10 Common Mistakes Retail Salespeople Make

10 Common Mistakes Retail Salespeople Make:

 

1. Failing to build a rapport with the customer. From a simple greeting to a little chat about niceties, non-sales directed small talk go a long way in developing an easier and more open mood in the customers;

 

2. Failing to establish customer's requirements;

 

3. Focusing on their own agenda instead of the customer's;

 

4. Not giving customers the majority of the air time.  You have been given two ears and one month, so use them accordingly;

 

5. Confusing "telling" with "selling". Not listening or not hearing what customers are saying, so first seek to understand before seeking to be understood;

 

6. Not knowing the prevailing promotions, specials, regular offerings; product knowledge and pricing;

 

7. Not differentiating the product/service/store/company enough to create additional value in the mind of the customer;

 

8. Selling too fast, trying to close before the customer is ready to buy;  

 

9. Fail to address objections properly; not realizing that satisfactory resolution of the objections is the shortest distance to closing a sale;

 

10. Not taking advantage of add-on sales, as soon as the main purchase is done, which is when customers are most ready to entertain them.

 

You can prevent these mistakes with the help from Master Retailing by attending any one of our many retail courses or by enrolling in any of our retail management distance learning programmes, just contact us at info@mretailing.co.za for further information.

www.mretailing.co.za

Food Retailer, The Spur Corporation Making a Meal Out Of It

Spur Corporation, the restaurant franchise group whose brands include Spur, Panarottis and John Dory's reported yesterday that sales across its portfolio had increased by 17.5% in the six months to December, with Panarottis being the tastiest of them all having grown their sales by 33.2%.

Ellies Sending Out Strong Signals

Ellies manufacturer, distributor and retailer has sent out strong signals by delivering a strong set of results.

Revenue is up by 56% and profit after tax is up by 106% as stated in its published interim results yesterday.

Ellies has already rolled out 51 "green shops within a shop" outlets and is now looking for an acquisition to strengthen its renewable energy business.

Well Done Shoprite!

Shoprite grew turnover by 13,8% to R46,7 billion for the six months ending December 2012 and growth on a like-for-like basis was 6,9%.

In an operating update it was stated that sales increased by 11,5%, and by 6,2% on a like-for-like basis. For the month of December 2012 sales were 10,8% higher than for the corresponding period. Internal food inflation was on average 4,3% compared with the estimated official figure of 5,9%.

The rand remained weaker against most other currencies, resulting in the group’s non-South African supermarkets achieving sales growth of 28,2% and, on a like-for-like basis, of 13,4%. At constant currencies rand turnover growth of 23,5% was achieved. "This growth came mainly from the lower LSM (living standards measure) groups," Shoprite said.

Shoprite said the furniture industry remained negatively affected by the present economic conditions and the group’s furniture division grew sales by 4,8% for the period. The financial results for the review period will be published on or about 19 February 2013, the group said.

Source:
Business Day, dated 14 January 2013

Vacancies

Our client who is a blue chip and leading fashion retailer in South Africa, is looking for a Branch Manager and Assistant Manager for one of their flagship stores based in Menlyn, Pretoria, Gauteng.

Previous Fashion Retail would be preferable:

Salary: Negotiable
Benefits: Medical Aid, Pension Fund and yearly performance incentives. Study loans and bursaries are also available to employees with children through their training foundation.

After a year's service, successful incumbent will be issued with company shares.

Interested candidates to please forward their CV to cv@mretailing.co.za to reach us by no later than 18 January 2013 and, please use the reference MPG.
If you are not contacted back by the latest 31 January 2013, please then take it that your application was not successful. We will however keep your CV on our database for future use and, will contact you should something suitable transpire.

JD Group Buy Out

Steinbuild to buy hardware group

JD group subsidiary Steinbuild on Tuesday, 4 December 2012, made an offer to acquire Hardware Warehouse for R1.14 per share, sending Hardware Warehouse's share price up 5.15% to R1.02.

The deal values Hardware Warehouse at R88.8m.

JD Group - which is majority owned by Steinhoff Holdings and which acquired Steinbuild last year - said in August it would expand its furniture retail footprint, mainly in rural areas, by adding 50 new stores in the next financial year.

JD Group's share fell 0.12% to R47.99 and Steinhoff fell 0.81% to R26.83. Hardware Warehouse provides affordable building materials to low-to-medium income level customers mainly from the rural areas of the Eastern Cape, although it has grown its exposure to urban customers.

The company said on Tuesday the transaction would result in a number of financial and operational benefits to the stakeholders of both businesses.

Its shareholders would receive "a price that reflects the inherent value of the Hardware Warehouse business", while the business would benefit from being part of a larger retail group with a national footprint that included property management, procurement, treasury management and financial services. Hardware Warehouse would also benefit from a reduced risk profile due to a greater footprint across Southern Africa.

The scheme is subject to the fulfillment of various conditions. Following implementation, an application would be made to the JSE to terminate the listing of the Hardware Warehouse shares, the company said.

In September, Hardware Warehouse reported that headline earnings per share from continuing operations were 8.78c for the year ended June 30, from 5.11c previously.

Source: Business Day

Christmas Trading Tips

This season, when you can expect to see heavier traffic volume in your stores, try a laser focused approach on the sales floor. 

