As the general population is starting to prep for the holidays, retail must be one step ahead by focusing on sales training. We want to start this month off by looking at your buyer. Whether you are a sales rep, owner of a retail store, or someone who wants to learn tactics for being great at selling, it all starts with understanding what your buyer is thinking. 

Rarely are people going into a retail environment without an objective. Of course, they might tell you they are “Just looking," and if you don’t know how to respond, they will leave. 

As someone in the sales industry, you must answer YES to the following five questions in your buyer's mind:

1. Do I like you?
2. Do you listen to me?
3. Do you make me feel important?
4. Do you understand me?
5. Do I trust and believe you?

Do I like you?

Most humans take 2-5 seconds to assess whether or not they like another individual. When our buyers come into our store, they do the same thing. Over time, we have been programmed to say staple phrases such as “How can I help you?" or "Everything is 20% off today!” as a way of connecting. More than likely, the buyer will respond with a “No”. I don’t like you.

Rather, teach your staff to be busy but look up with a host mentality. Welcoming anyone who comes in, while giving the buyer room to breathe and then, following where they land.

If you are a sales rep, create an appointment with your buyer, don’t just show up and act like you own the store.

Do you listen to me?

This question is critical and one that we, as humans, fall short of executing. How can we get better at listening? Well, listening has two parts:

1. Active listening. Show your buyer physically that you are listening by your body language.
2. Deep listening. Empty your mind and go beyond what is said. Be confident that when your buyer tells you they are just looking, there is more to your buyer's story.

We have to begin to learn how to listen if we want to create moments of meaningful human connection.

Do you make me feel important?

One of the greatest human desires is to feel like we belong, to be a part of a larger whole. Often, this question gets overlooked because we are too busy looking through our lenses. This translates to our inability to allow people to buy from their wallets, not our own. We have to put our stories to the side and begin to make our buyers feel important. Ask yourself the following questions:

 1. What are ways that people make you feel important? What are those people doing?

 2. When have you felt you belong?  

 3. What was a time that you felt seen?

Do you understand me?

Empathy. You don’t have to become your buyer but you do have to understand what it is like to be your buyer. This is empathy at its core. Teach yourself to shut up and listen to emotional statements and then repeat what you/they have heard. Empathy starts when you choose to pause, relax, and see the human in front of you.

Do I trust and believe you?

This is the last and final question that allows your buyer to understand what they need to know to make a purchase. You have tied all the emotions (created a value bridge) so your buyer can make a decision. The key to this process is to train yourself and your staff about emotions (imagery) rather than where we tend to focus, which is features and benefits.

Features and Benefits at their core are tangible—easier to train, but this will not connect you to your buyer. Emotions are difficult because they are not tangible, but they are what we lead with when we make a purchase. So, we must invest in training ourselves and staff around the language of imagery. 

And this is just the beginning. In the next few weeks, we will be diving deeper into all things sales!