Master your destiny: as a salesperson and as a sales manager

I believe that the finest salespeople look at their careers as an opportunity to build a business within a business.  A commissioned jewelry salesperson has the opportunity to make as much money as they want.  A salesperson can choose to be average, below average or exceptional.  The decision is solely that, a choice that each and every salesperson makes all on their own.  The only person that is holding them back from reaching their goals and aspirations, in many cases, is the person that looks back at them in the mirror every day.  As I stated, a commissioned jewelry salesperson can make all the money they want to and at the same time, someone else has all the expenses and the liabilities.  Thus, the following is my definition of a true sales professional.

“One that causes the exchange of ownership of a product or service based on the customer’s wants and needs, with integrity!”

Too often, other than mere self motivation, what is holding a salesperson back is a lack of knowledge. Many people just simply do not have the information they need. I would never fault anyone for simply not knowing something. However, I would fault them for not seeking the knowledge and education that they need. How do I grow my business within a business? How do I get people to come back in and ask for me individually? How can I sell more of the people that I talk to? How can I sell more to my repeat customers? Therefore the following are my three ways that a salesperson can increase sales.

There are three basic concepts to increasing sales from the standpoint of a salesperson.

1. Get more people to come into the store.
2. Sell more of the people that are already coming into the store – increasing your closing ratio
3. Sell more to the people that you are already selling through add-ons and bump-ups.

Each of these top fifteen ways to increase sales is geared toward these three concepts.

1. Make a telephone call to your existing customers with a customer benefited reason for the call. For example: new merchandise arrivals, special events, anniversaries, birthdays, graduations etc.
2. Ask every customer for a referral. Who else do you know that may be getting engaged soon? Who else do you know that is graduating? Would you mind giving them one of my business cards?
3. Carry and pass out business cards to people that you come in contact with in your personal life. Bank tellers, waiters and waitresses, post office employees, etc. You never know where your next customer may come from.
4. Network within your community. Join the Chamber of Commerce, United Way, civic clubs and organizations, church groups etc.
5. Contact your friends and relatives about special events going on in their lives.
6. Ask every customer at least two add-on questions. For example: What other special events do you have coming up? When is your anniversary? Tell me about her jewelry wardrobe? What jewelry do you dream of having next?
7. Attempt to sell every customer higher quality merchandise through increasing their perception of value. It is a compliment to show people the best and work your way down. Higher quality merchandise is sold through increasing the customer’s perception of value in owning the nicer pieces.
8. Have the customer discuss future events, special occasions, other family members, etc.
9. Sell merchandise based on the emotional reason(s) that customers buy, not only technical reasons. In this way you are developing personal trade customers that feel that you are their friend in the jewelry business.
10. Turn over sales that you cannot complete to another salesperson and give them a chance to complete the sale. The reasons that people don’t buy are as numerous as the reasons that people do buy!
11. Analyze each sales presentation and ask yourself: What could I have done differently to have either made the sale or to have increased the quality and the quantity of the sale?
12. Constantly look to improve your skills abilities and knowledge. In other words be relentless in your pursuit of knowledge and education. Read books on salesmanship, listen to recorded training sessions, read the trade journals, talk to others in your field, etc.
13. Set goals for yourself and reward yourself based on the achievement of the goals. Remember goals must be written, posted, attainable and have  statistical measurement.
14. Track your closing ratio. Know what your score is and then work to improve it. There is a reason why great salespeople are great. They know what their score is and they are relentless in improving their score.
15. Be curious – think about your very best customer. Ask yourself everything that you know about this person. Their name, spouse’s name, where they work, live, how many children, the children’s names and what school they go to, the dog’s name, etc. Then ask yourself what do you know about the person that you didn’t sell the other day. The answer is probably nothing. The bottom line is the difference between your best customer and the one that you didn’t sell comes down to your ability to befriend another human being. Care about people.

Work every minute of every day to increase your personal sales and productivity. Don’t fall into the sea of mediocrity that I see so many salespeople fall into. You really can and do make a difference in the success of your organization.

How can a sales manager or jewelry store owner motivate their staffs to consistently do the right thing?

Motivation has always been a mystery to many owners/sales managers.  How can you get your staff to care as much and to work as hard as you do?  The truth is that you probably cannot.  That is why as an owner/sales manager you have to set it up so that salespeople do have the opportunity to have their own business within your business.  Then they will take on ownership qualities.  There are people that are on their way to being a store owner/sales manager, however until they get the position, they will not have the same vested interest that you do.

Motivation is actually something that each individual decides on his/her own.

Whether or not someone is motivated is very subjective and open to differences of opinion.  One person may think that he/she is motivated while you may think that he/she is not.  People do not accept a position within an organization wanting to fail.  People want to do a good job.  Too often, something or someone gets in the way of that happening.  The best you can do as an owner/sales manager is to: “Create an environment of personal growth and development within your organization.”

I do not believe that people come to work wanting to do a bad job.  For the most part, everyone needs and wants to feel successful.  It is your responsibility to give them the training, knowledge, and coaching to help them to be successful. The primary reason that salespeople seem to be unmotivated is due to incomplete training.

You are directly responsible for either a motivated staff or an unmotivated staff. Salespeople overall are already motivated. The following will cause salespeople to lose their motivation to do the best that they can:

1. The rules, policies, procedures, or standards have not been justified to them.
2. They have not been given the knowledge and/or skills needed to complete the jobs or tasks given.
3. There are factors preventing them from doing their job completely.
4. The salesperson is not rewarded based on his/her productivity.
5. The salesperson does not have a goal set that he/she is working to achieve.
6. The sales manager does not provide positive reinforcement.
7. The sales manager resorts to fear, intimidation, and belittling the salesperson.
8. The sales manager does not provide fair discipline and/or praise.
9. The sales manager does not give adequate time to the salesperson.
10. The sales manager does not make the job fun.

If you have done all the right things to enable your salesperson to be successful and thus “motivated” them to complete the job, yet he/she lacks the “drive” to do the job, they should be replaced.

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