This article originally appeared in the January 2017 edition of INSTORE.
WHEN IT COMES to success as a retail jeweler, it all starts in the front. Your salespeople are your ambassadors to the world. And yet, many store owners still neglect to train their employees.
In 2017, commit to holding at least one sales meeting every other week, allowing enough time for learning and role-playing. Here is a list of 24 sales meeting topics for the new year.
1. The greeting — every client should be smiled at, greeted and spoken to within five seconds
2. Product knowledge — the knowledge of all products you carry, including branded jewelry and timepieces
3. GIA knowledge — the knowledge of diamonds, colored gemstones and precious metals
4. Romancing the sale — using value-added statements and romancing the beauty of the item and the reason the client came in
5. Asking relationship- and selling-specific questions — the more you get the client to talk and the more you listen, the higher the closing ratio
6. Handling objections — maintaining price integrity and being decisive; objections must be handled with speed and accuracy
7. Team selling and T.O.’s — having the right salesperson in front of the client
8. Selling company benefits — the reasons to buy from your company, like service and quality
9. Using the 8 types of closes and closing all the way through the presentation
10. How to sell with technical information when needed — make sure that the client doesn’t know more about the product than the salesperson
11. Store floor awareness — who’s waiting on whom, is the sweet spot covered, is anyone stranded?
12. Flawless execution of the basics — security rules, filling out job envelopes, and so on.
13. Proper follow-up in clienteling (An essential skill for any salesperson.)
14. Being organized during a presentation — don’t walk away and leave the client unattended
15. Add-ons — step-up, matching, and service counter additions
16. The 30-second window – how to time your close
17. Sales profiles — knowing each salesperson’s profile and understanding how to get the right person in front of a client
18. Understanding how to sell to millennials — young men buy peace of mind and freedom from risk (lab reports, guarantees, trade-in policies); young ladies buy style, fashion and sentiment
19. Knowing how to wow clients and the five reasons to do so
20. The three types of sales presentations — the coconut, the clerk and the created sale
21. The difference between a technical and a mechanical presentation
22. When and how to discuss price and knowing the price rules of your store
23. Price negotiation – the correct way to do so while maintaining profitability
24. How to follow up on all repairs (Big service opportunities here.)
If you’re a salesperson and you don’t get something on the first try, don’t give up: Continue to work on self-improvement. Many times, we give up too early and fall back on old bad habits. If you’re going to perfect your skill, it takes practice. So I don’t want you to just try it — I want you to do it over and over until you get it.
Sometimes, people try to fail because they do not want to change. But if you don’t like change, you’re going to hate extinction!