Five Tips For Expert Sales Associates

To help shoppers partner digital convenience with a human touch, your sales associate should serve both as ambassador of your brand and a personal advisor to your customer. Smart organizations equip their staff with the information required to take an individualized approach to each shopper. When empowered with data, the associate can consider the customer’s background: are they a first-time shopper? A brand loyalist? By understanding the customer’s product needs, payment preferences and more, the sales associate can offer empathetic service and recommendations tailored to individual interests.

5 Tips For Expert Sales Associates

Help your Sales Associates know your customers as well as they know your brand – giving them the ability to browse customer history, preferences, loyalty, etc, in order to tailor their service and recommendations.

1. Maintain a centralized digital catalog

Your sales staff should be able to see all product and inventory information through a centralized catalog that covers digital, physical, retail and ecommerce updates. In addition to providing a unified view, you can classify your products by customer segment or use case, making it quick and easy for your staff to connect each customer with the right product.

2. Mobilize your salesforce

Your customers are checking their phones in your stores, looking up reviews, price comparisons and alternate products. To ensure your sales associates have access to the right information anytime, wherever they are on the shop floor, empower them with connected mobile devices. Thanks to these, they can quickly acquire a complete view of both the customer’s needs and product options, intensifying their role as the solution expert.

3. Keep your staff brand-educated

Customers expect your sales associates to know about new products and seasonal collections. Push this content out to your staff’s mobile devices so they can stay one step ahead of the consumer. This fosters confidence and gives customers a reason to walk into the store – to learn information they cannot find online.

4. Pursue the purchase purpose

Instead of asking customers only what they are looking for, your sales associates should ask why they are looking for it. Maybe they are moving into a new home, buying a birthday gift or going on vacation. These insights lead to meaningful conversations and often additional purchases – because your staff is now empowered with additional data to make appropriate recommendations for personalized interactions and heighten customer satisfaction.

5. Offer takeaways customers can share

As omniscient as your top sales staff may seem, customers will still turn to family and friends for their opinions before buying. Make it easy by offering digital takeaways and product collateral that can showcase the product benefits, keep interest high and even intrigue some of the friends being consulted. The ability for customers to show off their pending purchase on social media, means additional visibility for your brand.

While these tips will help your sales associates keep up with well-informed customers, the right technology can maximize sales even further. By taking an omnichannel approach that connects on and offline worlds, your organization can offer shoppers exceptional service no matter what channel they connect on.

 

Ready to elevate the customer experience? Download our entire guide The Art of the Personalized Sale to learn how the right technology can open new growth opportunities for your retail brand.

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