Questions put you control.

In every conversation, someone is in control. When selling that should be the salesperson.

When control is relinquished to the customer you get questions like these:

Questions can be used to open a conversation, discover customer needs and even close the sale.
The rule when asking questions is; “NEVER ask a question that MIGHT get you an answer you DON’T want to hear”. Ask SAFE questions.
PDR – Practice, drill and rehearse. Get your questions down pat. Practice out loud to yourself, drill them into your head and rehearse them with co-workers.

Good Questions from Retail Selling Made Easy:
When customers come into a store they have a purpose, and that is to “discover” more about your store and what you have to offer. Ask questions that lead to giving that information. Ask, “Is this your first time in the store?” or “When were you in last?” Those questions set you up to tell the customer about your store and merchandise.
Questions like, “May I help you?” or “What can I show you?” are quite likely to get you answers you DON’T want to hear.
Asking, “How are you today?” is lame and insincere. Customers do not come into your store to tell you how they are doing today. This insincere question is likely to get an insincere reply like, “Fine”; it doesn’t take you anywhere.
Do YOU have any questions?

Salespeople hate hearing, “No”.

Jerry Kohl, the founder of Brighton Collectibles, once told me that he used to require reps to come to a weekly meeting armed with two “No’s”. My initial response was, “Wow that must make for some negative meetings. Jerry said, “No, you would be surprised how many “Yes’s” they found looking for those two “No’s”.

Interesting; by making the dreaded “No” okay he got people calling on stores that they might otherwise drive on by thinking, “No, they wouldn’t be interested”. They went in thinking, “I’ll get one of my required “No’s”, and damn, it became a “Yes” and they had to keep on looking for the “No’s”.

In Retail Selling Made Easy I say, “If NO to the wrong item is not alright with the salesperson, then YES to the right item will not be okay with the customer.
The minute you try to sell me something that I don’t like, there is something else I don’t like.
Guess what that is.

Fare Wars Take to the Air Again

This story appeared in today’s Pacific Business News:

Hawaii interisland carrier Go! set off another round of airfare wars Monday, announcing the sale of one-way tickets for as low as $19.
Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines matched the fare today.
The Web-only sale is not limited to frequent flyers, and there is no minimum stay or round-trip purchase requirement. The same policies apply to Aloha and Hawaiian.
________________________________________

When Go! first arrived in Hawaii people remembered the short lives of Royal Hawaiian Airlines, Mid-Pacific Airlines and a few others who were shot down by the Big Two. The thinking was that the same would happen with Go!, but NOT!

Now that they are succeeding to get a foothold the spin is that they are doing this until they can shut down one or both of the Big Two, and then come out with higher prices than ever.

Regardless of the ultimate outcome, the people of Hawaii are enjoying affordable air travel for the first time in many years.

We may just discover that they could have been doing that all along.

Shortages are Costly; but Controllable!
There are two basic sources of missing merchandise;
1.) Customer theft
2.) Employee theft.
Statistics show that employee theft is the largest.

Employee Theft:

Employees have the best opportunity to seal if so inclined. They know what your security systems are, who is watching and when. It is almost impossible to keep an employee that wants to steal from doing so. They can steal money as well as merchandise.

What can you do?
You can be more careful when hiring. Do background checks and call references. When in doubt, do without. A person who will lie to you on a resume may also be inclined to steal from you on the job.
When scheduling, keep in mind that it is easier to steal when alone than when working with another employee. There are many good reasons to have people working with someone. An even bigger reason than theft retardation is added sales. Once one person gets busy with a customer, that’s when more customers come into the store, and they are not as likely to be serviced.

Happy employees are not as likely to steal, so keeping people happy is another deterrant. Watch for trouble signals. When someone starts complaining (about anything) it may be time to move on.

Customer Theft:
The pros are going to get you; accept it. That being said, you can lessen their chances of being successful in your store by keeping a few simple things in mind.

The biggest deterrent to customer theft is an alert salesperson. The simple act of making eye contact and greeting a customer will cause some would be thieves to turn around and leave.

Your constant attention drives shoplifter’s nuts. A person intending to steal from you gives up as a result of your willingness to help with information and buying decisions. It is interesting that the things you can do to lesson theft are the same things that increase sales.

