Customer walks into your store, greeted with silence or maybe a look from the kid behind the register. She wanders around, mediocre piped-in music providing the soundtrack for her visit. She peruses the menu behind the counter, looks through some hangers on the rack, or inspects the interesting wares on the shelf. Your merchandise does the only selling on the ‘sales’ floor.
Customer walked onto YOUR sales floor.
Do you let her wander, without so much as a “Well, hello – thanks for coming in. What brings you by today?” (Skip the “Welcome to Generic Greeting” that zooms out of lips so fast no one understands it. That’s just noise.)
Do you actively engage her? Look her in the eye? Foster some type of relationship showing Customer just what a pleasant experience shopping would be with you?
You must let Customer know – without a doubt – you’re there to help. Not pester, pressure, tail, spy, or otherwise invade her space. Simply help solve her problem.
Sure, Customer might find the solution alone – choose the right item, make the purchase and walk away with little more than “Thank you.” When that happens, you’re forced to rely on your merchandise alone to bring her back. You did nothing to earn the sale OR Customer’s loyalty.
How long do you think that merchandise will sell itself in this competitive marketplace?
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