Sales Truths: Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This

Published

14 years ago

September 21, 2009

Dave Richardson

WHY IT’S TRUE Mama may not always have been right, but we know she was never wrong! As kids we experienced a lot of these “down” days and yet somehow we survived. Today, we are experiencing some of the greatest challenges in our professional career. The economic challenges we face on almost a daily basis are forcing us to carefully examine our business model, and look at ways we can somehow do things differently, better and with a positive impact.

PLAN OF ACTION Take a close look at your staff. Ask yourself: Are they the quality and caliber of people that you want to help lift your business beyond this recession? If not, seriously consider making some changes. If yes, take the time to train and develop them. Dust off some of the training manuals, videos, CDs, audio cassette tapes DVDs etc. that you purchased and have forgotten about over the years, and use them as a foundation to give your people the skills they need to give you the support you need. Simple stuff like greeting the customer, presenting merchandise, add-on sales, TOs, overcoming objections, and of course closing sales. You don’t want to let Mama down.

[span class=note]This story is from the September 2009 edition of INSTORE[/span]

When There’s No Succession Plan, Call Wilkerson

Bob Wesley, owner of Robert C. Wesley Jewelers in Scottsdale, Ariz., was a third-generation jeweler. When it was time to enjoy life on the other side of the counter, he weighed his options. His lease was nearing renewal time and with no succession plan, he decided it was time to call Wilkerson. There was plenty of inventory to sell and at first, says Wesley, he thought he might try to manage a sale himself. But he’s glad he didn’t. “There’s no way I could have done this as well as Wilkerson,” he says. Wilkerson took responsibility for the entire event, with every detail — from advertising to accounting — done, dusted and managed by the Wilkerson team. “It’s the complete package,” he says of the Wilkerson method of helping jewelers to easily go on to the next phase of their lives. “There’s no way any retailer can duplicate what they’ve done.”