Increase Your Sales 100%!

by Leonard Zell

That's right, over 100% more than any other salesperson in your store! In my 20 years of sales training I have seen time again that salespeople who keep track of their customers by putting them in a client book and then calling them throughout the year far exceed other salespeople's sales. You are probably wondering if this sales technique is so powerful why isn't everyone using a clientele book? Here are the excuses I hear:

1. "I have no knowledge of this sales technique and besides it doesn't apply to my store."
2. "I'm afraid to call customers, I don't like being rejected."
3. "I don't like to call customers because they don't like to be solicited."
4. "I don't have a book to keep names in."
5. "I'm a new salesperson and I think it's a waste of time because I have so few customers to put in a client book. It will take me years."
6. "I'm a veteran salesperson and I don't think it is necessary because my customers come in anyway." (In his dreams.)
7. "I All Ready Call my customers." The truth is, they are in denial. They do call some customers, but do so sporadically.

I will address these one at a time.

1. I Have No Knowledge of Using a Client Book - Any knowledgeable store owner knows this technique exists, they just don't consider it a priority, even though it could double their sales. Few sales trainers address this technique because they have never used it. Even store managers who are told to use this technique, but don't because they are lazy, hope their boss forgets about this technique which they usually do.

2. Afraid to Call Customers - Nonsense, how can they be afraid when they are selling something as exciting as a sparkling diamond or a pearl necklace with magnificent lustre? Only you know why you are calling and know what you are going to say, the customer has no idea so they are listening. Salespeople mistakenly act defensively by being overly apologetic when they call customers saying, "How are you today, I hope I'm not bothering you?" "Is this a good time to call?" and so on. Where was the excitement?

3. Doesn't Like to Call, They Think It's Soliciting - Salespeople think this is a cold call when actually it is the farthest thing from it. How can it be a cold call when they are calling someone they have sold before? That customer would not have come into their store if they did not trust the store. They obviously trusted the salesperson and to top it off they must be happy with their purchase, it wasn't returned, so tell me, where was the solicitation?

4. I Don't Have a Book to Keep Names In - For starters any small 9 X 6 loose leaf notebook with alphabet and monthly date tabs is all you need. All the information could later be transferred to pages that are available with a preprinted form. These forms have places for the customers name address business number, history of purchases, what jewelry they own and dates of all occasions, etc..

5. I'm a New Salesperson and Do Not Have Enough Customers - New salespeople need not worry. Go into your store's archives and you will find thousands of dollars of large sales by salespeople who have left. Many of these customers have never returned when all it would have taken was a phone call. Your employer has no idea he is sitting on a fortune and if he does, the other salespeople are too lazy to go after these customers anyway. They are all yours. Don't wise them up, go after them yourself. You will end up with the biggest and best client book of them all!

6. Veteran Salespeople Assume Their Customers Will Come In without Calling - Dream away. What makes them think they are so good and their store so great that their customers would not think of going to any other store? Sure many of their customers do come back, but I'll show what will be very depressing. Ask them to go through your previous sales, dating back three years and see how many customers never returned. This will get them out of denial in a hurry. What makes salespeople think their customers are obligated to come back and buy more jewelry from them when there are other stores to choose from? They think their store is the only one in town.

They better wake up, I do training for resort stores throughout the Carribean and Alaska and you should see the ten, fifteen and twenty thousand dollar pieces of jewelry that are sold to their customers. Yes, these are customers who have told me how much they trust their home town jeweler and then buy a diamond and emerald necklace to die for. If you don't believe me, just wait for them to bring it into your store to have it appraised. Everyone travels and when they do they are motivated to buy jewelry as a memory of their trip. You have to sell them first and you will if you call them throughout the year.

7. I All Ready Call My Customers - I hear this all the time. They are in denial. They get to the point of using their client book and record many of their customers names. However when I ask for their client book and see only a few notations, they give me every excuse in the world why they haven't called.

There is a major west coast jewelry store that does more $6,000, 000.00 a year. The young saleslady I trained has three large customer books. Instead of standing around talking to other salespeople when it is not busy she is on the phone calling her customers. She even calls customers on her day off so she will be busy the next day. Her sales last year were $2, 200,000.00! The next salesperson's sales were less than half.

This year she tells me her sales will be much more. She said, "Lenny, calling customers is the best technique you ever taught me. I get to my customers before any jeweler can, they don't have a chance. I'm always in contact with my customers throughout the year and they wouldn't think of buying an important piece of jewelry anywhere else, even on vacation.

The best part about this technique is that I am not dependent on the store's traffic or promotions. This technique has made me an entrepreneur. Then she said something that even made even more sense. "The customer who comes to see me from a telephone call is the easiest sale because they are sold on me, the store and the jewelry I am about to show them."

Now that you have read this I know you will want to develop your own client book and use it right away. Don't wait for your manager or store owner to get everyone started with this program, just do it, time means money.

There is another big plus and a positive warning I want to tell you about. The big plus is that your reputation for taking the initiative in calling your customers will spread like wildfire at cocktail parties. Everyone likes to brag about their personal shopper which you have become. This is a typical comment I hear, "I can't wait to hear from Patty, she always has something in mind for me no matter what the occasion. She has bailed me out every year and made me a hero." The warning: once you start calling your customers they will get very dependent on you and they expect you to continue. Some salespeople get lazy and let it wane. Be aware of this and don't let it happen to you. You have developed a wonderful personalized business that will make you more money than you have ever dreamed. Go for it!

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Leonard Zell is an honorary member of the Diamond Council of America and a contributing editor. This article was written for their newsletter the Diamontologist and is reprinted with their permission.

Author's Note: I welcome your comments about this or any of the other artcles presented here. LZ