The past couple of months we have been discussing the process of selling additional items. As we approach the all important holiday season the importance of learning to suggest, show and sell additional items is paramount to your individual success and the overall success of your company. Again, selling additional items are one of the keys to maximizing both sales and profits in a retail jewelry store.
Customers want and need to buy additional items. In many cases the additional items are not on the top of the customers mind or aren’t a priority purchase at the moment that he/she is in your store. However, that is not to say that the customer won’t buy the additional items if introduced or given the suggestion of appropriate items that they need to purchase in the future.
To review a few of the key points about adding-on from previous articles:
1) Selling Add-on items is profit – the majority of the costs of running a business are amortized out of the main item purchase.
2) Selling Add-on items is a customer service – customers want and need to buy additional items. In some cases the customer simply hasn’t given any thought to the additional items or isn’t aware of the various different items that you sell in your store.
3) The Add-on doesn’t necessarily have to cost less than the main item. People have budgets for different things. If a customer is buying a graduation gift for a son’s girlfriend, that doesn’t mean he/she doesn’t have an even larger budget for the special event that they have coming in a couple of weeks.
4) What to Add-on – the key to success in selling additional items comes in the salesperson’s ability to ask add-on questions in order to determine what are the most appropriate additional items to sell.
5) An Add-on item is anything that you sell in addition to what the customer came in to purchase.
6) A professional salesperson MUST attempt to sell additional items. One of a salesperson’s main responsibilities is to sell additional items. I am not saying a salesperson must sell an add-on item to every customer, but a salesperson must attempt to sell an add-on item to every customer. Again, the only way to maximize a selling opportunity is through presenting additional goods.
7) Add-ons can significantly increase a salesperson’s income. When a salesperson is paid on commission a salesperson who shows, suggests and sells additional items can increase his/her commissions tremendously.
8) The Assumptive Add-on Close. The assumptive add-on close, as detailed last month, is one of the most effective add-on techniques available when the close is based on information that you learned throughout the earlier portion of the selling process.
The Don’t Let Me Forget/Remind Me To Show You Add-On Technique
This technique will actually cause customers to add-on to themselves. You will even find that in many cases the customer is actually reminding you to sell them additional merchandise. The technique is a method in which you stimulate the thought process and the desire in the customer.
For example; A woman comes in and is shopping for a watch for her husband, the salesperson could say for example: “Let’s take a look at some watches and, Oh, by the way, your earrings are gorgeous, don’t let me forget later to show you a pendant we have that will match perfectly.”
Another option would be to say: “Remind me later, I would love to get your opinion on some new items that we think are going to be very popular this holiday season, I’d love to see what you think.”
Again, if you don’t ask you won’t get. With these techniques you will find customers reminding you that you wanted their opinion on something or saying; “Why don’t you let me see the pendant that you mentioned?” Adding-on is the secret to building your sales and profits with your existing customers. In retail jewelry there are only three ways to increase sales. Those are to sell more of the people that you talk to, to sell more to the people you are already selling and to get more people in the store that you can sell. Selling additional items is an extremely important aspect of the job of a true professional salesperson. Further, your customers will appreciate the professionalism and the time that you have saved them in not having to shop at other stores to complete his or her buying needs.
Next month we will close out the articles on selling add-on items by detailing a few more add-on techniques.
Author, trainer, consultant and speaker Brad Huisken is President of IAS Training. Mr. Huisken authored the book “I’m a Salesman! Not a PhD.” and developed the PMSA Relationship Selling Program, the PSMC Professional Sales Management Course, The Mystery Shoppers Kit, The Weekly Jewelry Sales Training Meeting Series (exclusively for jewelry) along with Aptitude Tests and Proficiency Exams for new hires, current sales staff and sales managers and his new Train The Sales Trainer Course. 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, e-mail info@iastraining.com or visit www.iastraining.com.
