I Learned How To Sell From Selling Shoes…And You Can Too
BOB PHIBBS, CSP CEO The Retail Doctor www.RetailDoc.com
I
put myself through college as a salesman in a shoe store that used an “ups” system where once you waited on someone – whether they purchased or not, you went to the bottom of the order much like a baseball player until everyone else had their “up.”
Whether you sold or not, that was your chance to make a sale. You had to build trust with a customer quickly, always looking for a higher ticket via helping the customer get what they wanted. Back then, and still today, most clerks just ask a guy’s size when he picks up a shoe. But I wanted to measure their foot to save time and know if choices were limited. This strategy kept trainees from discussing features and benefits on the sales floor only to go to the stockroom and discover there was no shoe in the customer’s size. I trained the salesmen to bring out four boxes of footwear. After the customer decided on the original pair, he would invariably ask, “What’s in those boxes?” This is much easier selling when they ask rather than you push.
I know a lot of people who made money selling in the retail industry - particularly in shoes. The whole experience was one of pampering and catering to the customer. Contrast that to the selling process now - you try on your own shoes after asking for your size and figure out if they fit. No wonder so many shoe store owners are nervous about online shoe retailers! Selling shoes in a store has to be better than online. If all your clerks do is fetch products, they add no value to the transaction. That part-time job selling shoes is where I first learned much of what I still teach today about persuasion, presentation skills, energy, sales techniques in retail, teamwork and success. I use it in my online retail sales training program SalesRX.com. Customers don’t realize that when they have an exceptional experience it is not by chance, but by the training given to the sales team.
Five Things I Learned: Have a goal – sell more shoes Get the customer to take action. In shoe stores, it is to get them to take off their shoe. In apparel, it is to go to the fitting room. Keeping options open. Arousing curiosity. An “ups” system without training limits your ability to grow sales. Who is the best person to serve the customer?
RETAIL PEOPLE . JAN - MAR 2021 .33
