Top retail salespeople greet or engage their customers more effectively than average salespeople. Their effective greeting allows them to set the stage for a successful sale. A question that I am often asked at sales meetings is what part of the sales process is the most important? If you cannot develop rapport and engagement then you will never be able to discover the customer’s buying motives let alone qualify, present, and close the sale. So the greeting is the most important key to selling until rapport is established.
Here are a few ideas from top retail salespeople to help you greet and engage your customer more effectively.
Attitude- The best salespeople have a positive attitude. An effective greeting starts in your heart and mind and is telecast to your customer by your body language. The customer sees your body before they hear your voice. I will dedicate an entire article on this as well as several videos to this important topic.
Body Language- Your body language sets the stage for positive verbal communication. We are hard wired to read body language. It is a survival mechanism. Is your body language communicating a positive message to your customer? If your body language and words are not consistent, your customer may not be comfortable enough with you to complete the sale. Study your body language.
Stay Off the Aisle- Often customers that have been shopping are anxious or agitated. Letting them have the aisle while you stand back allowing them the freedom to move about will go a long way to easing their nerves. Our goal is to establish positive communication with the customer. Ninety percent of all top salespeople use this technique to help them greet effectively.
A Sincere Smile- Your sincere smile may be the most important part of your greeting. Your desire to help the customer is manifested in your smile.
Welcome Them- Welcome your customers with warmth. I used to say “Welcome to Kronheim’s Furniture” Think about a friend coming to your home. Treat your customers with that kind or graciousness.
Magic Words- Gerry Morris wrote a wonderful article about asking customers how they slept last night, which works great in sleep shops. Gerry is a good friend and has edited and rewritten most of my articles. I know his insights will help all of us. I still like John F Lawhon’s greeting, “May I direct you to something?” If those words do not fit your personality find your own greeting that works for you. If your greeting works 70% of the time or more continue to use it. If not then tweak it until it does.
My Secret Greeting- I developed this greeting for my sales manager by accident. I was actually doing some psychotherapy with him. I then started using it and found it to be extremely effective. It is my original contribution to retail furniture sales. It is funny and it will make you money. I will be sharing it in the next few days on my YouTube Channel. Just click here https://youtu.be/CkrXsLJyIPg