Sales trainer shares 7 steps of proactive selling

At a session held Thursday, gemologist Debbie Hiss gave AGS Conclave attendees the low-down on how to close a sale and keep customers coming back.

HCHannah Connorton hannah.connorton@nationaljeweler.com

New Orleans--Body language, word choice and taking a consultative stance can be the make-or-break factors in closing a sale, according to certified gemologist and sales trainer Debbie Hiss, who presented “The Art of Proactive Selling” at AGS Conclave on Thursday.

“The goal when you make the sale is not just getting the money, it’s making a customer and getting that customer to come back to you time and time again when the occasion calls for celebrating,” she said.

Below are seven steps Hiss suggest retailers take to help both close a sale and turn a customer into a returning client.

Welcome. This is where proactive selling begins, Hiss said. Make eye contact, show a positive facial expression, use the right body language--show the customer that they’re your priority. Use simple words and implant the name of your store into their brain: “Hi, welcome to Debbie’s Jewelers.”

“Remember, we are here to excite, to educate, to entice and to make sales,” Hiss said. “Part of what people are looking for is a memorable experience; this is a celebratory time, and the experience you give (customers) is often what will make the difference with that person deciding to spend their money with you.”

Connect. Be a person before a salesperson. This is not yet the time to get into why a customer has come into the store.

Notice something about the customer, Hiss said. Compliment them--on a handbag, a piece of jewelry--and use that compliment to create a two-way dialogue. Make sure to maintain eye contact.

“You want to make this person feel comfortable and create a rapport with them,” she said. “This all takes about 20 seconds to one minute; you will know when it’s time to move to the discovery phase.”

Discover. “This is where you differentiate and ask a series of questions that keeps you in control of the sales and raises the emotional level of the experience,” Hiss said. “Your job is to make it easy for him.”

To start, lead--don’t follow. Ask what the gift is for and when; this way, you can capture an anniversary or birthdate in your system, and contact the customer in 11 months to make it easy for them to return to the store to find another gift, she said.

Next, Hiss said, ask the customer how they plan to present the gift. What kind of reaction would they like to see?

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“If it’s an anniversary or birthday, never ask ‘Is it a big one?’ because we do not want to keep training our guys that the only birthdays or anniversaries that deserve jewelry end in five and zero,” she said.

Present. “It’s about what the jewelry does, says or means,” Hiss said.

To start, she said, never show anything that won’t serve the reaction desired, and salespeople shouldn’t let what they personally can afford determine what they show. “A salesperson can have a hard time reaching past their own budget,” she warned.

Don’t list more than two features or facts about any piece of jewelry, and give a benefit for each fact listed. Also, for every item shown, show the customer a matching or coordinating piece.

“This is the time to bring out that complementary piece and plant the seed,” Hiss said. “Whether you keep it out or not is up to you, based on the flow of the transaction. Don’t wait until you’ve made the sale; the time to mention it is now.”

Address reactions and concerns. After presenting the jewelry, wait for a reaction and listen, Hiss said. Address the customer’s reaction and respond to concern, still leaving potential choices of jewelry exposed.

“Ask some either/or questions that will help you swing back to the discovery phase to find the right piece that will do what the customer wants it to do,” she said. “If they say, ‘That’s more than I wanted to spend,’ that’s different than ‘That’s more than I can spend.’

“Now is a time to say, ‘Where do you feel comfortable?’ without using the word ‘budget.’”

Close. Limit the jewelry possibilities to three, then narrow it down to two, and take a consultative or advisory approach--“Based on everything you’ve told me and everything I understand, I think this would be a good choice.”

Add on. “Always attempt the add-on sale, and introduce these pieces during the initial presentation,” Hiss said. “The best time to attempt is right after they’ve said yes.”

Hiss is a consultant with a number of companies and organizations, including the AGS, HRA/Crossworks and MK Diamonds in Los Angeles. She is the former director of sales training at Lazare Kaplan and is a global trainer for Hearts On Fire.

Hannah Connorton