David Squires

Editor’s Note: The Sound of Your Resolution? Ka-Ching!

Let’s make 2016 a year to build some serious sales skills among your staff.

Published

7 years ago

January 5, 2016

David Squires Instore January 2016 Issue

IT’S AN INSTORE TRADITION to begin each year by presenting you with an ambitious project for improving your business. This year’s goal goes back to basics: building better salespeople.

Eileen McClelland’s lead story tells you what you need to do, and what you need to avoid, in order to strengthen your sales team from top to bottom. Here are a few of my favorite takeaways:

Don’t expect miracles right away. Our original vision of this story was that it would present a 90-day crash course to turn a raw new hire into a master salesperson. We quickly learned that such a plan did not exist in this world. The fact is that even a highly skilled, highly experienced salesperson coming into a new store is going to require time to build up a client book. A good rule of thumb is to expect your newest hire to hit one-third the level of your current top salesperson in the first year.
Pretend it’s a professional sport. The best way to improve your sales team is to channel your inner Bill Belichick and start sweating the details of each individual’s performance. Repeat (and repeat some more) your sales drills. Test product knowledge frequently. And analyze video tape and audio tape of each individual player on your sales team for areas where they excel and those they might improve.
Despite popular belief, extroverts don’t make the best salespeople. Instead, the ideal is “ambiverts” — people who have the ability to be extroverted when necessary, but also the requisite listening skills so important in sales.

You’ll find tons more in Eileen’s inspiring and idea-packed article. Let’s make 2016 a golden year of sales!

Wishing you the very best business,

David Squires

Time to Do What You've Always Wanted? Time to Call Wilkerson.

It was time. Teri Allen and her brother, Nick Pavlich, Jr., had been at the helm of Dearborn Jewelers of Plymouth in Plymouth, Mich., for decades. Their father, Nick Pavlich, Sr., had founded the store in 1950, but after so many wonderful years helping families around Michigan celebrate their most important moments, it was time to get some “moments” of their own. Teri says Wilkerson was the logical choice to run their retirement sale. “They’re the only company that specializes in closing jewelry stores,” she says. During the sale, Teri says a highlight was seeing so many generations of customers who wanted to buy “that one last piece of jewelry from us.” Would she recommend Wilkerson? Absolutely. “There is no way that I would have been able to do this by myself.”