THE ART OF SELLING LINGERIE: TIPS AND TRICKS TO TEACH YOUR STAFF
Is your staff selling well? Whether you’re lacking the sales results you want or just want to keep things steady, your team is the key.
When it comes to your brick-and-mortar lingerie store, your employees are on the front line. They are the first person that your customers meet. They represent your brand.
Needless to say, how they help customers has a direct impact on your sales. So, what have you been teaching them so far? Showing them how to sell effectively could be the best way to take your business to the next level.
1. Make the right first impression
Your staff will never get a second chance to make the right first impression. While you’ve likely heard that people make their mind up about others in just seven seconds, the reality of the situation is far scarier.
In fact, according to a recent study, people decide whether they like someone and whether they are trustworthy in just 100 milliseconds of meeting them. That’s less than a second.
When it comes to your staff, there are many ways that they could be making the wrong impression on your customers. If in that tiny amount of time, your staff member is looking angry, playing with their phone, or gossiping, you could lose a customer.
Your team should always be alert to the needs of the customer. After all, if the customer doesn’t trust the person, there’s no way they’re going to buy from them. Simple.
2. Build some rapport
Many salespeople try to become best friends with the customer. That is a mistake. If your staff members are too familiar with your customers, it could prove to be a huge turn-off.
While they shouldn’t be acting like their pal, you do want them to build up a sort of rapport with each person who happens to walk into the lingerie store.
Remember, buying underwear can feel like quite an intimate task for many customers. Your staff members should do all that they can to be respectful of this fact. When they are approached by a customer, they should be open, friendly, and honest at all times.
What’s more, it’s important that they ask follow-up questions and appear interested in what the customer needs and what they are looking for.
3. Keep your body language open
In any social interaction, body language plays a seriously huge role. A massive 93% of communication is nonverbal, according to stats from The Nonverbal Group. While your staff members may be saying all the right things to customers when they meet them, you need to consider what their body language is saying at the same time.
If your team members don’t look approachable or friendly, there’s no way that they will be able to effectively sell to your customers. In fact, they may have the opposite effect.
So, where should you start when talking to them about body language? Well, one of the most important things to remember is that their stance should be ‘open.’ That means that they should not be crossing their arms, looking away, or turning away from the customer.
Equally, if you find that your sales team members are fidgety, this could set a bad example and fail to put the customer at ease. Instead, your team should be relaxed and open when dealing with customers. Simple.
4. Learn how to up-sell
Believe it or not, up-selling is not a dirty word. You may have heard of it before now and thought that it sounded like a cheap tactic to make more money.
It’s true that some business owners see it this way, but they are not the ones that use it effectively. No, when you get up-selling right, it can be a highly powerful tool and one that will not only make you more sales but also keep customers coming back for me.
The main thing to remember here is that your staff members need to understand the customers and what they want. When a shopper is buying a certain item, like a bra, it may make sense to offer them an accompanying item, like matching briefs.
The key here is spotting what the customer is getting and seeing whether there is anything in store that would complement it well. It’s about adding more value to what the shopper is buying and giving them a real shopping experience.
5. Go out of your way to help
Sometimes, the best sales tactics are the simple ones. When a customer comes into your lingerie store, they’re expecting a certain level of service. If they don’t get that from the offset, it gives them the wrong impression.
Teach your staff to do all they can to help customers in every possible way. At first, this may seem difficult, but it’s really all about attention to detail and always been conscious of the customer’s needs.
Conclusion
Ready to increase your sales? It could be time to train your staff up and watch them soar. Showing your staff the importance of selling is essential. When you teach them all of the above, you may just be surprised at how it changes their work.
SOURCE: Parfait.com