life examples of those benefits in action, and ask questions to bring the customer into the examples. "How do you see this function being used to your benefit?" - "Is this function beneficial to your situation?" and similar questions, may help to get the customer thinking as to how they will be able to take advantage of those functions too. Help them to see their need and uses for the items.
5. Closing the deal. There are steps that a customer will go through in their mind, before they can get to the point of an actual purchase. They have to decide: if they want it - if they want this one - if they want to pay this much - if they want it from you and/or your company/brand. Once you have gotten past the selling of the benefits (point 4), you can begin moving towards the closing. At the closing, the customer will be sorting through all of the positions mentioned, and they will be looking at the need/use/value of the item, and weighing it against the cost.
In the next part we will look at more aspects of the closing and other issues. In the meantime, if you have some other tips concerning the sections we have discussed, please share in the comments below.
Jeff McCormack resides in Virginia Beach, VA. where he works as a web designer by day. In his off time he is a husband, father, and musician. Aside from being a freelance writer for this Customer Service Jobs blog, he also seeks to assist in career choices and information by contributing to other Nexxt blog sites.
5 Tips for Top Performance
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