Retail News

How Salespeople Are Adjusting in the Wake of COVID-19

Words by Rosa Sophia

Since Coronavirus began spreading in the United States, Mobile Electronics Association has been hosting weekly meetings to help retailers stay informed. On April 23, the focus turned to sales as Kevin Hallinan of WINNING, Inc. provided his insights in a presentation entitled The Buyer Seller Dance and How to Take the Lead. Hallinan discussed the ground rules of selling, which he also shared with readers in the Strategy & Tactics section of Mobile Electronics magazine’s February / March 2020 issue.

While Hallinan underscored that the art of sales involves making a customer comfortable, questions arose from attendees regarding how to handle sales in the midst of the spread of Coronavirus and beyond. One attendee inquired as to how salespeople should handle a worried client who prefers email rather than an in-person meeting.

“Get them on the phone,” Hallinan advised. “Respond to the email and say, ‘Thanks for reaching out. What’s the best time to talk on the phone?’ In times of quarantine, we may have to sell over the phone.”

Since handshakes have become unwelcome due to the spread of the virus, Hallinan said, “Give them the six-foot rule and own it. Be comfortable with no handshake. I’m going to give them that space.” In this way, head motion and eye contact become all the more important. “You almost have to overemphasize that and add a little more body language,” he noted.

Another attendee asked whether the salesperson should clean a product after demonstrating it and then invite the client to try it. “That’s a good idea for two reasons,” Hallinan said. “First, it gives them comfort and shows you care about their health. If you have extra disposable gloves, you can also offer them a pair.”

The topic of system demos after an installation also arose in the conversation. “I would say to the customer, ‘You’re welcome to come back when this is over, but for now, play with the system and we can Facetime if you need to, and I can walk you through it remotely,’” Hallinan suggested.

Chris Cook, President of Mobile Electronics Association, prompted Hallinan to share any suggestions that might help make customers more comfortable in-store during this difficult time. “What would you do to make them feel more welcome when they come in?” he asked. “When retailers are closed or slow, would you recommend thorough cleaning and painting to make the place look and smell really clean?”

Hallinan said yes. “Fresh paint says, ‘New, clean.’ Offer hand sanitizer. Let people know you’ve thoroughly sanitized the facility and that you take their health and yours seriously,” he said. “A lot of shops are hiring cleaning companies to come in.”

Cook and Hallinan also discussed inviting customers into a video call to talk about a project, or taking them on a virtual tour of the facility. Hallinan said if this is done, it’s important to normalize it from the start. “You can start with, ‘We’re in unusual times. We’re spending a few minutes on Facetime or video chat with our customers. Would you be okay with

doing that?’ Tell them it’s normal first, and then ask them to do it.”

Shops should also have signage set up that guides a customer through what they’ve done to keep everyone safe. “Show concern. This should be the case all the time, but even more so now,” Hallinan said, adding, “I hope that’s one thing that will carry over into the

post-pandemic world. Ask them, ‘How are you? How are you doing with all this?’” When it comes to sales, he said, it’s essential to ask lots of questions. “I know it can be uncomfortable, but practice [with other salespeople and staff] and learn to ask more questions. Highly performing salespeople know how to ask a lot of questions.

Car-Tunes Inc. Boosts Product Awareness With Contest

WORDS BY LAURA KEMMERER

As counterintuitive as it might seem, sometimes giving away product you want to sell can be good for business. In order to boost awareness of product prior to the spread of COVID-19, Greenville, Mississippi-based Car-Tunes, Inc. ran a contest for $1,000 worth of Race Sport Lighting product, with professional installation included.

“We [ran the contest] to kick off the lighting season and pep up sales, and just put featured product items in front of people that they might not know are available because that’s such a large category,” noted Kimberly Trainer, president and owner of Car Tunes.

“So we partnered with Race Sport on that, and what we decided to do was to have it run through our in-store and social media. We would post to social media once a day about featured items, and people could read about it, like the page and then share it with a new friend, so each time they shared it with a new friend, they could get an entry to $1,000 of Race Sport Lighting.”

When customers had a handle on the rules of the contest, that helped spread the reach of the announcement. New people were being shown the offer, rather than the same eyes seeing the same content over and over again, according to Trainer. It also introduced customers to other lighting products that the business has to offer.

Previously, the shop had run another, somewhat similar contest and found that the duration—around 40 days—was just a bit too long. This time, the contest was only kept running for two weeks.

“We were highlighting the lighting products [as a specific target] because those are the kinds of products that can be an add-on to any of our existing customers, so it wouldn’t be something that wouldn’t take away from something we were already doing,” said Trainer. “This was all product we could do in addition to things we were already doing.”

Other than raising awareness among established customers, this contest also helped introduce new potential customers to what Car Tunes had to offer.

For other shops that are considering running a similar campaign to increase product awareness, Trainer emphasized the importance of planning, noting the importance of having things like graphic assets squared away ahead of time. Maintaining a set schedule so that customers know what to expect also remains a key point. In Car Tunes’ instance, the contest was sponsored by Race Sport Lighting. The winner was JT Harmon, who works as a first responder.

“That way, once you start the contest and the hype starts up, you’re maintaining the contest, rather than having to create as you go along,” said Trainer.

It’s also important to determine a dollar amount that you’re willing to spend, whether that’s in actual cash or potential labor, such as installing product. And even though this kind of endeavor is an investment, it’s still a form of advertising.