Incorporate Add-On Selling this holiday weekend and ethically take advantage of every, single selling opportunity!
* Schedule a store meeting completely devoted to suggestive selling. Explain how it works: You sell the customer the primary item, and then add on additional items that complement the original item. Keep suggesting items until the customer says no. Encourage everyone to give it a try – everyone wins when the store is doing well.
At your meeting, hold up an item and ask associates to shout out additional items that could be sold along with it. You will be amazed at how many combinations they will come up with. If you come across a solitary item with no add-on opportunities, encourage associates to suggest items that are on special that particular day.
From this point on, set aside 10 minutes at each store meeting for a suggestive selling exercise. Your associates will rise to the occasion, and they will gain confidence; the main ingredient in selling.
* An easy way to add on to the sale is a sales trick called Bundling – packaging related products and/or services together into one package or kit. Consumers have been taught to believe package deals are a better value than items that are purchased separately, so it works in your favor.
Bundle various products, accessories, and a class together. (We like adding the class because it encourages the customer to come back again.) Bundling creates add-on sales even when the customer is shopping without the aid of an associate.
Ask associates to suggest items that could be bundled together to increase sales. Display your bundles on a table, speed bump display, or end feature in a prominent location. Keep it fresh! Change the display as the bundles sell down, or at least every other week.
* Choose an “Item of the Day” and display it prominently. Try “Buy one, get one at half off;” “5 items for $25;” or a special price that’s valid just for the day.
* Give associates incentives for using suggestive selling. Assign daily quotas and keep track at the cash wrap.
This holiday weekend and all year long, encourage associates to read labels, especially the labels on products they’re not familiar with. Vendors put information on their labels because they know in some stores the product will have to sell itself.
We were in a Steve & Barry's this afternoon, looking at Sarah Jessica Parker's Bitten line. One of the t-shirts read "Paz" and we asked what that meant. The associate said, "It's Italian. It means 'Peace'. In French." Product knowledge is a good thing! Make sure that your associates know their stuff. Customers hate asking about a particular product or application, only to hear the associate say, “I don’t know. I’ve never done/tried/worn that before.” Given the choice, today’s consumers prefer to shop at stores with educated and informed associates. If you don't know the answer to a customer's question, the best thing to say is, "I don't know but I'll be happy to find out."
At your meeting, hold up an item and ask associates to shout out additional items that could be sold along with it. You will be amazed at how many combinations they will come up with. If you come across a solitary item with no add-on opportunities, encourage associates to suggest items that are on special that particular day.
From this point on, set aside 10 minutes at each store meeting for a suggestive selling exercise. Your associates will rise to the occasion, and they will gain confidence; the main ingredient in selling.
* An easy way to add on to the sale is a sales trick called Bundling – packaging related products and/or services together into one package or kit. Consumers have been taught to believe package deals are a better value than items that are purchased separately, so it works in your favor.
Bundle various products, accessories, and a class together. (We like adding the class because it encourages the customer to come back again.) Bundling creates add-on sales even when the customer is shopping without the aid of an associate.
Ask associates to suggest items that could be bundled together to increase sales. Display your bundles on a table, speed bump display, or end feature in a prominent location. Keep it fresh! Change the display as the bundles sell down, or at least every other week.
* Choose an “Item of the Day” and display it prominently. Try “Buy one, get one at half off;” “5 items for $25;” or a special price that’s valid just for the day.
* Give associates incentives for using suggestive selling. Assign daily quotas and keep track at the cash wrap.
This holiday weekend and all year long, encourage associates to read labels, especially the labels on products they’re not familiar with. Vendors put information on their labels because they know in some stores the product will have to sell itself.
We were in a Steve & Barry's this afternoon, looking at Sarah Jessica Parker's Bitten line. One of the t-shirts read "Paz" and we asked what that meant. The associate said, "It's Italian. It means 'Peace'. In French." Product knowledge is a good thing! Make sure that your associates know their stuff. Customers hate asking about a particular product or application, only to hear the associate say, “I don’t know. I’ve never done/tried/worn that before.” Given the choice, today’s consumers prefer to shop at stores with educated and informed associates. If you don't know the answer to a customer's question, the best thing to say is, "I don't know but I'll be happy to find out."
