Selling Can Be as Easy as 1,2,3! Are Your Numbers Adding Up?

If I had a tenner for every time a sales assistant greeted me with a bland “Let me know if you need anything”, I would no longer be a retail trainer for a living…

which would be unfortunate, because that’s exactly why this training is vital! ??

If you want your stores to survive on the high street, all your associates MUST master sales. The irony??

Instead of prioritising that, most teams settle for basic, generic customer experiences that are less inspiring than a PowerPoint presentation on potato salads… and then complain when they realise they’re falling behind ????

“But Kayleigh, not everyone can sell successfully all the time!”

“But it’s hard to keep our staff motivated every day!”

Sorry, but I call bull poopie.

Selling can become as natural as blinking. But if, in your stores, it feels more like a nervous eye twitch, it’s because you haven’t mastered your foundations.

Let’s put these 3 pillars in place so that you can start selling as if the future of your stores depended on it (because—spoiler alert—it does!).

1. Craft a winning service mission statement

Yes, you must define what your in-store experience should look and feel like for every single customer who walks through your front door.

So, 2 quick questions for you:

• Have you got a service mission statement? – And no, if it’s a meaningless mash-up of jargon and vague buzzwords (and sounds more robotic than ChatGPT), it doesn’t count ????
• If I were to bump into one of your team members, would they be able to recite it? – Well, if they don’t know it, how can you expect them to follow it like a North Star? Unless you fancy playing Russian roulette with your customer interactions, EVERYONE should be on board (yes, even Jack-Who-Only-Works-Weekends)

So, if you answered no, work on your service mission statement first because it’ll set the tone for HOW you sell. A hint?

Your customer experience should leave them feeling better than they did before coming in and stay with them for long after they walk out ??

2. Remember WHO you’re selling to

• Put your core demographic at the heart of your strategy and mission statement – If it’s a professional 50-year-old woman who can splash out a few thousand on a purse, your strategy should be different from selling to a 22-year-old student
• Always tailor your service to each customer – Demographics and psychographics can only get you so far. So, unless you hired a bunch of parrots as sales assistants (pretty colourful but messy AF, I assume), DITCH. THOSE. SCRIPTS. ?? Instead, empower your staff to be genuinely CURIOUS about the person standing in front of them. They should ask questions, listen (underrated skill!), and adjust their service accordingly

3. Always be mindful of your vibe

We buy on emotion and justify it with logic, but emotion is simply energy IN motion. So, with YOUR energy, you can influence your customers’! ??

Think about it! Would you rather buy from…?

• Grumpy Graham, who makes you feel like you’d be annoying him if you were to ask him a single question
• Busy Bee, who’s more worried about ticking tasks off an unrealistic list than looking after you (you’ll meet her in this week’s blooper, soon!)?
• Icky Irene, who slaps the same salesy script on everyone’s face
• Curious Claire, who approaches you with a big smile, asks you questions to understand what you need and prefer, gives you her full attention, and then shows you how a certain product would benefit you

I think our industry needs more Curious Claires!

On the other hand, Grumpy Graham, Busy Bee and Icky Irene (#NotAllGrahamsBeesAndIrenes) are proof that, although I believe anyone CAN sell… not everyone SHOULD.?

So, figure out who can and can’t commit to radiating this contagious energy on an ongoing basis. Then, upskill the former, and direct the latter towards different paths, like visual merchandising, admin, and so on.

Once you master these foundations in your stores, selling will become easier AND more exciting!

In fact, I find it OUT-RA-GEOUS that it gets such a bad reputation (but that’s probably because customers started smelling corporate greed and feeling like numbers). After all….

• We’ve been selling since forever. I mean, archaeological evidence shows that trading has been a thing for +10,000 years! (I’m convinced some customers are trying to bring back that original bartering system. Why else would they ask to exchange products without a tag or receipt?! ??)
• We’re ALL in sales. From persuading your partner to try that new restaurant in town, to selling yourself during a job interview, and negotiating with a child (the TOUGHEST test!): selling can become your superpower
• When done right, selling creates a beneficial and memorable experience for the customer, too

So, put those pillars in place, get all the right team members on board, and watch both your sales & customer experience skyrocket ??

(Psst: I can help! Book a workshop or talk to make this happen in your stores)

?

????#BafflingBloopers: my latest facepalm moment in retail

Since I mentioned archaeology, it reminded me of an ancient relic: pricing guns (some stores are still using them?! ??).

When I was shopping a few weeks ago, I spotted a Busy Bee fiddling with a gigantic one that looked like a prop from a 1920s sci-fi film.

She seemed to be getting into a bit of a fumble as she priced some boxes of shoes. So, I had a little nosey and realised that, instead of €65, all the stickers said €650.

When I mentioned it to her, she laughed, said she couldn’t figure out how to use it and that… she would have just marked the extra numbers off WITH TIPPEX ??

Oh. My. God.

I always say that retail is detail, but maybe I need to start clarifying… you shouldn't add those details with a freakin’ tippex.

Speak soon!

Kayleigh

Founder of The International Retail Academy?

PS. The Retail Comedy Club is the newsletter for retail leaders and managers craving to feel heard and brave enough to feel seen. All while having a good chuckle—not that fake customer service laugh

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We offer motivational speaking, customer experience & sales workshops, and leadership development. Get in touch to discuss the right next step for your stores or to hire Kayleigh as a speaker