Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight
    Lambrecht’s Jewelers, 130-years-old and counting
    Celebrate with Gold®
    Tracing Diamond’s Origin
    Pickens, Inc.: Steady pace wins the race
  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • NRF
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • Video
    • What's New
    VAHAN launches 2022 campaign – “A Moment for Me”
    FDIC Economist, Dr. LaVaughn Henry to keynote 2022 ASA International Conference
    Michelle Meltesen joins John Atencio Wholesale team
    Kovel Collection introduces Busy Bee designs
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
    Motivating your sales staff
    Keys to Effective Communication – Part IV
    The Retailer’s Perspective: With great power comes great fails
    The Retailer’s Perspective
    The Story Behind the Stone: Yearning for Kazakhstan
    10 Cybersecurity Questions small and medium businesses should ask in 2022
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part III
    Kate’s star-studded style. What will the next trend be?
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part II
    Retailing in a post-PC world
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
  • Featured
    • All
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Sponsored Content
    • Supplier Spotlight
    Lambrecht’s Jewelers, 130-years-old and counting
    Celebrate with Gold®
    Tracing Diamond’s Origin
    Pickens, Inc.: Steady pace wins the race
  • Latest News
    • All
    • COVID-19
    • Furry Friends
    • Industry Awards
    • Industry Events
    • NRF
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Tradeshow News
    • Video
    • What's New
    VAHAN launches 2022 campaign – “A Moment for Me”
    FDIC Economist, Dr. LaVaughn Henry to keynote 2022 ASA International Conference
    Michelle Meltesen joins John Atencio Wholesale team
    Kovel Collection introduces Busy Bee designs
  • Podcast
  • Columnists
    Motivating your sales staff
    Keys to Effective Communication – Part IV
    The Retailer’s Perspective: With great power comes great fails
    The Retailer’s Perspective
    The Story Behind the Stone: Yearning for Kazakhstan
    10 Cybersecurity Questions small and medium businesses should ask in 2022
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part III
    Kate’s star-studded style. What will the next trend be?
    Motivating your sales staff
    IAS Training’s Keys to Effective Communication – Part II
    Retailing in a post-PC world
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Southern Jewelry News
No Result
View All Result
Home Columnists

Keeping Customers, Part 1

Brad Huisken, President IAS Training by Brad Huisken, President IAS Training
February 3, 2016
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

With rock stars, the continued expansion of their fan base determines their success and growth within the industry. Without continued growth and presence to their fans, stars dim and slip into obscurity to suffer the fate of “has beens.” For salespersons, the constant growth of their customer base, both with repeat customers and with adding new ones, determines their success and growth within the sales industry.

In sales, the relationship of customers, with “their” salespersons, is much more personal. Generally, salespersons do not “play to throngs of customers”, so developing dynamic relationships is essential to continued and multiple sales. Over time, the goal is the creation of business friendships, based on respect, continued interaction, honoring preferences, sharing information with each other, and desiring to enhance the well-being for all parties.

Initially, customers are seeking the best product at the best price. Period.

It is the role of the salesperson to pique the interest of the customer beyond these fundamentals and lay the foundation of trust and integrity with each potential business relationship.

First off, honesty is vital! Throughout the discussion of what the customer is searching for and the features/benefits of a particular product, the customer is listening for words that create advantages – such as free, discount, instant, bonus. Getting attention to the product in this way begins the excitement of the purchase.

When a customer signals that he/she is ready to move beyond features/benefits, their next consideration is price. The immediate question for the customer is “does the value of the product approximately equal the amount of money I am being asked to spend?” Hidden behind this question is the customer concern of “can I afford this item?” followed quickly by “do I want to afford this item?” For most people, venturing into the area of finances becomes a little bit personal. If there is a concern with finances, there could be an unspoken threat to the customer’s well-being. Even if the affordability of an item is not a concern, when the salesperson moves the conversation to finances, it creates a new level in the conversation, where concerns about trust, honesty and integrity become more important. Respecting the customer’s concern with finances demonstrates your commitment to developing an ongoing relationship with your customer.

