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So you have researched your products, you are ready to go out there and net yourself some new retail outlets your order form is completed and you have lots of stock made up ready to go. So what's next! Who are your customers? Make a list of all the relevant types of businesses that may be likely to sell what your offering. i.e. for us, it can be Gift Shops, upmarket card shops, Garden
centres. Department stores, Post offices, Stationary shops, our
prospective customer base is huge.
Get the local Yellow Pages and look up these prospective Customers, circle at least ten to fifteen prospects to contact.
Before you actually telephone these buyers you need to have a target or goal in mind. The first thing you need to know is, who is the buyer, get a name! If that buyer is not there, find out when he or she will be available, make a note of the day and date that the buyer will be in the shop. Your goal should be to telephone each business and ask for the name of the person whom is responsible for buying, when would it be convenient to call back to speak with him/her. Make a note of when you are to call back, remember to call-back at that specified time as you have turned a cold call into a semi warm call-back, that is too valuable to waste. You will no doubt get a reply that is not expected, you will just have to deal with these in your own way, however if you get the response 'yes I am the buyer, can I help' or something similar, strike then and there with no hesitation, keep it simple, be direct and say something along the lines, 'my name is jackie from J.B. Designs, we produce quality handmade greeting cards, would it be convenient to come along and show you what we do?' Then see what happens, hopefully it will be no time at all before
you get a 'yes please do' , you can then arrange your first appointment.
Phoning to arrange appointments is sometimes nerve-racking and tedious, often you will feel like giving up, it takes dedication, patience and commitment to learn, my advise is to phone for periods of no longer than two hours in any one session. Shut yourself away where nothing and no one can disturb you, make notes about each person that you phone and have a diary handy to put your call-backs into, when you say you are going to call back, make a determined effort to make that call first thing in the morning. Phone for appointments first thing in the morning as you will be fresh and chirpy. Two hours on the phone should give you at least two appointments, once you are more experienced you will find the number of appointments will increase, you will also get at least three to four people to call back which should get you at least one more appointment. Try not to get involved with explaining your products or prices over the phone, describe them briefly and ask, would this be something you may be interested in, then be bold and ask for an appointment. The main reason for a buyer not to give an appointment is that they are scared of salespeople. If a buyer gets the slightest whiff that you are nervous or scared they will drop you like a hot coal. It is all about attitude and confidence. If you act like a frightened rabbit, they will pick up on that, even if you have the finest products in the world they will not want to know. While phoning for appointments you will find people objecting to you, and why they cannot give you an appointment, getting over their objections is not something that can be learnt overnight, it is a gradual process, each time that you attempt to get appointments over the phone you will get a little better, it just takes time and practice. At the very worst you will have luck on your side and get at least one appointment in any one session, it is largely a numbers game, you must remember that, if you decide to give up after only one hour, having not got any appointments, the whole session is wasted, if you just go on that extra hour you will find you get three appointments is the last five minutes. You must simply keep going until you have achieved your goal. I.e. Goal is two hours phoning time, target to reach is three appointments and have four to six people to call-back tomorrow. For every 4 appointments the chances are you will receive two
Sales, remember this when phoning for appointments. It happens to the best Salespeople with the best products with years of experience, it is all part of being on the front-line. It is how you handle it and how you manage to turn it around into an advantage and learn from it. Always remember objections are buying signals. Objections are
what Salespeople have to learn to get over, so that the next time
you get the same objection you are armed with some fact or thought
that proves the buyer wrong, you must get over the objection,
totally destroy what is normally a preconceived idea that is the
prospects objection, once you have achieved this, the prospect
will really start to listen to you and start to see that this
is something they can sell.
How to achieve Sales in the retail outlets On achieving your goal and having made some all important appointments. What's next I hear you ask? In my opinion learning how to sell is not something you can read about, it is a very personal thing between two people the buyer and the seller. There are many books that you can purchase about sales and selling, I have tried reading them but always end up throwing them away in disgust, as it is all so analytical, sales is not something that can be analysed or bagged as one thing or another, every single sale can and will be different, as every single buyer is different, as of course is every sales person. What works for one person may not work for you, therefore the truth of the matter is, you just have to suck it and see! I will give you some tips and helpful advice, yet the truth of the matter is, you need to just go out and do it! You will make mistakes, and you will learn from them, that is
the best way to learn, how it works for you, with your buyers.
Helpful Tips If you get lost or are late for an appointment, phone up your buyer and ask her directions or just let her know how much longer you are going to be, also ask the customer if they know of a nearby car park. This will begin a relationship between you both, the buyer will know that you are definitely coming to see her, and prove that you are a communicator. (Quite often reps don't show up at all..) When you walk in the shop say, Hello in general to everyone in the shop and then say who you have come to see, hopefully you have her there in front of you, make light conversation but be genuine, i.e. 'How are you today,' Always listen intently to what people say in those first moments, as often it is first impression that will seal a sale. Always be true to yourself and who you are, don't pretend to be something that you are not, just being yourself is enough to be a salesperson, that's all any buyer wants, genuine people that are true as their word, honest in their confidence that their product is good enough. So it stands to reason that you must be absolutely sure that
your products are good enough to sell in the retail trade at your
recommended retail price.
Lets make friends If anyone offers you a cup of tea, gratefully accept and relax a bit, try and enjoy your visit a little. Have a chat in general about your buyer ask her where she lives, where she shops, just talk in general to her or him. A cup of Tea is often a buying signal. When you work in sales you have a period with all new buyers which we call the ' Lets make friends time' You don't always get the opportunity to do this but when someone offers you tea or coffee they are in effect giving you some time to make friends. At some point the conversation must be made to come back to you and what you are there for, so listen out for links that mean you can bring the conversation back to your business and why you are there. Then get on with the business of showing your products and explain anything interesting about your work or why you think it is unique and why you think there is a demand for it in her shop. Listen carefully to your buyer and register when they give you a signal to buy, I.e.' How much do they cost, is there a minimum order, how fast can you delivery', and best of all 'Yes I'd like to order these' Then get your order form out and take the order. I am sorry if this information seems obvious, but sometimes in sales you can't see the wood for the trees, you may be so amazed that someone says yes to your work you can find yourself walking out the door without the sale, saying something really silly like "Right yes, OK, I'll come back tomorrow with my order forms." Just because you're not certain how to act or what to do next and you need time to think it through. Selling is all about thinking on your feet, you have to do just
that, if you don't take that opportunity quickly, then and there,
it can cost you.
In my early days working as a sales consultant, I did exactly what I have just described and lost a £2000.00 order which cost me £500.00 commission, simply due to inexperience. Yet if this happens to you, don't worry, believe me, you only let it happen once! Once you get out on the road and have started selling, perhaps then it would be helpful to read sales books, simply to help yours sales technique in areas that you are not one hundred percent happy with. In general, selling is great fun, it can make you feel very empowered when things go well, alternately, when things go wrong it can make you feel like a dog that can't do anything right. It is not something for people who want an easy life, if you want to see the long term benefit of gaining retail customers and building business relationships, you have to commit to it, stick at it and sell, sell, sell!
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