“Revolve your world around the
customer and more customers
will revolve around you.”
— HEATHER WILLIAMS
TRULY SUCCESSFUL SALES PEOPLE DON’T FOCUS ON SELLING
—they focus on impeccable service and building relationships. Maybe if we
stop thinking about sales as a thing we have to do, and instead think of it as
a gift we are providing our customers, it won’t be as difficult.
A recent example—I’ve been a loyal Acura customer for years. Last week,
the owner of our local dealership gave me a call and said, “Lynne, the lease on
your car isn’t up until June, but I’ve got a lot of interest from customers about
your vehicle. If you go ahead and trade it in for a 2018 model, I can substan-
tially lower your monthly car payment.”
I get it! I know he was trying to make a sale—that’s what we are all trying
to do, right—but because he reached out and made it personal, made his
pitch about me, it worked. I marched right in and traded my car in for a new
model and lowered my monthly payment in less than an hour. DONE. And
the Acura dealer? He has probably already sold my car for a great deal to the
next customer—one he no doubt treated with as much personal care as he
treated me.
That’s a genuine sales professional who thinks of what he does as a service
to his customers.
Our talented spa professionals already think of what they do as a service,
they just need to think of retail sales as a genuine extension of that service.
As a spa customer, I want the spa professional to share their expertise and tell
me what product will make my skin glow or which polish will last the longest
on my nails. I need their advice.
So, maybe instead of forcing the idea of retail sales, we start empowering
our employees to lend their expertise to help others fall in love with your
brand. If each sale was seen as an opportunity to help someone, our service-
minded employees might feel more committed to their role (and success) in
the sales process. How do you empower your employees to share their
expertise?
—LYNNE McNEES, ISPA PRESIDENT
72
PULSE
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May 2018
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Lynne Walker McNees