Page 47 - Lighting Magazine April 2020

on the mark
company, and the products you sell means that you must put the client’s interests at the forefront. In the simplest of terms, it is utilizing the skill of active listening and observation.
Some of the traits of an active listener are: patience with the speaker, letting the customers express themselves fully without interruption, and providing only positive verbal and non-verbal feedback at this point in the sales process. Sales pros should summarize, and later reflect back on, what the client has shared to assure accuracy of understanding and gain additional clarity of a top- ic or as part of a minor/major closing statement.
The second distinguishing characteristic of the concierge salesperson is expertise. Showrooms must invest the time their salespeople need to become the expert on the products they sell, the company they sell for, and the market they sell in. This special breed of sales pro provides a deeper level of expert status and value to the customer.
The “experts” know which products can be eas- ily exchanged for others, which vendors/sales reps they can count on in a pinch, and which contractor is best for that customer. They direct the client to products that meet the client’s level of expecta- tion. Part of the salesperson’s arsenal is knowing the showroom’s sales process inside and out. A salesperson who doesn’t know their own process- es – and how to maximize that process for their client – will cause the client to become skeptical of the showroom and the team.
Another skill that increases the salesperson’s expert status relates to the digital. The profes- sional must have a command of all internal and external digital platforms used to market and sell to the client. The days of being digitally unskilled are over; those who don’t have or fail to develop these skills will be left behind.
Demonstrating a deeper level of digital exper- tise will develop an increased degree of trust with the client. Trust and confidence are the foundation that client relationships and sales are built upon.
The third trait of the concierge salesperson is unbridled confidence. This ranks third for a reason. When a salesperson expresses confidence, but fails to use active listening skills or demonstrate expert knowledge, they come across as having a big ego and being too “salesy.” That does not lead to success. When a salesperson feels great about what they sell, who they are selling it to, and how they are selling it, their confidence goes up.
Sharing that confidence without repelling the cli- ent can be done by expressing a story or two.
We all have stories of clients who have had a great showroom experience, and we also have stories of clients who waived off the expert knowl- edge offered and had some real problems. These two foundational stories must be in the salesper- son’s arsenal.
Putting active listening skills, knowledgeable expertise, and confidence into play will lead to closing higher average sales and increasing the number of side sales.
recasTinG THe Team
Traditional showrooms have been operating using the same processes for a long time, and that was fine until (about) 2010 when the digital disrupt- ers began to settle into a cadence and the term “Omni-channel” became a term associated with the changes required in all brick-and-mortar showrooms. The future of showroom sales will be about building trust, creating an experience, and fostering human-to-human connection.
How do we adapt to and adopt the con- cierge sales strategy? It begins with a pragmatic
Sales associates who adopt
a concierge attitude abandon high-pressure tactics in favor of a high-contact, high-service approach.
april 2020 | enLIGHTenment Magazine 45