Most sales people have been taught how to qualify a customer. What too few seem to realize is that the customer is busy qualifying them, as well. As a product presentation is made, they are forming a perception of not only what is being said, but also how it is being said. They are judging not only the merits of your product, but of placing their trust in you. They are asking themselves whether this person truly cares about me and my unique situation. Why is he so busy providing answers that he didn’t even hear my questions?
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I believe that to be ultimately successful in business, one must always be looking downward to the lowest rung on the corporate ladder. This is particularly true of a service related business. I am constantly preaching the gospel that before you can be a good customer service provider, you must first be an aware customer service receiver. As you spend your paycheck, pay close attention to who your main point of customer contact is and how they make you feel.
Each of us in the flooring business realize that customers today are used to seeing pricing promotions – many which often stretch credibility to the limit. If you are to compete in this market, you too will need to have promotionally priced products, special purchases, etc. to entice customers into your showroom. The emphasis for some customers seems to have shifted to bragging more about how much money that they saved rather than on how much they actually spent.
One great benefit of doing sales training, and consulting, on a national basis is that I get the opportunity to observe a large and varied amount of sales staff in action. One glaring observation that I have arrived at is that most of these sales people need one thing that appears to be sadly lacking in most operations: some constructive and active management. I’m not talking about someone who makes out the schedule and has the ability to approve offers. Every store has someone who fits this description. Their primary job seems to be to manage people.
A common tendency among salespeople is to do too much talking and not enough listening. Successful salespeople realize it is only when they are focused on what the customer is both explaining and requesting that they are learning the information necessary to suggest solutions which will benefit all concerned. Too often weak salespeople rush to judgment and offer both products and solutions before the customer has had the opportunity to fully explain her wishes and requests thoroughly.
Hartville, Ohio is home to America’s largest independent home center at 305,000 sq. ft. In the middle of Hartville Hardware sits a 1,850 sq. ft. “American House” – which was featured in the March 2013 issue of Home Channel News magazine – that is constructed entirely of “Made in the USA” products. Every product, from the foundation up to the shingles, was domestically produced. Howard Miller, president of Hartville Hardware, and a member of the Do-It Best co-op, has seen a definite increase in customers who are placing an added value on products that are “Made in the USA”.
One of the greatest opportunities, and challenges, that a sales manager has is that he or she possesses the power of influence over what is selling well on the showroom floor. What is amazing to me is that most managers do not seem to realize this. They too often forget who their primary customer is.
As a leader in your organization, I am sure that many days it seems as if problem solving is your primary task. When employees are faced with questions they don’t know the answer to, they come to you hoping you will either solve the problem for them or tell them how to solve it themselves. Some days it may seem as if the title on your office door must read “Chief Problem Solver”. If this sounds too familiar, it is likely because you chose this title for yourself.
When selling flooring at a full service specialty store, your offerings are often compared to a box store that wishes to place the primary emphasis on the product itself, rather than presenting it as an element of an installed floor. This type of outlet prefers to sell product first, and services only as required, as product is usually what they do best.
While there are clearly two schools of thought as to whether flooring retailers should allow samples to be checked out by a potential customer, the reality is that most stores still allow their samples to leave their showrooms unattended. As a consequence, the samples in many showrooms that I observe have something less than a crisp appearance.
