As a retailer, you have one goal – to boost your profits. That includes improving your sales, increasing the average purchase value, keeping your products moving, and making your customers happy. All of these can be achieved through suggestive selling, but only when it’s done right.
Suggestive selling essentially involves pushing a sale and getting a customer to buy more products and spend more money in-store. But it needs to be done delicately to prevent overwhelming the customer and making them feel dissatisfied. So, let’s take a look at a few suggestive selling tips that will turn you and your sales team into pros and help you improve the customer experience while boosting your sales.
What Suggestive Selling Is and What It’s Not
Before we dive into specific techniques, we must go over what suggestive selling – or add-on selling and upselling – entails. Most retailers see it as nagging a customer until they accept all the offers or leave the store. And in most cases, this aggressive approach results in a customer leaving.
To perform suggestive selling right, you need to be gentle and focus primarily on the customer experience. That means not spraying your new fragrance directly into their face as soon as they enter your store.
Suggestive selling is a psychological game. You need to start a conversation with your customers, understand why they’ve visited your store, and only then offer them products that make sense for them. So, let’s see how you can do that.
Train Your Sales Associates
Upselling and add-on selling will become much easier when your salespeople are intimately familiar with the available products in-store. The better they know the products and their features, the better arguments they’ll be able to make when attempting to promote them to the customers.
Customers won’t be convinced to buy a product if all a salesperson says is, “this fragrance is very popular; you should get it.” Why is the fragrance popular? Which ingredients are in it? What are the best fragrance combinations, and why?
Providing relevant information to the customer will increase their engagement and improve their satisfaction. They’ll be more likely to listen to your salesperson’s recommendation if it seems like they’re an expert on the subject.
Present Special Offers
If a customer is under the impression that it’s more important for you to close a sale and get as much money from their purchase as possible, they’ll be less likely to buy anything from you. They want to do business with retailers that put customers first and focus on providing them with the best experience. After all, the main reason why customers switch brands is that they feel unappreciated.
The best way to show your appreciation is by showing concern for their purchasing budget. So, instead of immediately bombarding a customer with the most expensive products and services, offer them your current special deals.
If they came to your store with a $200 budget in mind for a new kitchen appliance, don’t offer the most expensive appliances first. Show concern for their budget by focusing on the best deals you have. If you tell them that a $500 appliance is now on special sale for $350, they’ll be more likely to take you up on the offer that if you just start showing appliances with an original price tag of $350.
Focus on Complementary Products
If you want to perform suggestive selling successfully, you need to keep your offers relevant. A person buying a new set of jeans is likely not interested in getting a new laptop at the same time. However, they might be interested in getting a suitable belt or a matching jacket.
When you’re attempting suggestive selling, focus on complementary products that make sense for your customer. Otherwise, it will seem like the sale is your number one priority, and not the customer.
Keep Your Product Offers Light
Overwhelming a customer with dozens of offers is the fastest way to lose their business. When they have too many options to choose from, they’re less likely to decide on any of them. If they do decide to take you up on one of the many offers you presented them with, then they’re more likely to regret their decision later – leading to lower customer satisfaction. The phenomenon is known as choice overload.
Your best option for suggestive selling is simply presenting a few select offers that make the most sense for the individual customer. Personalized suggestions will yield the best results and boost customer satisfaction levels.
Develop a Loyalty Program
Loyalty programs are beneficial for both retailers and their customers. You’ll enjoy better customer retention rates, and your customers will get to increase their savings or enjoy special rewards.
When they know that they’ll be collecting points for rewards or getting their favorite items at a discount, your customers will be more open to the idea of upselling and add-on selling. They’ll stay with your business longer, and they’ll be more likely to share positive experiences with others.
So, develop a good loyalty program that’s beneficial to you and your customers, and enjoy the benefits of it.
The Bottom Line
Suggestive selling is a powerful method for boosting your profits and increasing customer satisfaction. As long as it’s done right, you and your customers stand to gain from it. So, give it a try, and see what a difference it can make to your bottom line.
Be the first to reply