Just when your relationship with your customer appears to be stable and predictable is the perfect time to interject some romance into the mix with some surprises! Perhaps a personal phone call, just to touch base with the person or to see how their trip to the Bahamas went, or to include a small extra with their purchase, or to include a thoughtful novelty, or perhaps freebies (such as movie tickets) are examples of unexpected courtesies that let your customer know that you are thinking of them. These acts all serve to keep your name and your thoughtfulness foremost in the mind of the customer. Additionally, they communicate that you value your relationship with them beyond the commission you receive from interacting with them!

Expressing sincere interest in your customer, such as knowing the names of their children or that John Jr. is about to become a freshman at Dartmouth, adds a deeper dimension to the personal relationship you have with your customer. Do these things happen in the first or second or third sales conversation? Probably not. Are they details that enhance the customer friendship? Assuredly so. And when it comes time to do business, most people would rather do business with friends, or at least familiar people, than total strangers.

Taking the time to caringly and respectfully interact with your customers is worth every second of the time you put into this endeavor! Additionally, it causes you to relish each time you have the opportunity to catch up with your customer and add personal and sales history with them!


Author, trainer, consultant, and speaker Brad Huisken is President of IAS Training. Huisken has authored several books and training manuals on sales and produces a Weekly Sales Training Meeting video series along with Aptitude Tests and Proficiency Exams for new hires, current sales staff and sales managers. In addition, he publishes a free weekly newsletter called “Sales Insight” For a free subscription or more information contact IAS Training at 800-248-7703 or info@iastraining.com. Visit his website at www.iastraining.com.

 

Brad Huisken, President IAS Training

Brad Huisken, President IAS Training

Author, trainer, consultant, and speaker Brad Huisken is President of IAS Training. Huisken has authored several books and training manuals on sales and  produces a Weekly Sales Training Meeting video series along with Aptitude Tests and Proficiency Exams for new hires, current sales staff and sales managers. In addition, he publishes a free weekly newsletter called “Sales Insight” For a free subscription or more information contact IAS Training at 800-248-7703 or info@iastraining.com. Visit his website at www.iastraining.com.

Related Posts

Motivating your sales staff

Keys to Effective Communication – Part IV

July 6, 2022
The Retailer’s Perspective: With great power comes great fails

The Retailer’s Perspective

June 30, 2022

The Story Behind the Stone: Yearning for Kazakhstan

June 30, 2022

10 Cybersecurity Questions small and medium businesses should ask in 2022

June 27, 2022

Latest News

What's New

VAHAN launches 2022 campaign – “A Moment for Me”

July 6, 2022
Columnists

Keys to Effective Communication – Part IV

July 6, 2022
Industry Events

FDIC Economist, Dr. LaVaughn Henry to keynote 2022 ASA International Conference

July 6, 2022

Other News

Michelle Meltesen joins John Atencio Wholesale team

Kovel Collection introduces Busy Bee designs

GN Diamond shares jewelers’ creative marketing tips

Stuller introduces several new offerings at JCK Las Vegas

JSA reports crimes against U.S. jewelry firms in 2021 exceeded pre-Covid levels

GCAL partners with VDB to add 8X® Cut Grade search filter

Southern Jewelry News

© 2022 Southern Jewelry News.

Additional Information

  • About
  • 2022 Trade Shows
  • Media Kit
  • Contact

Get Social with Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured Articles
    • Featured
    • Featured Retailers
    • Retailer Roundtable
    • Supplier Spotlight
    • Sponsored Content
  • Latest News
    • What’s New
    • Industry Events
    • Tradeshow News
    • On The Move
    • Other News
    • Furry Friends
  • Columnists
  • Classifieds
  • Subscriptions
    • Newsletter Signup
    • Print Subscription

© 2022 Southern Jewelry News.