CHANNEL INTEGRATION – SALESPEOPLE

Most Furniture Consumers Need Sales Assistances

Unlike most other product categories, the furniture consumer still wants and needs expert assistance. This is great news for bricks and mortar furniture retailers, because it means that pure internet retailers cannot succeed with a website loaded with products, prices and shopping carts. At a bare minimum, unless a company’s strategy is to compete solely on low pricing, then furniture websites need good sales support. Your salespeople need to learn how to provide it over the telephone and by email.

If all your salespeople do is answer questions and quote prices when a customer calls, then they are not adding value and will frustrate your customers and cost your company a lot of money in lost opportunities. FurnitureDealer.net will help you to prepare your salespeople so they can win online.

Sales People: Changing the way designers and sales people serve and assist customers

Today’s home furnishings consumer shops both online and offline. She researches online to educate herself, learn about available choices, and find places to buy from. Your website is doing its job when your stores receive phone calls and email inquiries from online customers. You need to make sure your salespeople are prepared to assist and positively influence those website customers who pick up the phone and call your store. If your salespeople do not have a positive impact over the telephone, then don’t be surprised when you don’t get a second chance with that customer. Today’s consumer can visit dozens of websites in a matter of minutes. The companies with the best websites combined with the most effective telephone sales assistance will win. FurnitureDealer.net will help setup a training program and share best ideas with your managers and sales team.

The Successful Multi-Channel Sales Consultant Versus The Question Answerer

In retailing, we often describe a poor salesperson - who lacks the skills to truly help customers - as an “order taker.” In the web–to-phonecall world of retailing, we can describe a poor salesperson as a “question answerer.” A question answerer lacks the skill to convert a telephone lead from the website into a positive selling opportunity for the store. The single biggest mistake we see salespeople make is being too narrowly focused on answering the always asked questions of “What is the price?” and “Is this item in stock?” to realize that they never asked any questions such as “What caught your eye about this sofa?” to determine if their employer has something similar or possibly even better that is in stock and on sale to recommend to the customer.

What differentiates the truly successful multi-channel furniture sales consultant from the question answerer is their skill at asking questions and utilizing the internet to gain an understanding of customer needs and diagnosing problems. The successful sales consultants master using the online tools to collaborate, recommend, and deepen the understanding of customer needs. They recognize how going online with a client during the telephone call allows them to see what the customer is seeing and show things they want the customer to see. Going online together makes it easier for a sales professional to gain understanding, identify solutions, demonstrate and explain recommendations, and establish successful relationships and loyalty. What else distinguishes the successful multi-channel sales professional from the ineffective question answerer?

• They know how to successfully convert phone leads into store visits, sales, and loyal ongoing relationships.
• They know how to identify current and future needs.
• They know how to find and suggest in-stock and on-display solutions when relevant, and
• They know how to sell solutions and create loyal ongoing profitable relationships.
• They also learn to be efficient with their time to qualify and screen opportunities and play to the many strengths and advantages that their local retail employer can offer to the consumer.
• They know how to expertly assist customers even when the initial call comes into the showroom on a busy Saturday afternoon.

The rules of the game have changed, and FurnitureDealer.net is committed to help transform your team for success. With a great website, your showroom can “do house calls.” Your company’s prospective customers can access your online showroom and view your product selection twenty four hours per day without even leaving their home or office. How will this impact your salespeople? How does this change the expectations customers have? Your salespeople must be prepared to go online with that customer and stroll through your virtual showroom while working with her over the phone. Does your store have proper internet access throughout your showrooms?