3 Ways of Increasing Retail Sales

3 Ways of Increasing Retail Sales

We’ve all heard the excuses for slumps in retail sales: Times are tough, the market is down, competition is on sale. But before we start blaming the wider world, every retailer, showroom manager or area manager should look inwards, and ask: what can WE do better? How can WE in our showroom(s) increase the sales with tools that are within our control? It is very rare that there isn’t any scope for improvement, even small changes can contribute towards reaching our goals.

Multipliers

Small changes can affect our KPIs: Conversion Rate, ATV and UPT. I find that most salespeople understand the KPIs but haven’t really been trained by their managers on how to drive them. We’ve often heard managers says that you just need to “sell one more” item per customer. It’s rarely that simple. one more item per customer is a substantial increase if you start with a basket size of 4 units and add just one more item. 25% is no small feat.

Instead, I would recommend breaking it down for your team. I often use an excel sheet so that when I sit down with the showroom manager, and He/She in turn sits with their team, they can use the same sheet. The objective is to break down performance into bite size pieces that are easier to understand in relation to the goals, and therefore easier to put into action, you identify what works and - multiply.

A conversation with the team on the above table could be along the lines of: if you increase conversion by X, your result will be Y and you do that by creating Z number of extra invoices daily or, by increasing the ATV of each invoice from 7,000 to 10,000 you will have achieved your normal sales value with fewer customers. So how do you go about achieving either of these?

The second part of the conversation is showing the team what they are good at, and how they can multiply that action/effort to grow their sales. Use this principle of identifying their strengths and encourage them to seek similar opportunities.

While the above idea might seem overly simplified, the theory behind it is to take a goal, break it down into smaller parts and use the KPIs to show the team HOW it is achievable. Having a positive, motivational conversation instead of just setting a goal and reprimanding them for not achieving it; i.e. “Here is your target and WHY did you not reach it?; plus proactively working with KPIs and developing a firm understanding on how to use them to multiply sales, will drive up performance. 

Sales tracker

The second tool is a “sales tracker”. A very good tool for when times are hard, and easy to break down in an excel sheet. Split the showroom/sales executives’ monthly target into weeks, and then monitor them every week, encouraging what they do well, and having an informal sales coaching session with them every week. It’s important that the session is in a positive tone and that you use “open-ended” questions such as:

·        What is the smallest step you could take to improve your sales?

·        Who could help you? And how?

·        What are the obstacles that makes it difficult to sell?

·        How do you react when you meet these obstacles?

·        How would you perform if you did not believe this?

·        What was the best sales experience you had this week? And why?

There are endless variations of these Open-ended questions that promote interaction by drawing out responses, information and ideas, and help the sales executive themselves come up with solutions and look past obstacles. 

I encourage having these sessions informally, as nobody wants to be pulled into the manager’s office each week. Have a session on the floor, over a cup of coffee, to promote trust, support and a sense of security that problems can be discussed openly, there is no shame in it and solutions can be found together, even though more often than not, the answers come from the sales person themselves.

Sales Competitions

I never grow too old for these. And I find that in today’s world with smart phones it is so easy to create short videos you can share via Whatsapp, or if your organization use the Workplace app, to make them memorable, and more engaging than ever before.

A tip for creating the videos. You can create videos by making power point slides and then using the power point presentation option to turn the the slides into a video. Enchance your videos with free audio from pages like Bensound, and have each slide play at different speeds (depending on text or visual) but keep them no longer than 30-45 seconds. To ensure that the videos are engaging make them fun, with not too much text, try conveying the spirit of the competition, and make sure to share it on every team members’ mobile phone.

My favorite ways of creating engaging competitions is to create a scorecard, that each sales associate can have, or having teams (or buddies) compete against each other.

Create a score board or a goal card that everyone can have in their pocket, this could be in same format as the loyalty cards you get in a coffee shop, wherein every 10th cup is free. Or create a “bingo” sheet where there are a number of different items you have to sell to get a “bingo”.

Prizes do not always have to be monetary but could also be as simple as a paid lunch, or a gift voucher depending on the level of complexity.

Conclusion:

There are many ways to increase sales, I have focused on 3 easy simple ideas here that can make a significant difference.

We live in hard times, sales targets that we ask our teams to commit to may seem like an impossible mountain to climb, if we as mangers, don’t support the teams and give them the tools they need to reach them.

What are your favorite tips to grow sales?

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