Ever heard of the phrase 'activity breeds activity?
You've seen this - someone in the store is putting out a rail of new items or moving some merchandise around. Suddenly, customer gravitate to that area.
The curiosity is aroused and they want to see what is going on.
People don't want to miss out!
This may be obvious to you; a Manager, a person who has been in the industry for many years. But do your Part-Time staff know this? Does your new Associate know this?
Probably not. And they hold ALL the influence at any one time during the trading day!
When I was a Country Business Manager at a jewellery business, there were times in the stores where the activity was low. Footfall was sparse. Some days footfall was less than 30 in town stores. Yes, that was the reality! Tasks were done, deliveries all processed, standards were exceptional. So, now what?
Now, the team are waiting...waiting to serve, waiting to engage!
You have probably walked into a store and witnessed staff gathered together or totally dialled out wandering around, often head down.
You feel uncomfortable, unwelcome and quickly exit as fast as you entered.
The best thing any store leader can initiate is activity!
Re-work some displays, change the folding of some items, strip out a display and start again.
When you create energy it multiplies and before you know it, customers will soon be gravitating towards that activity.
Let me give you an example
One day, in a very quiet central London store I had signed off the new brand presentation together with the Visual Merchandising Manager. The new collections had been well presented, the displays were spotless, the communications and team were well set-up. It was 10am. The store was ready to rock!
A hour passed, no customer had entered.
We couldn't endure another day of allowing low footfall determine our sales outcome.
I decided to initiate a product update in a central display - visible from the entrance.
This work did not need to be done, it was already 'set' but I know people and I know how they respond.
As a retail leader, you need to be in the customers mind way ahead of them even entering the store!
We took out all of the watches and started trying them on, talking about the weight, the feel, the materials, the style and more.
We started talking about 'who would buy this watch' the team described the customer avatar, in great detail.
The energy was increasing, the engagement was building and before you could say FOOTFALL the store was busy and customers were like magnets to that display area and to the team. Customers started to try on the pieces and the team knew exactly what to say, repeating the very things we were just talking about! Within that hour, we had sold 3 watches from that one single display.
My point?
You want to sell more?
You want your teams to be more engaged and more purposeful?
Coach them to learn this technique!
Stay stagnant and accept the day to day; getting the same results OR get active, move more and be purposeful and you WILL see more sales and higher conversion rates
If you have been in the industry for some years or you are a Manager you will know these little tricks to get you over the line for the week. To get you head and shoulders above your competitors.
But does your new Sales Associate know this? Do your Part-Time weekend staff know this? Probably not.
This is a huge opportunity to accelerate learning and transform your entire team into energised, winning selling machines!
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