Seriously, I agree that if we welcome customers into our stores like we would into our homes, we’d set a better atmosphere for business. Asking me hard questions like “have I been there before” (is there a limit to how many times I can come by or do I need a sponsor to get in?), “what brings me in”, “what ad I saw”, etc., makes me anxious. Sincerity wins me everytime. I’ve long thought furniture sales was using my knowledge to solve the customers problem. It was less about “selling” and more about “matching” – my knowledge of the furnishings available to her need.

Since we no longer hold the keys to the furniture kingdom and furniture can be secured from many other channels beside furniture stores, the experience in the store needs to be worth the effort. It needs to feel good – smell good – sound good – look good – it needs to make me happy I’m there and cause me to wonder when I can come back.

What greetings do your best salespeople use to open a conversation, ones that eliminate the possibility of a “yes or no” answer?

Hi, welcome to “Store Name”. Would you like to look around?

The real engagement comes when you re-approach, which it is your job to do as a retail salesperson – yes, even when the customer opted for “I’ll find you when I need you.”

Don’t need 10 when you have the right one…try, “…and which ad brought you in today?”

2. Hello, I’m Mary Frye. Thanks for coming in today. I’m here to help you if you need any help or I can stay out of your way until you give me a signal. What works best for you?

I’m working on the other eight ways and will come back with more to post in a bit.

This is a good exercise, David!