Often, during these busier times, you expect that customers will outnumber your sales team by quite a lot. While it's a wonderful problem to have, there are certain things you must do to make sure that you are able to take full advantage of it; make order out of the chaos and reap the rewards in terms of sales -conversion, average sale per customer, average units per customer, etc.

Without direction, the sales team can get caught up in the whirlwind of activity with the resulting sales achievement being significantly less than what it could be.  This might be a natural occurrence and may not necessarily be because your sales team are doing something wrong.

What they need is continuous guidance, direction and coaching on the sales floor. With proper sales floor leadership and direction in place, your customers will enjoy shopping in an environment where everything is well managed. They'll be able to get in and out fast, so they can move on to other things they need to accomplish.

They’ll enjoy being served (and sold to) by competent, happy, knowledgeable sales individuals and getting their questions answered quickly. And for those customers who don't want to take care of their shopping quickly - the ones who enjoy lingering and spending time, choosing just the right items - your sales team will be there for them too – providing exactly what they need.

The Store Manager, Sales Manager or other Management Person in Charge, must be free to perform the function of supervising on the sales floor during busy times. This role cannot be delegated to just anyone..choose the person carefully. The sole purpose of this function is to firstly increase sales now however if you have an unhappy customer this will effect your future business, so make sure the sales team and customer support functions are properly employed and free to do their jobs. Whoever you have decided to put in charge of the sales floor, must be aware of everything that is going on in the store at all times and must act to remove potential obstacles to performance. Clearly, customer's will benefit from this organized approach during a hectic time and this will have a direct impact on your current and future sales.

Here are some guidelines for the person in charge of your Sales Floor:

• Keep moving around the store (managing by walking around and keeping the finger on the pulse at all times).
• Have a system for being kept informed of sales by balancing back the sales team at certain convenient intervals regarding individual sales, conversion rate or any other important aspect of your operation.
• Always be facing the front of the store so you stay up to the minute on the traffic entering and exiting (one eye on the floor and one eye on the door)
• Set up a signal system that your team will recognize - perhaps a slight nod - to acknowledge and assist a customer as well as having a different signal for potential shoplifters as this is normally where retailers suffer their biggest losses, so in other words be aware of who is doing what at all times.
• Be on the lookout for items that are selling out so you have a designated individual to replenish to ensure your shop floor remains attractive. (Items in storerooms won't naturally sell themselves). And then follow up to ensure it’s done quickly.
• One of a customers biggest irritations during the festive season is having to sit in a slow moving queue or bottlenecks at the cash desk or checkout. Whoever is in charge needs to take action. Actions like: a) calling in additional employees to assist with packing functions  b) calling another cashier to the desk   c) instructing a runner to go for supplies  d) spending a moment chatting with customers who are waiting - taking their mind off  the fact they are waiting.
• Check all areas of the store, regularly, to ensure cleanliness and safety.
• Watch for individuals who are finished doing what they were doing and have not yet engaged in something else that is productive. Give them a new task or point them toward a potential customer.
• Let the team know that they can, and should, look to you for guidance on any problems that come up. Let them know you are there to ensure the smooth operation of the sales floor providing the very best service to customers and that nothing is more important to you. The customer always comes first and everybody needs to understand that they need to have the customer as the number one priority, anything else can wait.
• Tell the sales team to notify you should they be going on a lunch or tea or any other break so you can check firstly if it corresponds with your sales roster and secondly to ensure employees don't stay  away for too long. Staff respect what you inspect and this action will improve overall productivity in whatever area you are inspecting or checking. Review the schedule regularly. Change it if necessary. Lunch and other break times must be adhered to unless you make a change.
• Stay on the sales floor. If you absolutely must leave the sales floor for a short time, appoint someone to take over. This process can also be used to review your future succession planning and to evaluate individuals for future development.
• Above all, keep the team motivated - a Happy staff member = a Happy customer (be a Cheerleader and share information!)

Converting shoppers into buying customers is much easier when somebody is in charge of the Sales Floor – removing obstacles and directing virtually everything. There will be fewer customers who leave without buying because you've made sure that they were greeted and welcomed into the store, that you have ensured all products/models/styles/sizes that you have available are actually on the sales floor, that the environment is clean and safe, that the sales team are pleasant, calm and available to attend and sell to each and every customer and that the checkout is under control.

Basically, you will then have provided a great shopping experience in an otherwise hectic and chaotic time, and you will be rewarded with higher sales through increased conversion, average sale per customer, average units per customer, etc.

Having a person in charge of the Sales Floor is a ‘must have’, particularly at busy times. If you want to capitalize on increased traffic in your stores, try it. 

Should things not go as smooth, please don't hesitate to contact us should you require any assistance with any of your training needs to improve your business. We provide various workshops and training, and would be more than happy to provide you with a non obligatory quote.

Master Retailing Accreditation / Memberships and Affiliation

Alphabetical order 

•  CGCSA (Consumer Goods Council of South Africa)
• GESFWA (Global Education Support Forum for Working Adults)
• IADL (International Association for Distance Learning)
•  IAF (International Apparel Federation)
• IAO (International Accreditation Organization)
• ICM (Institute of Credit Management)
•  IEAC (International Education Accreditation Commission)
•  IRE (International Retail Education)
•  NUTN (National University Technology Network)
• RCSA (Retail Council of South Africa)
• W&RSETA (Wholesale & Retail Sector Education and Training Authority) a division of the Department of Education.

 The Master Retailing Team would like to wish you all a bumper festive trading, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.