Thieves know how to remove security tags, so check the change room when someone leaves and limit the amount of merchandise taken in there. When someone comes out of the change room looking like he or she gained a few pounds in there, be suspicious.

If you see someone put something in his or her pocket or purse, say something like, “I think you accidentally dropped that Rolex you were looking at into your purse. Will you please take it out?”

There is no crime committed until the culprit leaves the store. Should that be the case, make a good note of the person’s description and license plate number, and then call the police. Don’t be a hero! People about to get busted can become violent, and your health is more important than the merchandise.

NOT HERE PLEASE!

What a great invention the cell phone was. I have had my same number for over 20 years.

Everyone has one today, and I think it is time to impose some etiquette when using them.

People using cell phones seem to think that it is necessary to talk real loud to be heard. I don’t know about you, but I find it annoying (make that amusing) to be sitting next to someone at the airport and hearing about “what’s for dinner tonight?”

It is not necessary to raise your voice to a “presentation level” when using the cell phone.

I am also a bit surprised to hear people discussing business matters in public as though no one around them can hear it.

I see (and hear) people sitting in restaurants, walking through the mall, strolling down hallways, as well as going in and out of stores talking at a near scream level.

How did we ever survive before the cell phone?

Press Release Just Issued:

THE STATE DEPARTMENT HAS MADE A DECISION TO CONTINUE TO HOLD HIM AND HIS ASSOCIATES ON BOND DESPITE MEXICO’S FULL DISMISSAL OF THE CHARGES

Hawaii hero Dwayne Chapman is having a tough time doing his job of arresting criminals these days. Here’s a brief history of events:

Andrew Luster was convicted of rape 82 times. He hid out in Mexico until The Dog and his boys tracked him down and brought him back to the United States for trial.

Next; Mexico puts out a warrant for The Dog, for breaking Mexican law, and he gets arrested in Hawaii.

Next; Mexico drops the charges.

Now: The US Government won’t release the bail.

Next: God only knows.

Visit Glenn Beck’s website (www.glennbeck.com) for a recap of his exclusive interview yesterday with The Dog.

For a better look, you can click on the photo and then on your back button to return to the blog.

Pacific Business News Article Today

“Macy’s Inc. posted a 77 percent decline in its second-quarter earnings on ongoing integration costs and weakened sales, forcing the department store chain to cut its annual profit outlook.”

Have you shopped at Macy’s lately? How was it?

With the exception of the Kailua store (where I hear fabulous comments), finding a salesperson is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. It seems like the bigger the store the worse it gets, with Ala Moana topping the list of empty register stations.

As excited as the Honolulu community was to see Macy’s arrive, the chorus I hear today is, “Bring back Liberty House”.

The sign says, “Open for Business.”
Within hours after a car drove into this business the hole was boarded up, a temporary door made, and business was going on as usual.
This is the way that “life’s little situations” should be treated.
Some businesses might be closed for days weeks or even forever after such an event, but not this one.
I would call this salon “well named”.

1st Class all the way to Kapolei.

New INspiration salespeople always get a tour of the company warehouse in Kapolei.
This time Ron had his Uraku limo pick up Peter and four new salespeople at the Honolulu Design Center, then meet Ron’s flight from Maui and take them all to the warehouse.
It is hard (impossible) to imagine the magnitude of this warehouse without seeing it in person.
Watch for more photos in the blog photo album.

For a better look, you can click on the photo and then on your back button to return to the blog.

The sign below was prominently displayed in the window of a business in Philadelphia.

“WE WOULD RATHER DO BUSINESS WITH 1,000 AL QAEDA TERRORISTS THAN WITH ONE SINGLE AMERICAN”

You are probably outraged at the thought of such an inflammatory statement. One would think that anti-hate groups from all across the country would be marching on this business and that the National Guard might have to be called to keep the angry crowds back. But, perhaps in these stressful times one might be tempted to let the proprietors simply make their statement.
We are a society which holds Freedom of Speech as perhaps our greatest liberty. And after all, it is just a sign.

You may ask, “What kind of business would dare post such a sign?”

Answer: A Funeral Home

Who said morticians had no sense of humor?