What makes a professional salesperson?

Salespeople must learn to connect to their customer’s emotions. It has everything to do with the salesperson’s attitude and less to do with their product knowledge and experience. If you have read previous articles of mine in Jewellery Focus such as ‘It’s Your Attitude That Sells’ and ‘Hire by the Smile’, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

The three things a salesperson should have in order to achieve a positive attitude and connect to a customer’s emotions are a big smile, enthusiasm and an outgoing personality. They have that and they can outsell the veteran salespeople by a large margin. I rarely see this in jewellery stores and seldom from more than one salesperson.

If you want proof, here it is. When I go into a jewellery store I can pick out the over-achiever, the salesperson who is far ahead of others. They have that smile and enthusiasm and many times are not the most experienced, but have that outgoing personality that attracts customers. They have a big edge over other salespeople and the veterans as well. If they introduce themselves with that smile their customers consider that a friendly gesture and willingly give their name. That salesperson is no longer anonymous and not only will close a large majority of sales, but will get all those customers as repeat customers.  That is a big part of professional selling.

Salespeople in jewellery stores have a big advantage over those in other types of stores. Their customers come in happy because they are coming in to buy for only for happy occasions. What about the salespeople, are they happy? My answer is, seldom. Before a salesperson thinks about all the great sales techniques they are ready to use, they are fighting an uphill battle if the don’t have that happy attitude. This means to greet all their customers with the same smile and enthusiasm as they would a friend and maintain it throughout the sale.

What happens in most stores? Salespeople are hesitant to initiate contact and wait when a first-time customer comes into the store to greet them. However, if it were a friend or a customer coming in for the third time they may show that smile. That is not a professional salesperson because they are selective on whom and how they greet customers.

You wonder why this happens. Here are the answers. Jewellers have a tendency to hire salespeople within their own personality. This means if they are not that enthusiastic they will feel more comfortable hiring that type of person. However, just the opposite happens if jewellers are more outgoing and always have a smile. They will usually hire that type of salesperson who becomes a treasure in their store because their personality inspires the others.

When jewellers hear me say that they ask me: “OK Leonard if you owned my store what would you do?” My answer: “First, I would give my salespeople the opportunity to change their store personality to the personality they have at home with their friends, and finally I would show what it takes to become a professional salesperson by following these Ten Commandments of Professional Selling.”

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF PROFESSIONALLY SELLING JEWELLERY

Professional jewellery salespeople always…

Smile at customers and greet them with the same enthusiasm you would a friend in your home. Their customers never have to come in three times to get that smile they should have received the first time.

Introduce themselves, with a smile and remember their customer’s name throughout the sale and especially when they return a week or month later and then greet them by their name. They know when their customers hear their name they become customers forever and gain their immediate trust. This is why these salespeople have the largest clientele.

Dress  neatly, are well groomed from their hair to their shoes and always looks like they belong in a fine jewellery store. Professional salespeople know that their first impression counts.

Talk to their customer’s eyes and with a smile more often then looking down at the jewellery.  This elicits a customer’s trust when looking away does just the opposite. They know that without smiling it would appear they’re staring.

Talk less and listen more – They make sure they always talk less then their customers because the more they allow their customer to talk, the faster the sale, the faster the close. They know their customers like to buy more from salespeople who let them talk and never interrupt them which leads to the next commandment.

Create add-on sales even after showing a £10,000 sale or more. They are so confident they use the add-on sale to close the first sale. They cannot wait to try add-ons because the potential is tremendous. The national average is only 5% of sales in jewellery stores. This sales technique alone can propel their sales to more than they ever had before.

Create sales out of thin air. Sales techniques that are rarely tried by most salespeople such as add-on sales, diamond sales from repairs, cleaning rings and appraisals.

Call their customers and keep an active customer file with dates of their occasions purchases and a record of what they said on each call. They save their customers from scrambling at the last minute to find something for their spouse. These customers are so appreciative they become customers forever and refer their friends.

Create desire by romancing diamonds and precious gems by painting a visual picture in their customers’ minds so they can visualise the colours, brilliance, sparkle and hear the romantic history of the gem. Professional salespeople know this is one of the fastest ways to lead to a close and add-on sales. They even romance the product knowledge.

Apply the golden rule of selling that requires all their sales techniques pass this test: “Is this the same way I would like to be sold to?” and with a resounding yes. To be sure they ask an associate to play a customer and they play the salesperson, then record the conversation.

By Leonard Zell. This article first appeared in the October 2015 issue of Jewellery Focus