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12 Sure-Fire Steps To Improve Your Retail Sales
The purpose of any business is to bring in customers, and it can only be accomplished through marketing. If your cash registers don't ring, something is wrong and you had better find out what is wrong fast. Because in today's competitive retail world... getting results is what counts. Successful retailers aren't any more talented or intelligent than you are -- They simply have learned to do things in a different way and make money in the process. Use the following 12 steps to improve your retail sales, you'll simplify your efforts, multiply profits, and increase the odds of success. 1. Know Yourself Having your own business is more than just creating a job for yourself. Your basic roles are in marketing, finance, administration, and the responsibility of personnel. To get the best results, it is rare for one person to play all these roles equally well. You must know which parts you can handle yourself and which parts you are going to need help with. 2. Plan Ahead Many stores are run by well-intended people but who don't have all the information they need to do their job. This includes a clear idea of market segment, target markets, customer service, product selection, marketing mix, promotional activities and pricing tactics. If you want to succeed you need a well thought out business plan that helps you make the right decisions. 3. Know The Industry You can gain the greatest competitive edge if you have an intimate knowledge of your business. To thrive and prosper, you must be committed to learn and have the desire and energy to accomplish your goals. These are five main reasons why most businesses fail: 4. Understand Your Customer Make it your business to give your customers what they want, and they will do business and buy from you. The products and services you provide should reflect your customers needs and wants. Think in your customers' terms; buy, show, sell, and say things that interest them, not just what interests you. Remember, it is the customer that determines whether or not you succeed. 5. Keep Good Financial Records If you don't know where your money is going, it will soon be gone. The "game of business" is played with computers -- and the score is evaluated in dollars and cents. Good financial records are like the instruments on an airplane, they keep you posted of your height, direction, and speed. Without them you are flying blind with no controls to guide you to your destination. 6. Manage Your Cash It doesn't matter how unique and wonderful your store is, your business can't survive without cash flow. Money coming in your store is the vital component that keeps your business financially healthy. If you budget wisely and know the interval of your monthly income and expenses, you won't have to worry about running out of money. 7. Use Sound Management Practices As a store owner, you are also a manager. You have to make decisions, offer customer service, manage time and resources, and know how to merchandise and run the business better than anyone working for you. Give your employees the opportunity for growth, treat them fairly, pay them what they're worth, and they will help make your business successful. 8. Develop A Distinctive Image Your image is important and is a function of your marketing efforts and materials. Customer's create their perceptions of your business from your name, web site appearance, store location, products, prices, visual merchandising, signs, displays, business cards, newsletters, advertising material, customer service and anything else that relates to your business. 9. Control Your Inventory All retail stores need to manage inventory. It is your money sitting on a shelf and represents a large portion of your business investment. The retailer who merely watches the store's shelves can't maintain a proper balance between the right amount of merchandise and probable customer demand. Without adequate control, slow-moving inventory becomes dated and very costly. 10. Buy and Price For Profit To understand retailing, one must start with the concept that the price of your merchandise is nothing more than a temporary estimate of what the customer is willing to spend. In devising your overall pricing strategy, a practical approach can be based on the function of supply and demand. To be more competitive, join buying groups and seek out manufacturer discounts that allow you to purchase merchandise below wholesale prices. By offering better values, you'll be able to attract more customers, and offer more opportunities to shop at your store. 11. Learn From The Pros In today's explosive markets, making the right moves is absolutely essential, there is little room for error. Without knowing how to navigate through these fast-moving times, it can be a tricky and even a self-destructive experience. Because of the emotional and sometimes difficult decisions that must be made, the crucial difference is having fresh ideas with an impartial business position. 12. Ask For Help When You Need It Remember, getting results is what counts! Don't be too proud to ask for help, we all need help sometimes. It is important to recognize that what you don't know can end up costing you money, hurt the odds of success, and greatly reduce the chance of achieving your business goals. Hiring an expert with specialized skills can be the most profitable decision you can make to protect both your business and financial future. About The Author Bob Nelson is President of POWER Retailing. He can help you improve sales and profits, turn inventory into cash, and recover the money invested in your business and you only pay for results. For FREE information on how to simplify your marketing efforts and add dollars to your bottom line, visit http://www.retailing.com For practical answers to specific business questions, call Bob at 480-460-1965 or contact him by e-mail: bnelson@retailing
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Coaching Sales Marketing: 10 Sales Marketing Tricks To Explode Your Profits Sales marketing online is an art that you must keep revising, refining and polishing to keep pace with all the changes happening on the Internet. Sales and Closing Techniques One essential criteria of being a successful salesperson is the ability to be able to close a sale effectively. You don't have to be a salesperson to do this, yet you do need to put at least some of your focus on sales to be successful, whether it is yourself doing the closing or are someone you hire. After you have done the difficult part, which is prospecting, you need to close. This is not really hard but is the singlemost important step. The final close happens when you ask the prospect to make a decision. Selling and marketing, as you may have guessed by now, are actually 2 seperate things completely. The Makings of a Salesman Salesmanship is the force that moves business. Without it all business would be at a stand-still. Just being able to sell does not complete the definition of salesmanship. A fraudulent person may be able to sell you a piece of swamp land, but because they were able to sell the worthless piece of property to you, does that say they demonstrated salesmanship? The Reason Why They Buy If you are a business person you want to sell your product or service. If it's been a struggle, then you probably aren't giving your potential customers a good "Reason Why" they should buy from you. Resistance Training for Sales People What was the quickest rejection you ever got? 2 minutes into your call? 1 minute? 