By Scott Nichols

When I was starting to write this article, I had a few topics that I wanted to talk about. I couldn’t decide on just one, so what I am going to do today is write briefly about a few similar topics I think are important for the employee’s mindset. My hope is that each of these topics triggers something in your mind, and you take it upon yourself to do some more digging.

Topic One: What is your job as a customer service representative?

I think, for most of us, the first thing we think about when asked this question is to put someone in a tanning bed, red light or sunless booth. If you think that’s the job, you will struggle! Sales will be difficult, and you will eventually find the job dull and boring. So, what is the correct answer? It’s to make the customers happy! I know, I know, that sounds corny, but it’s true. When I get a chance to be behind the desk, my mindset goes to finding a way to make as many customers happy as possible. When I do this, the customers are upgrading and trying different products and services. I always find out why the customer is tanning, ask them if their goals are being met, and if they are looking for more color. If they say yes, they are looking for a little more color, you can talk to them about sunless, upgrading, and using different lotions. The last thing I am going to say about this is, if there is a bed open that the customer can upgrade to (and they haven’t tried it before), put them in it! Think of how much you spend on advertising and marketing – the goal is to put customers at our highest level, and literally you have a customer in front of you and a bed open. Put them in it!

Topic Two: How are you feeling when you are walking into the salon?

Are you excited? Are you mad you must work? Are you feeling like it’s the same old, same old? In my experience, how you are feeling is exactly how you will sell. Usually what has put us in a mood is the circumstances around us. Some are self-inflicted, such as going out until the bar closes the night before and getting up to open the store. Some are circumstances we can’t help or didn’t ask for.

What I have found is the better salespeople are the people who can put aside whatever is going on. They technically don’t put it aside, but when a customer comes in, the customer has no idea anything is going on.

Topic Three: What is the best characteristic you can have to help you sell?

Confidence!  We all know the people around us who have confidence. When I am in one of our stores, I can tell you almost immediately if the employee is having a good or bad sales day.  First, is their hair and makeup done and are they in dress code? But just as important if not more important is their body language. Is there a smile? Are their shoulders slouched forward or are they back? Do they have good posture? Do they shuffle their feet when they walk or are they walking with confidence? Do they start conversations with me, or do I have to do most of the talking? When a customer comes in, is it just “last name, first name, and what bed do you want to do today?” Or are they finding out why the customer is tanning?  Are they asking supportive questions to get a better understanding of how they can help?

Most employees behind the desk don’t do the things that require confidence. It is because a lot of them they haven’t had to be out of their comfort zone. They’re going from an introvert to an extrovert for the first time in their life.

Confidence can be gained by continually having training, role playing and experience. But that will only work if confidence building is part of the training. I love hearing when an employee tells me the biggest thing they learned at SunSeekers is being able to talk to people! They came out of their shell! The employees who can are the ones who sell the most!

Topic Four: Do you have trouble bringing up sales to the customer?

This is a big part of what the struggle is with sales. In sales training, one of the biggest challenges isn’t talked about, and that is transitioning from a conversation to sales. Let me explain: When a customer comes in the door, we greet them, ask how they are doing, either talk about the weekend they had or the upcoming weekend, then we tell them about a special we are running. When the customer says “no,” we put them in the tanning bed.

After a few times of the customer saying no, we shut down and we don’t even bring up the special anymore. Most likely, there’s nothing wrong with the special, but the employee is trying to use the special to sell the lotion. The special’s job is there to help you close the deal, not to start it. So, what can we do?

After you initially talk with the customer, find out why they’re tanning. In a lot of cases, they just want some extra color. In those situations, you can ask them questions such as, “With Christmas coming up, are you looking to get some more color?” How often do you think you are going to be able to come in between now and Christmas?” I want to give you an example; if we were to put this all together, it would look like this:

“Hi Jocelyn, how are you? How was your weekend? Big plans for the week? I see you have been doing the same thing the last few times. Do you plan on tanning through Christmas? Are you looking for a little more color? How many times do you plan on coming before Christmas? OK, so you can only come in a few times. That’s no problem at all.”

From here, I can talk about upgrading, I can talk about sunless, upgrading to a better lotion and/or do a mix of products and services.

These are four great topics everyone can work on to help increase their sales behind the desk. Dig in, learn more about them, and train yourself. In past articles, I have talked about the 90/10 rule. 90 percent of your job is easy, and the 10 percent is what separates you from everyone else – it’s where the magic lives. Spend the time crafting these skills. It’s something that doesn’t automatically happen, but it can through hard work. Don’t be afraid to work on these with a coworker or even record yourself selling. Be real with yourself and ask yourself if you would buy from yourself. It takes work, but most success in your life comes because you earned it.