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Advice for retailers during tough times: stay positive
Written by: Ross FattoriArticle Overview: How negative opinions from retail employees can lead to a drop in sales
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Free Download - Are you a no show? By Ross Fattori |
Advice for retailers during tough times: stay positive
I was at a major book store the other day, eyeing a book I wanted to buy. The book was discounted to $6. That’s not a lot of money, but with a slowing economy, discretionary purchases are becoming less frequent, and consumers are scrutinizing every purchase they make.
As I flipped through the pages, I overhead a conservation between a store employee and a customer. The customer was discussing the high jobless statistics in Canada that had been announced earlier that day. He was pretty pessimistic, predicting that the economy would tank in the months ahead.
The store employee was in complete lockstep with the customer about the deteriorating state of Canada’s economy. He even added his own negative thoughts to the conversation. In my opinion, this was a big mistake.
The employee could have handled the conversation differently. He could have agreed with the customer in principle, but politely steered the conversation away from the economy, by mentioning the great deals the store was offering on selected titles. He could have recommended a new author or asked the customer what kinds of books he liked to read.
The result: I didn’t buy the book. The negative tone of the conversation convinced me to be more prudent with my money and to forgo the purchase.
When people visit retail stores, there is a reasonable expectation that they will make a purchase. It’s never a slam dunk, but if the stars are aligned properly, if the right merchandise is displayed correctly and priced well, then customers are more predisposed to buy.
Customers don’t visit your store to hear bad news. They come to your store hoping to find something they want and to have a positive buying experience. If they want bad news, they’ll pick up a newspaper or turn on the radio.
The book store employee missed a great opportunity to influence a sale to the customer he was speaking with. He also missed an opportunity to influence my purchasing decision, and whoever else happened to be eavesdropping.
Retail employees should be coached in how to talk to customers. Part of their job is to sell and to influence buying decisions. It’s not to gripe about their lives or the rotten state of the economy with customers.
Retailers take heed: There’s enough bad news in the air, without adding fuel to the fire. When customers come into your store, they want to feel good. They want to feel good about buying.
Article Tags: bad news, big mistake, book store, canada, consumers, economy, empl, expectation, great deals, lockstep, money, negative thoughts, negative tone, principle, retail stores, slam dunk, statistics, store employee, turn on the radio
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About the Author: Ross Fattori RSS for Ross's articles - Visit Ross's website Ross Fattori has more than 22 years' sales and marketing experience in newspapers and in the publishing industry. Throughout his career, he has served clients in the automotive, retail, real estate and manufacturing sectors by composing winning copy and designing dynamic ad layouts, brochures, direct-mail pieces and newsletters. Mr. Fattori is also journalist who has written extensively for newspapers, magazines and specialized publications across Canada. His writing credits include The Toronto Star, the Toronto Sun, Marketing Magazine, and dozens of periodicals and newspapers. Mr. Fattori writes a blog about marketing, new media and business trends at www.rossfattori.com Click here to visit Ross's website Blagojevichs silence speaks volumes You cant automate customer service Replace wait and see with go and do Before launching your first blog 10 reasons to contact your customers today |
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