06 Apr Understanding Customer Behavior is the Key to Sales Success

A CEO I once worked for said that retail is a simple business made difficult by people with Degree’s. I would learn the value of this statement as I progressed through management and transitioned from a private, family owned company to a much larger corporate company that would eventually be swallowed up by an even bigger corporate entity.

Almost 40 years ago I had my first taste of working in retail. I worked at a store bagging groceries and stocking shelves. I remember how much pride I felt being good at serving customers and enjoying the appreciation I received from the simple task of putting product into a bag, then into a cart and eventually into a vehicle. Smiling and exchanging friendly chatter, it seemed simple.

There was no training on how to put products in a bag. You just made them fit and remembered to put the eggs on top. There was no dialogue or steps I had to follow to converse with customers. I asked someone how their day was, and they answered. I saw something curious… I asked about it. There was no such thing as political correctness in the world. I really couldn’t go wrong… and if I did, generally there was an awkward laugh, an apology, sometimes a head shake and we moved on. I was 12 or 13 at the time.

Fast forward to 2018. Retail interaction has become much more challenging. Retail itself? Well… it is still pretty much the same, but we seem to have made it more difficult. Technology has certainly made the process of exchanging product for payment quicker, but people have really become the challenge. A multi-cultural, multi-linguistic business platform supplied by an intercontinental logistics system has created static in the communication process. Which in turn, can and does, unnecessarily create a negative experience for a customer, and server, that in scale, can negatively impact even the largest corporate giant.

Add in a society’s necessity to hashtag, text, tweet, record and judge people publicly in an instant and the always present rite to political correctness; the playing field becomes an even more difficult atmosphere to navigate and a much less enjoyable environment to work in. Especially for newcomers to employment in the retail field.

It has been said that before you can understand others, you must first understand yourself. Retail Prime is a course that does just that. It is a customizable course that can be delivered corporately to the largest retailer, or privately to the smallest business owner. Retail Prime adapts a proven method of understanding people’s motivators and combines body language and communication skills in union with the expectations to serve and to sell.

We are fortunate in retail to have the strengths of a multi-culturally diverse sales force that can satisfy an equally diverse customer base, but as much as there is value in difference, there is even greater value in similarity. Imagine the power of a focused, confident and diverse team of service experts who follow an unscripted, wholehearted representation of themselves and your company that increases sales and drives customers into your store. That’s what Retail Prime delivers.

At www.smilingrhino.ca our goal is to make retail easy again. Whether you are new to retail, the service industry, new to employment or new to the country, Retail Prime will give you the tools to be successful on day one. Retail is about being comfortable serving customers, happily finding solutions and generating sales. If you are looking to improve your business, its culture or your individual skills and confidence serving people, contact info@smilingrhino.ca. We’ll help you RUMBLE when you walk!