How to get your retail sales staff to maximise profitability per sale
Do you feel like your frontline sales team does a great job of selling, but are not so great at maximising the amount of profit they generate per sale? Training your retail frontline sales team to get the most out of every transaction is the easiest way to increase your profits with minimal extra effort.
In this article, we’re going to discuss the top tactics to ensure your customers increase their spend with you every time.
Ensure upselling and cross-selling happens every time
Upselling is when you persuade your customer to buy something more expensive and cross-selling is when you sell an additional product that complements the product they are already committed to buying. These tactics can be the most powerful ways to increase customer spend with very extra little effort. This is why it’s crucial to ensure that your retail frontline sales team are upselling and cross-selling to every customer they come into contact with.
Did you know that upselling can increase revenue by 10-30% and upsells are 68% more affordable than acquiring a new customer?
Tips for upselling and cross-selling
Know which option is most likely to end in success - There is no point upselling to a customer who is already 100% sold on what they are buying, your best chance for success would be to cross-sell and offer them a product that enhances the item.
For example, if they buy a pair of leather boots which they say they’ve had their heart set on them for months, don’t try to change the product, instead, offer them shoe protection sprays and cleaners which will allow them to keep their beloved boots in better condition for even longer.
Go big on the value proposition - Don’t just offer the upsell or cross-sell and hope for the best. Remember that you are still selling to the customer so your persuasive tricks and techniques are crucial to ensure you maximise profitability.
Share stories about customers similar to themselves - If you tell a customer that the upgraded product is better they probably won’t be that convinced, but if you tell them a customer who had similar challenges to themselves thought it was better they are more likely to believe you. This is called ‘Social Proof’ it’s a psychological concept which explains that people will follow the actions of the masses because if others behave in a certain way it must be the correct route to follow. For example, a customer comes in with oily, acne-prone skin and wants your mattifying moisturiser. Tell them how a customer who had similar skin issues to themselves decided to not only purchase the mattifying moisturiser but the whole oily skincare range because… and then list the values.
So how do you ensure your retail frontline sales team consistently offers upsells and cross-sells?
Make upsells and cross-sells an integral part of your sales process and regularly carry out overt and covert sales observations to make sure that your retail sales process is being followed.
The main goal is to observe your sales rep’s behaviour to see if they are upselling and cross-selling but the other goal is to watch so you can provide accurate support to ensure they do it successfully in the future. Take a look at the examples below:
You might observe a sales rep’s behaviour and recognise that they aren’t upselling your products because they aren’t knowledgeable enough about the upgraded items. Your training goal for them would be to ensure they know all the benefits of your ‘superior items’.
You may observe them and notice that they aren’t listening closely enough to the customer to be able to effectively cross-sell. Your task could be for them to ensure they listen more and talk less in their next sales interaction.
Make sure the customer becomes a repeat customer
Acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than retaining an existing customer which is why it should come as no surprise that you need to ensure your customers return in order to maximise profitability per sale.
When you work in retail frontline sales, providing exceptional customer service is your only way to ensure repeat business. Sure you can offer low prices, but if you can’t compete on price, giving the customer a memorable, helpful and friendly experience is your best bet.
What does it take to provide amazing customer service in the retail sector?
Show a genuine interest in your customer’s problems - Have you ever had a conversation with a person when you tried to share your problems and all they did was turn the conversation back to themselves?
Perhaps you had the same conversation with a different person who showed a genuine interest in what you had to say and offered answers to your problems. Who out of these people did you trust more and build a better connection with? Our guess is probably the latter. A great sales rep needs to show a genuine interest in their customer’s problems and listen intently to what they are saying.
Give them an experience to remember - Are there quirky or unusual things you can do to make your business stand out from your competitors? For example, if you work in the sales department of a gym, can you offer them a free spa treatment as part of their sign up process, or can you make your diners a personalised cocktail as part of their dining experience? Anything which makes your customer feel special and valued is bound to ensure they come back again.
Be humorous - Humour causes the release of endorphins in the brain, which makes us feel happy and relaxed. When your customers are happy and relaxed they are in a much better state of mind to buy.
Deliver training around which products can be sold together
The majority of retail frontline employees do not maximise profitability per sale because they aren’t clear on what additional extras they can and should offer.
Provide regular training around which products complement each and why they should always be sold together.
For example, always encourage your employees to offer bread as an extra with the mussels dish because they can soak up your incredible sauce.
Display and offer ‘low consideration’ products at the till
What we mean by low consideration products is additional extras which your customers don’t really have to think about because they are:
Not overly expensive - For example, if your customer has already spent hundreds of pounds on an expensive suit when you offer them a reasonably priced dust bag to keep their suit in, the chance of them purchasing it is high.
Extremely helpful - Using the example above, a dust bag is an incredibly helpful product to offer because it will keep their expensive clothes safe and it means they don’t have to look elsewhere to purchase one.
Provide even more value - You could offer a deal on these products which the customer only receives if they buy a certain product. For example, if they buy a necklace for over £100 they get a jewellery box for 50% cheaper than the original marked price.
Always offer a discount if you don’t have specific items in stock
Let’s say your retail frontline staff work in a shop selling televisions. Five customers enter your store looking for a particular TV which costs £1000 but you have just sold out of them and you won’t have the TV’s in stock until the following week.
If you politely apologise and ask your customers to return the following week to purchase the TV the chances are that those customers will either go and spend their £1000 in a store that does have the TVs or start browsing the web for cheaper options. After all, if they have to wait for it any way they may as well order one online where it could be cheaper.
If you offer them a discount of say 5% on the condition that they place an order with you that day, it will only have cost you £250 for all five customers but you will have made a profit of £4750 rather than £0 which you would’ve made if you let them go.
Need a sales solution to help your frontline sales team maximise profitability per sale?
Ocasta Review, a mobile first retail audit and observation app maximises your selling opportunities through better product knowledge, consistent customer service and finding real-time upselling opportunities.
