Sales Tips

Get Smart - Educate Yourself and Your Sales Staff

To become a better business person, you need to educate yourself. No, this doesn't mean you will have to go off and get an MBA. Rather, it means becoming more savvy with your business.

First, make sure that every employee knows how to give directions to the store.

Second, store clerks should make mental and physical notes of key customers and their product preferences.

Third, your prices need to be competitive. To enhance your margins and to acquire products from suppliers at "good" prices attend distributor shows.

When you go to that distributor show - bring your store inventory on key products. To take advantage of all these great buying opportunities at the show you have to be aware of how many you have and how many you sell, in say six months, to buy smart.

The other key strategic reason to go to a distributor show is that NEW sells and you need to learn what is new. The distributor and manufacture representatives at the show are there to work for you.

No doubt you have to have promotional commodity products in your inventory. Just don't "sell" them. You need to spend your valuable time and expertise "selling" quality feature-and-benefit-rich branded products for which you make significantly more margin.

What does your store look like? If it is not neat, clean, well lit and organized you are not selling smart. Ask your reps their frank opinion of the "perception" of your store. After all, they get around and have been in hundreds of stores.

Never play "Stump the Dummy" with a customer. The retailer never wins when he belittles a customer. This is an individual who has spent time, money and effort to seek us out and buy something. We need to embrace these neophytes with open arms and take them under our wings to educate them.