Encourage your staff to turn over customers when things just aren’t clicking.

[dropcap cap=I]ncrease your revenue by as much as 33 percent by closing just one more sale out of 10. A great way to do that is to turn the customer over to another salesperson when it’s just not clicking. [/dropcap]

In your sales meeting, pick three people to role-play: the “customer,” the main salesperson, and takeover salesperson.

Have the person playing the customer be “so-so” about buying the object that’s being sold.

SALESPERSON 1: “You know, I think I’ve told you about everything I can think of about this watch. If you don’t mind, I’m going to ask Mary to speak to you.” Then turn, wave to Mary and say, “Do you have a second?” Mary comes over and you introduce her to your customer.

SALESPERSON 1: “Mary, this is John and he’s interested in this Bulova watch. John, I asked Mary over because she’s sold more Bulovas than anyone, and I think can shed some light on things I missed.”

SALESPERSON 2: Mary starts with a compliment that has nothing to do with buying this watch, so she doesn’t appear to be pushy or that he’s been handed off: “Hi John. Love that funky tie,” or “That’s a nice SUV, how’s it drive?”

SALESPERSON 1: The original salesperson stays there, letting Mary establish rapport and then says, “Would you excuse me for a moment please?” and walks away.

The original person shouldn’t  abandon  the customer, and she should come by and check on the two to see how things are going: “I wanted to come back and make sure Mary was treating you OK, John.”

CUSTOMER: “Yes, she’s terrific, I’ve decided to go ahead and get the watch.”

SALESPERSON 1: “Great, you’ll really enjoy that watch. I knew Mary could seal the deal.”

Now the original salesperson should ask this question: “Mary, do you want me to help you out?” (This shows to John that you are still engaged and also allows him to speak up.)

SALESPERSON 2: “No, I’ve got it from here. I know you have that report for the boss due in 30 minutes, so you take care of that and I’ll take care of John. Thanks for letting me help him.”

This allows the original salesperson to bow away gracefully.

To get the staff to try this on their own, reward all turnover attempts, successful or not. Do it in cash. Try this for a month or so, and you’ll see your staff try it over and over and perfect it.

David Geller is a consultant to jewelry-store owners on store management and profitability. E-mail him at dgeller@bellsouth.net.

[span class=note]This story is from the September 2010 edition of INSTORE[/span]