Sales Strategy

Jimmy DeGroot: Kayla Lost Her Focus September 18, 2024 (0 comments)

Green Bay, WI--Lisa called me last week because one of her salespersons wasn’t hitting her monthly goals. She told me that “She’s always been a great salesperson, but her closing ratio has dipped well below the store’s average, and I don’t know how I can help her.” I had an opportunity to chat with this person, Kayla, about what’s going on and after listening to her for a few minutes, I asked her, “Think about the last customer you waited on this morning. What can you tell me about her biggest reason for being in the store?” Kayla could tell me what she was looking for, but she could not tell me anything about her customer’s WHY or MOTIVATIONS or what was important to her about this purchase.

Kayla is a big-time student of the industry. She has several qualifications from training labs and even sales training programs, but she wasn’t connecting with customers in a meaningful way. The result has been nominal sales success at best.

I told her for the next week to learn something more personal from every customer, no matter if they were in for a 377 watch cell or a Rolex. She’s very knowledgeable about sales and product, but she just wasn’t making that real connection that makes our independent jewelry stores stand out from all other stores. I always tell people that if they get this one thing right, a focus on the customer and what’s important to THEM, then all our sales and product training will fall into place.

Now, I’m a sales trainer so don’t get the idea that I’m condoning just wingin’ it out there on the sales floor. Continual training is crucial, but it’s so much more effective when we have magnificent customer focus added to it.

I would be remiss if I didn’t encourage you to give your team some booster training for the holidays. What if you could grow your sales by just a few percent? Hmmm… Something to think about.

James (Jimmy) DeGroot is a professional jewelry sales and operations trainer from the jeweler’s side of the counter. Having been in management and the jewelry business for over 20 years, Jimmy offers weekly training to jewelers nationwide via the Train Retail website. Jimmy is an AGS titleholder and specializes in training relevant and timely methods for jewelry teams. He can do a full training on making Bridal Presentations the best they can be, among many other regular training options. Contact Jimmy at jimmy@trainretail.com or call 920-492-1191.