Purpose:
The purpose of the training will be to ensure participants have an understanding of the selling process and become more effective in their selling skills. The objective of the training is to reflect an increase in company sales and profits, customer loyalty, professionalism, productivity, morale, and reduce employee turn-over.
GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Goal: Upon completion of the Sales training Project/Program, participants will have an understanding of the selling process and become more effective in their selling skills.
Objectives: Increase Company Sales and Profits, Customer Loyalty, professionalism, productivity, morale, and reduce employee turn-over.
THE SELLING PROCESS
The steps implemented in the selling process include:
1. Greeting the customer
2. Determining needs and developing a professional rapport with every customer
3. Sales Presentation
4. Validate or Confirm Customer Needs
5. Listen for Objections/Handle Objections
6. Effectively Opening and Closing the Sale
7. Ability to up sell and recommend future products and promotional items
8. Follow up with customer to ensure they have received excellent customer service
Application
The purpose of this learning activity was to allow you to practice in dealing with ethical dilemmas in an effective manner. Working in retail can be both exciting and enticing when surrounded by expensive merchandise. While reviewing the best options for each case, you may have found yourself disagreeing with the “answer key.” Because these cases studies were based on ethical dilemmas, there is rarely only one answer in ethical situations. Different value systems and unique circumstances can lead to controversy on making ethical decisions. Therefore, the answers provided by HR may be different than your choices made in this learning activity. However, for the sake of providing you with the best choice, keep in mind that the learning activity was subjective and the answers presented are only a guide to help in future ethical matters that may arise in your retail selling experience.
Answers, Explanation and Discussions to Case Studies: “What Would You Do?”
Case 1- “Seeing Red”
The Choices:
- Hide the “Red Sweater” you want to purchase on the rack along with other hidden sale merchandise behind regularly priced merchandise.
- Call your relative to come and purchase the “red Sweater” and ring them up using your employee discount.
- Call a supervisor and point out the hidden sales merchandise.
- Wait until your shift is over and purchase the “Red Sweater” if it is still on the clearance rack.
The Correct Choice: Wait until your shift is over and purchase the “Red Sweater” if it is still on the clearance rack.
Explanation: Because the case related to an employee’s personal need or want, the 4th choice to wait until her shift was over and then purchase the red sweater was the ethical choice in this situation.
Discussion: Because the sales associate is mindful of the additional hidden merchandise, the employee will need to report the hidden merchandise and/or return the merchandise to the rightful store department areas for display and retail to the public. While the employee discount extends to immediate family members, such as spouse and children of the employee, making calls on company time is a violation to company policy. In addition, if an immediate family member purchased the sweater, another sales associate would need to ring up the merchandise in order to apply the employee discount legally. In the end, we all have choices, making the most ethical choice is the goal.
Case 2: “Shoplifting”
The Choices:
- Pretend that you did not see anything because you do not want to get your friend in trouble.
- Tell a member of management, so you don’t lose your job.
- Call Security and report the shop-lifting event
- Confront your friend and ask them to put the merchandise back.
The Correct Choice: Call Security and report the shop-lifting event
Explanation: Shop-lifting is a violation regardless if you know the individual or not. Friendship does not excuse the offense or your responsibility to report a shop-lifting incident. The 3rd choice to Call Security and report the shop-lifting event was the ethical choice in this situation.
Discussion: Companies lose a great deal of inventory due to theft. This loss is passed on to the consumer through price increases and downsizing the workforce. The matter of theft is a serious offense. While the sales associate should tell a member of management according to company policy as well as report the theft to Security, Confronting any shop-lifter on your own is prohibited because of liability issues. Protecting the sales associate from harm comes first.
Case 3: “Damaged Merchandise”
The Choices:
- Go ahead and give the customer an additional 10% off the damaged merchandise, even though you can get into some trouble for doing so.
- Explain to the customer that you cannot give any additional discounts on damaged merchandise without a manager’s approval. But that you would be happy to place the merchandise on hold pending an approval after your manager returns from lunch. Take the name and number of customer and give no guarantees.
- Give the damaged merchandise away to the customer without charge because it is a write off and will be disposed of anyway and you can handle seeing waste. You figure it will not be any loss to the company.
- Ask a senior sales associate to tell you what to do and let them handle the responsibility of making the choice to give a discount to the damaged merchandise.
