Sales Strategy
The Importance Of Better Clienteling | July 20, 2016 (0 comments)
Omaha, NE—Today’s retailers are faced with the difficult challenge of keeping shoppers engaged. The marketplace is larger and more competitive than ever before. If you could increase your sales by 20% or more, would you like that? Of course you would! Would your sales people be happy to know that they could increase their sales by 20% or more and earn more money? Of course they would! Stores that increase their sales each year, rely on clienteling, to ensure success.
The power of clienteling is real. It is purely an extension of continuing the rapport with your customer. If you merely call them back when they call you, you’ve slipped into a passive role. Understanding and meeting their needs is only part of the successful sales dynamic; it’s essential to monitor the relationship with frequent contact to make sure your clients are still happy with the product or service and to address new needs that arise.
To get the best results in doing this, your staff will need to have a clienteling system and excellent time management. This may employ different tools and techniques to adapt to these positive changes. Below are suggestions on improving their time management. Remember we are looking for the greatest “return on effort” to improve their time efficiency, which in turn will give you a better return on investment:
- Do paperwork before and after the key selling hours
- Keep the number and length of breaks to a minimum
- Hold lunches to a reasonable length
- Avoid slow starts in the morning and quitting early in the afternoon
- Resist the impulse to stop selling when the weather is good or bad, when ales are off or when sales are good
- Stop personal business during the prime selling time
- Delegate the nonessential service or work that can be turned over to the support staff
- Be cautious about taking on jobs that reduce your selling time without adding to your sale success
Analyze the results on any of the above and make the changes that will save you the most time. Saved time equates to more selling time and that’s where productivity through better time management pays off.
Four Key Customer Groups:
- Female Self-Purchasers
- Male Special Occasion Buyers
- Bridal Customer
- Repair Customer
Clienteling Message. Be sure you have the right message in the right medium. Do your clients prefer a phone call? A Text? An Email? Something in the mail? Find out! Service and convenience are key.
Service:
- Create traffic and sales through service-oriented contact.
- When clienteling is executed appropriately, it’s all about servicing the client.
- If clienteling is just about a sale, it’s just about YOU. It must be about doing something for the customer.
Convenience:
- Make it easier and more efficient for people to do business with you.
- Stay top of mind – when people remember the relationship and experience in your store, as well as the contact you make, you will be their 1st choice!
- Maintain a gentle presence just in case they need you.
Women vs. Men Buyers. Women are browsers and impulse shoppers:
- Make sure they’re browsing in YOUR store!
- Create service calls just for these customers.
- Every time a woman comes into your store you have the opportunity to:
- Sell her something (for herself or others)
- Perform a service
- Get to know her better
- Update her wish list
Men are not shoppers, they’re buyers. Every time men come into your store:
- Know what you’re going to show him before you call him
- Don’t turn a buying trip into a shopping trip
- Offer solutions, not just suggestions
- Ensure he’s “successful” and “the hero”
Practice makes perfect. Help your team learn how to effectively clientele, and they will be more successful. If you need further help with training your staff on this topic or any other area, to ensure more sales success, please contact The Edge Retail Academy at Inquiries@EdgeRetailAcademy.com or 877-569-8657.
Darci Aselage, client services manager and business mentor, has been serving the Jewelry industry since 1989. In the start of her career, she grew from part‐time sales associate to the vice president of a multi-million dollar retail store in Ohio, where she contributed 19 years of service. Through her retail experience, along with gemological education from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and the American Gem Society (AGS), Darci was instrumental in directing all day‐to‐day operations. including retail sales, staff development and training, purchasing and inventory management, marketing and advertising, human resources and future growth forecasting. Darci has served in numerous community and jewelry organizational boards and committees and in 2005 was honored with receiving the Women's Jewelry Association (WJA)'s Midwest Rising Star Award. In continuing to propel forward in the industry, Darci demonstrates a strong vision to inspire and grow others using her abilities and talents.