Retail SMART

Sales Training in a Scrapbooking Store - What to Train
 

By: Dennis A. Conforto
Chairman & CEO of A-Z Media Group, Inc.

Last week I discussed who to train and the profound difference between a retail clerk and a retail salesperson. This week we focus on what to train your sales staff.

Sales training can be broken into three very basic areas: product and demonstration knowledge, competitive knowledge, and basic knowledge of each consumer. The natural salesperson is always on a quest for more knowledge to help them sell more products and/or services. For those who are not natural salespeople, this quest for a detailed working knowledge of selling scrapbooking products is vital. 

Rarely do natural salespeople seek out knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Rather, they seek knowledge for the sake of improving on their own sales skills. The more knowledgeable the salesperson, the more likely she will be to close more business.

It is important that each salesperson has strong product knowledge. Product knowledge is having a clear understanding of the features and benefits of each and every product they sell. Having the knowledge is not enough. They must also have the ability to communicate that knowledge in the fewest words possible. 

As a SMART store owner, your job is to always try to buy products that can be sold at three levels: good, better and best. It stands to reason the more money one spends the more benefits and features there should be. It is then the salesperson’s job, with a clear understanding of all the features and benefits in each level of selection, to move the customer from good products up to the best products. 

The more the salesperson knows about the products, the more easily he/she can convey that knowledge to the consumer. When this happens, the consumer will spend more on the product category. In other words, it is the job of your staff to convince the consumer that spending more will help them get more benefits out of the products they purchase. This can only happen if, in fact, it is true. If it’s not true, you are overselling. Overselling serves only to hurt the relationship with the consumer rather than serving it.

The real test of someone’s working knowledge of their products is in their ability to demonstrate the use of the product. It’s always useful to have examples of what individual sales staff has done with the product, even if the samples live under a counter to save space and merchandising. Samples and demonstrations prove to the consumer that your staff believes in the product. It shows the consumer that they are not only talking the talk but walking the walk. And it is a key transformation point where the sales person goes from sales to unbiased consumer. It’s a powerful tool when trying to close business. 

Competitive knowledge is yet another key for your staff’s ability to close more business. They need to understand why your store is different. And it needs to be explained in a positive way. Disparaging any competitor in anyway is unprofessional and should never be done. Rather, seek to understand what makes their business unique and then make sure your business is just that much better in the eyes of the consumer. 

Every competitor is going to do something better than you, carry a product you don’t carry or be closer to the home of many consumers than your store. Your staff needs to have a clear vision of how and why you are different, not better just different. As the store owner, it is your responsibility to make sure the staff knows this. The consumer will decide for herself what is better based on the differences in products, service, price, location, selection, quality and ease of shopping the store. 

Often retailers think a difference is, "Because we are bigger." In truth, that is not reason enough for the consumer to buy from any store. One could come up with as many arguments as to why doing business with someone who is smaller is better. Already there is an argument that can be made as to why shop an independent retailer over a mass merchant, but the mass merchant can and does give the consumers reasons to buy from them over you. And guess what: Depending on the consumer they are both right. So come up with three things that make you unique and then prove those three things in your day to day business practices.

Finally, every consumer coming into your store is there looking for a real solution to a very specific problem or set of problems. Encourage your staff to ask the right probing questions without being too obtrusive. This will allow your staff to professionally help your consumer. This can be with a leading question like, "Are you working on a specific scrapbooking project that I might be able to advise you on?" 

Each answer can quickly lead to another question. The point is: if your staff has a lot of working knowledge of the products, they cannot be effective without asking the right questions of the customer. Knowledge of your store, knowledge of the products, and knowledge of the competition must be channeled to solve the individual needs of your consumer. Without this, the knowledge is wasted. 

Think about the questions a doctor asks before they even start an exam: Doctors focus their time on finding a solution to your issues and or concerns. The same holds true for your store. Because at the end of the day you are really only selling a solution to a problem. Therefore one of the greatest products you have is the knowledge of how to use products and where and when they are appropriate. Every retailer can go buy the same products. The real thing that will make you different is the working knowledge of your staff. The more your staff knows about the products your carry and how to problem-solve, the better they can help your consumers’ scrapbooks come alive. And that is being Retail SMART.