15 seconds, 3 seconds? Ideal Clients - Who are They and Where Do You Find Them? Ideal clients are the ones who are perfect for you. They are the clients who understand your offering, are happy with your services, are willing to refer you to their friends, return for repeat appointments themselves (where appropriate), who pay their bills on time, who show up on time for their appointments, who give you 24 hours notice when they need to cancel their appointment. Top 5 Low Cost Ways To Get More Sales Leads And Sell More Without Cold Calling Cold calling may now be outdated. People have become defensive to cold calls and not many respond to them anymore. Cold calling is now about rejection, getting rejected call after call until many salespeople, especially B2B salespeople, just get fed up and quit. There are other methods of generating business leads without cold calling, and many of them inexpensive and not too time consuming. Are You Deaf? Dumb? Blind at Trade Shows? I'm constantly amazed how otherwise smart marketeers become deaf, dumb and blind at a show. I remind clients - You = Your Company - so when the company rep is incompetent, it reflects on everything about the company. Eliminating Objections to Increase Sales You want to increase the flow of sales revenue, but you are stymied by prospects' seemingly endless objections. Prospects say they're not interested. They tell you your price is too high, or this isn't the right time. You've heard all the objections. What can you do to get rid of these once and for all? As They Approcah the Finish Line... The Winner Is? Recently, right before I was about to deliver a motivational speech at a sales conference, the Director of Sales took the stage and began talking about the importance of teamwork and how all the reps needed to work more effectively together. At the conclusion of his presentation, he turned to a large flip chart and turned the front page over. Qualifying vs closing The art of effective question asking (qualifying) determines the effectiveness and the success of the "close".EXAMPLE: Let's assume you are a candy sales rep. You sell both chocolate and non-chocolate candy. I'm your potential customer. You know nothing about me but you are trying to sell me chocolate candy. You proceed to tell me how great the candy tastes, how exquisite the texture is, how incredible the quality of the chocolate is, and, by the way, how affordable this candy is because your company is doing a promotion on this outstanding chocolate candy. However, you don't sell me a single piece of chocolate candy. WHY?You assumed I liked chocolate candy and I would buy it based on the information you provided. But the most important thing you forgot to identify or ask me is "do you like chocolate candy?".The answer is "no, I hate chocolate candy?". But since you never took the time to understand me as your potential new customer, you lost today's sale and future sales a well. Better Approach: I'm still the customer, you are still the candy sales rep. You're still promoting chocolate candy. The difference is - upon meeting me and establishing a rapport, your first question might be."Do you like chocolate candy?".My response "no, I never eat chocolate candy".Your response "you never eat chocolate candy, why?".My response "because I'm allergic to it". QUESTION: Do you believe it would make any difference to me, the customer, how the chocolate looks, tastes, is processed, or even how affordable it is? Your answer should be "no". However, just because I don't eat chocolate candy doesn't mean I don't know a number of other people who love chocolate candy. Also, you sell hard candy not just chocolate candy, so maybe the next question would be:"Do you eat any kind of candy?".My response "occasionally".Your response "when you say occasionally, how often is that?".My response "2 to 3 times per month".Your response "when you do eat candy, what type of candy do you eat?"My response "hard-type, mint candies".Your response "have you ever tasted our incredible hard, mint candies?".GET THE PICTURE? "Its all about asking, not selling." Once you have identified what's important to me, the customer, you have positioned yourself to sell me what I want - not what you have. How to Master the Art of Salesmanship I put together this little article because, although basic, we all must "master the art of selling". With out this skill, the foundation on which you build your business will not be a solid one. Mastering the "art of selling" is simply knowing how to present whatever it is that you are selling, to the buyer in such a manner that they feel buying it from you will solve their problems or fulfill their dreams. The Rock and Ripple Effect: 3 Ways to Splash to Sales Success Imagine you've just thrown a rock into a pond. SPLASH! Ripples begin extending around the point where the rock hit the water. An interesting observation is that the ripples closest to the rock are actually the smallest ones. Then each ripple creates another larger ripple?until finally it disappears. 22 Closes For Real Estate Agents To Make The Sale All closes are not created equal. Top producers realize every homeowner has specific needs and every situation demands its own close. While you may have found a close that works better for you than others, it shouldn't deter you from using a variety of closes depending on the situation. By learning the 22 trial closes, you'll stand a better chance of getting more listings. Knowing how to close many different ways will enhance your success. Change Takes Time I am writing this at the Philadelphia Airport on my way back from meeting with one of my clients. Three weeks ago, we offered a training program for their staff in basic selling skills. She reported that they saw an immediate increase in sales after the program. Since these are all telemarketers, she listened in on their calls to see what had changed. To her pleasure they were asking good, open-ended questions. They were taking time to listen to the client's responses and using their comments to match them with the right product. They were even closing right at the correct time. She was thrilled. Sales Success The 5 Steps It's a common question we come across everyday: why is business getting more difficult now? Well, it all starts with your company's sales competencies. The strange thing is that many companies spend lots of money and time training its people how to sell their products but not how to sell. Customers For Life Who's talking to your customers? Is it your competition? Why or why not? When you stop to think about it, these are valid questions. Most people rely on some sort of clientele for their business, and can improve on customer relations. A more holistic approach to this process incorporates the more global question: How To Improve Your Sales Skills One of the biggest problems for many business owners is the ability to overcome objections. In fact, for many, this skill could be the difference between succeeding and going back to being an employee. Since none of us want to do that, we need to hone our sales writing skills and our in person skills. This article will discuss the in person skills. Start Your Sales Engine! Does your business run on a sales engine or a sales effort? A sales effort is something that has to be done every time you want to make a sale. But, a sales engine is something that, once put into place, can bring you sale after sale without added effort. Here are a couple of examples ? Cross-selling for Increased Sales, Profits, and Customer Satisfaction Cross-selling - the art of selling for non-salespeople
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