Look Book

30 www.thejewelrybook.com P L A N T S E E D S F O R S A L E S I N D U S T RY N E W S My friend Andy recently called me to share a success story. As he told it, a cus- tomer came into his store to pick up a $30 bracelet that she had ordered. Andy, because he's wired for sales—and because yours truly trained his team about the value of planting seeds for sales at every opportunity—decided to show the client his new private-label diamond brand. During the presentation, Andy demon- strated so much passion that his customer got excited and bought a $6,900 diamond band. Andy was understandably ecstatic to see the strategy pay off and couldn't wait to tell me. He knows I love retail success stories. Teaching your staff to understand the importance of planting seeds at every opportunity is critical. If you ingrain the right habits long before the holiday sea- son—where as much as 40 percent or more of business happens—there's every reason to believe that you will reap the rewards far ahead of the fourth quarter's arrival. Addressing your customers as though they are willing and able to make impor- tant purchases has never been more important. Every customer visit—be it for the $30 bracelet pickup, repair drop- off, or watch-battery change—represents a sales opportunity. Mark Ryski wrote in Conversion: The Last Great Retail Metric that at a basic level, sales are "A function of three vari- ables—the number of prospects who visit your store, the percentage of these visitors who make a purchase, and how much each one buys." So, if fewer customers visit your store, converting more of them to a higher average ticket makes a notice- able difference. Data from the Edge Retail Academy underscores this point. Year-over-year unit sales for 800 retailers reveals an 8 percent drop. Those same retailers, however, experienced a 1 percent increase in sales- modest, for sure, but not insignifi cant considering the unit decline. Most impor- tantly, it means that average sales are up. A few days after Andy made the ring sale, the customer came back to his store. After a slightly nervous greeting (fearful of a $7,000 return), the customer pointed to her diamond band and said, "This makes my engagement ring look like heck." She then removed her engagement ring and asked Andy to remake it so that it would complement her new diamond band. A week later the customer paid Andy $6,000 for a remodeled engagement ring. If I were to tell you that a $30 purchase could result in $13,000 in sales, you might think that I was crazy. If I were to tell you that most salespeople and owners would simply have greeted that customer, placed her bracelet in a bag, and wished her a pleasant day, you might say, "Not in my store!" But the truth is that this happens every day. Every single customer who visits your store is an opportunity for a sizable sale to happen. For salespeople, planting seeds as a non-negotiable strategy has never been more important. Just ask Andy. Plant Seeds for Sales with Every Customer BY PETER SMITH Addressing your customers as though they are willing and able to make important purchases has never been more important.

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