The holiday season is in progress and with it, all manner of anticipation and good will abound! In the jewelry business, we’re all about the shiny baubles to dazzle every taste and trend. We have every type of gem known to mankind. We have a variety of metals to anchor those gems to our bodies to capture the imagination and admiration of everyone, from the most finicky customer to salespeople to profit-conscious managers and owners to suppliers who constantly endeavor to enhance their offerings to entice everyone!
Our stock includes every single item we project will bring squeals of delight from both gift-givers and gift-receivers. We have one-of-a-kind timeless pieces that only appreciate in value over the years. We have door-busters that bring sighs of relief to bargain hunters. We have stock that just boggles the mind. We have plans that we can sell every last item in the store – and at a great profit!
Ah, yes! This holiday season will be fondly remembered as the over-the-top best season ever!E.V.E.R.!
We have carefully psyched out the best marketing strategies to create urgency and loyalty for us from our customers! Our signage is spot on! We have customer conveniences to bring a smile to the weariest of buyers. We are actively prepared to grow our business and make new, long-lasting friendships with our customers!
We have cleaned and polished every little detail in the store to please our white-gloved guests! We have impeccably prepared for this most glorious season – the one that brings the bacon home for all of us!
So what could possibly be lacking?
I’m guessing it might have something to do with personnel – the very souls who work inexhaustibly throughout the season, with all those customers, from the value-minded to the most generous, most financially able shoppers whose only desire is to shower love upon their gift recipients!
Every salesperson must sparkle brilliantly with ultimate customer service as her/his guiding principal. Each salesperson’s goals must shine brightly with the company’s philosophies, policies and procedures to produce the maximum satisfaction for each buyer (and each recipient).
Each staffer sparkles energetically with product details, pricing, customizations and presentation skills.
Every person who occupies a spot on the sales floor absolutely exudes quality with social interactions among lookers, buyers, coworkers and management personnel! Each one sparkles enthusiastically with the excitement of being on the team that you and they have created!
Motivation, whether internal or external, keeps the sparkle radiant when circumstances show up that dull the desires: fatigue, conflict, disappointment are counter-productive to achieving great team results!
Little kindnesses and acknowledgements will go a long way to keeping everyone on the top of their game – maybe an extra 10-minute break when energy flags, or team booster gifts or surprises (small remembrances) to keep the focus positive. Through everyone offering simple acknowledgements, high fives, atta boys, fist pumps, etc. the face of success and the disappointments really do maintain and revive salespeople’s desires and abilities to persevere with the larger goals in mind!
The most valuable resources in the sales game are always the personnel doing the actual selling. They deserve utmost consideration and maintenance to keep the holidays SPARKLING!
If you are a salesperson, look within yourself and make sure you are sparkling all the time. As a manager or owner, be out on the floor coaching, praising, taking turnovers, answering questions, meeting and greeting, handling traffic, doing take-overs, and basically instill and maintain a positive happy experience for both the staff and your all important customers. Remember you will have more new customers in the store this month than any other time of the year. It is time to make sure all aspects of the store are Sparkling. Your future depends on it!!
Best wishes for a very Merry, Happy and Successful Holiday Season both professionally and personally!
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.