The Correct Answer: Explain to the customer that you cannot give any additional discounts on damaged merchandise without a manager’s approval. But that you would be happy to place the merchandise on hold pending an approval after your manager returns from lunch. Take the name and number of customer and give no guarantees.
Explanation: Customer service issues can become complicated fast. In this case, the sales associate had the responsibility to not only explain why she could not authorize a discount, but she also had to handle a customer complaint professionally and at the same time she gave options to the customer. In this case, the second choice was the ethical choice in this matter. “Explain to the customer that you cannot give any additional discounts on damaged merchandise without a manager’s approval. However, you can place the merchandise on hold pending an approval after your manager returns from lunch. Take the name and number of customer and give no guarantees.”
Discussion: Because the sales associate communicated effectively with the customer, the customer was willing to have the sales associate hold the merchandise pending management approval, at the same time the sales associate did not make any guarantees, only that she would make the request on behalf of the customer since only a manager could authorize discounts. While it is tempting to act on your own assumptions, always follow company policy even if you disagree with the policy. Perhaps, recommend a change in policy related to damage goods to management. Communicating professionally and requesting change in a positive manner may result in new policies related to giving discounts, or donating damaged merchandise to charities. You never know until you ask.
Case 4-: “Handling Money”
Choices:
- Don’t worry about it; the company brings in enough profit to be worrying over $20.
- Re-count your drawer to see if there is a mistake in the total; if you are still short, don’t worry about it since you re-counted.
- Call a manager and re-count your drawer in their presence; if the drawer is still short, then follow instructions of the manager.
- Pay the $20 out of your own pocket because you are an honest person.
Correct Answer: Call a manager and re-count your drawer in their presence; if the drawer is still short, then follow instructions of the manager.
Explanation: Mistakes happen when handling money transactions. Perhaps a sales associate gives too much change, or not enough. Sometimes the same register was short from the shift day before. Many times it is an accounting error and can be reconciled by those in charge of that area. Either way, choice number 4 was the ethical choice to Call a manager and re-count your drawer in their presence; if the drawer is still short, then follow instructions of the manager.
Discussion: By re-counting the cash drawer in the presence of a manager, this reflects accountability and responsibility which also demonstrates honesty in your actions. If the sales associate would have replaced the $20 with their own money, then the $20.00 could have created another accounting error ; if in fact the drawer was short for no apparent reason. Still, careful handling change during money transactions is very important. Never rush, take your time, and always count back change, do not rely only on the computer screen that shows the amount of change to be given back to a customer. By counting change back, this is one more way to accurately handle money.
Assessment
1. It is important to learn selling skills in order to increase sales, reduce merchandise returns and to increase customer loyalty.
2. The answer is: True. The ability to up -sell and recommend products and promotional items are part of the selling process.
3. A sales associate should properly greet a customer by acknowledging the customer with eye contact, smile, and give your name and ask the customer’s name and say, “Welcome to…How can I help you today?”
4. A sales associate should properly greet a customer by acknowledging the customers by name, re-examine the customer’s needs, suggest other items, validate, listen for objections, repeat the needs of the customer by summarizing, and complete the transaction. These are the basic steps in the selling process.
5. The answer is: True. One way to handle customer objections is to first determine their needs.
6. Selling skills involve the following: product knowledge, the ability to emphasize product features that meet the customer’s needs, and building rapport by finding common ground.
7. A sales associate should recommend additional items to a customer before closing the sale. Add on sales happen throughout the selling process. For example, a customer comes in to purchase a pair of pants, and then you should recommend a shirt and perhaps a promotional item such as “buy one get One Free” a special promotion on socks. So recommending additional items to a customer should happen before closing the sale, not in between or after, but during the selling process before closing the sale.
8. Building rapport involves listening to the customer, be interested in the customer, and find common ground.
9. The answer is: True. To be an effective sales associate, you need the following knowledge and skills: product knowledge, selling skills, communication skills, listening skills, interpersonal skills, and technical skills.
10. The answer is: True. Customer service involves communicating effectively and professionally with customers.
11. The answer is: True. Sales associates work to build and maintain long-term relationships with customers by listening to the customer, determining the needs of the customer, and solving customer problems.
12. The answer is: True. Having an understanding of the selling process will help sales associates become more effective in their selling skills.
