70% of clients would benefit from
a team-selling approach, if done right.
This article originally appeared in the April 2016 edition of INSTORE.
The biggest problem for every sales team is teamwork. People don’t want to share the load, or they don’t know how to do team-sell (or T.O.) effectively. Here are four areas to practice:
1. When: T.O. the moment you know you’ve lost the client. Too many times, we stay in the presentation, and when we finally do the T.O., it’s too late. Some of the reasons for the “when” are that personalities don’t match, you can’t handle their objections, they want more product knowledge than you have, or you can’t close.
2. How: It has to look and feel professionally done. That means well-rehearsed before you try it with a client. When you are called in, always get on the same side of the case as the client, and get on their right side (right is positive, left is negative). After the introduction by the other sales associate, face the client (not the associate). This shows you care and are on the client’s side.
3. Who: The closing ratio in jewelry stores is 27-33 percent. Seventy percent of clients walk out empty-handed, which means seven out of 10 customers should be team-sold. When you T.O., hand over to someone as opposite of you as possible. Sometimes, you’ll call someone in for an assist who can bring information you don’t have or a product so you don’t have to leave the client. You say, “Hey Linda, could you come over for a moment and tell Mrs. Jones about this Paraiba tourmaline?” That means come, share the information, and politely leave .
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4. Why: You’ve got to bring another associate up to speed in about 15 to 20 seconds. You can’t tell him everything; it would bore the client. So you introduce the professional coming in and you let him know what is exactly needed: “John, this is Frank. It’s his 20th anniversary. His wife, Emily, is not here. He said he wanted to buy this 2-carat princess shape. We’ve gone through the technical information, and I just told him it’s $19,300.” What I’ve told him is I need help closing the sale (you always close after you discuss price). The associate says, “Frank, your wife is gonna love wearing this. You’re gonna be a hero. I’ll wrap this up for you while Shane is taking care of it.” Sometimes you call someone in to handle objections, or maybe you need an assist or someone to polish their jewelry while you sell something else. You must always define clearly why you want someone to come in. And if you’re the one coming, listen to what is really needed from you; don’t assume.
Shane Decker has provided sales training for more than 3,000 stores worldwide. Contact him at ( 719) 488-4077 or at ex-sell-ence.com.
