Observe and Respond to Increase Sales

There once was an employee who could make customers laugh. And make whole crowds of them sing Christmas Carols. She actually made them enjoy standing in line during crazy, crowded holiday sales. She made them happy to buy. Because what people buy isn’t so much a Product, as a Person. The product can be purchased in other places. Customers buy the smile, the sincerity, the attitude. Customers especially buy the feeling of being treated like the unique individuals they are.

Sincerity sells. Personality sells. Canned greetings and responses may be more efficient, but they will never be as prosperous. How do I know? Because “that employee” was me. And I consistently increased sales in every store I worked in or managed.

I’m going to tell you how I did that, and how you and your employees can do it too. But you have to be brave. You have to be willing to change, to “color outside the lines” sometimes. If you can do that, you will succeed.

You have to be able to “read” people.

This has always been my forte, but it doesn’t come naturally to everyone. So here are some tips:

Observe the Customer.

Observe. You can’t possibly read people if you aren’t paying attention, so put down that cell phone, book, crossword puzzle, whatever it is you are using to pass the time, and Pay Attention! Look for visual clues — is the person smiling? Or are they frowning? Do they sigh? Are they angrily sorting through items, abruptly tossing things aside? Or do they carefully look, making sure to replace or refold the item they picked up?

Listen. Do they have children with them? Are they speaking in angry, scolding tones? Or are they laughing and engaging with the child? Are they with friends? On the phone? Listen to what they are saying. Don’t go out of your way to hear them — I’m not talking creepy-stalker here. Just observe what you hear. I always considered anything I could easily hear to be “public” and not an invasion of privacy. Of course, if their conversation is whispered, or it’s obvious they don’t want to be overheard, take a cue and move away. Give them the courtesy of a small bit of privacy; they’ll thank you for it (whether they say anything or not).

Once you have information — Respond!

Sometimes what you see is easy to respond to. Did the customer come in with an armful of bags or parcels? Offer them a safe place to stow them while they shop. If they come in smiling and humming or whistling a familiar tune — sing along! Yes, you read that right — join in! Sing, hum, whatever you’re comfortable with. When they turn to look, I usually just smiled and said something like “great tune”. Or I went a little more outrageous and made a joke like, “oh good! That singing telegram I ordered is here!”

Keep your comments light and friendly and remember to smile! Don’t push sales. You don’t need to. They came in for a reason. All you need to do is be friendly and accessible. I usually followed up my friendly opening comments with something like, “let me know if you have any questions or need help with anything.”

Then I would go “straighten” stock. When you do this, you will want to choose a spot where you are nearby but not too close. Maybe the sale rack or another spot you want to draw attention to. If the customer wants to chat — Go for it! I loved talking to people so this was easy for me. I would often ask about the weather outside. Something like, “what’s it like outside? Still raining?” Here’s where visual clues come in handy. Are they wearing a heavy jacket? Are they carrying an umbrella? Wearing a tank top? The clues are usually numerous and obvious, you just have to look.

Be careful with some observations. It’s sometimes difficult to tell the difference between a woman who is fat, and one who is pregnant. So Never ask when the baby is due unless it’s glaringly obvious that they Are pregnant. Like, if they are wearing a t-shirt with a graphic of an arrow pointing to their stomach with the word “Baby”, then you are probably pretty safe saying things like “when’s your baby due?” Or if they are wearing a shirt that says “I’m not fat, I’m pregnant”, again — pretty safe. I once saw a woman wearing a t-shirt that said: “I’m not pregnant, I’m Fat!” That one made me laugh and, since I’m a bit overweight, I was able to get away with saying, “I like your t-shirt! I think I need one of those!” This kind of comment isn’t for everyone, however. So if this isn’t you, that’s ok! Steer clear of anything sensitive and stick to general comments.

Flattery will get you everywhere. Even outrageous flattery — with a bit of gentle humor.

I’ve been known to use some pretty outrageous flattery. This isn’t a strategy everyone is comfortable with. My comments sometimes even made my boss gasp! But he knew me well enough that he trusted me to interact in my own unique way — because he saw my results (increased sales). So it wasn’t unusual for me to say something like, “that baby is So beautiful! There have Got to be some babies going to bed ugly at night, cause Your baby got all the looks!” I could do it and make the momma laugh and feel right at home. Of course, this doesn’t work if the baby Isn’t adorable. But baby compliments were always a winner for me. You can say something general like “what an adorable baby!” I’d usually ask the sex. If I saw them wearing pink or blue, I’d say “is that a little girl (boy)?” Moms are usually not offended by gender questions. Or a simple approach is to address the baby — “hi sweetie, what’s your name?” and let momma respond.

When I worked at a sweatshirt shop, I’d watch to see what clothes people were looking at. Then I’d say things like, “I love that color on you! It really highlights your gorgeous eyes!” Or something simple like “that’s the perfect color for you! You really make that shirt look amazing!” Don’t mention price, just compliment them and leave it at that. If they seemed really interested, I might add something like, “Want me to put that behind the counter while you shop? We only have a couple of each size of those.” This was true — I never lied to people and that’s important because customers can usually tell and if they catch you in a lie they not only will never trust you again, they may not trust the store either.

Note — I never had to lie when I flattered people either. If you look, Everyone has something you can compliment. Even if it’s something like “I Love your shoes! I was looking at those in the store window. Are they comfortable?” Or if they were wearing a team shirt, I’d say something like, “Hey, a fellow Bills fan!”

These are just a few examples of how you can increase sales by simply observing and responding to your customers. Try them! Let me know what worked (and what didn’t) in your store. I’d love to hear from you!

I’m working on a course in which I’ll expand on these tips and techniques and give you even more examples and help. If you have any questions or comments and/or would like to be notified when the course goes live, feel free to send me an email at chiwowmedia@gmail.com.