6

THE FOURTH STAGE: ALLOWING THE BUY

One day I was watching a seller with one of his regular customers, whose mission was to find a new sport jacket. This seller really knew his product and had brought out a nice mix of options for the customer to consider. The customer seemed to me to have zeroed in on one he liked. The seller also knew his customer well, because the man was clearly engaged. Then suddenly it seemed the customer wanted to buy two jackets.

The seller had a warm, relaxed manner, the sort of person easy to be around. And he was regaling the customer with fun stories and topics of interest. I don’t recall the actual subjects, but it went something like this:

He talked about a bone-fishing trip.

He talked about different types of mosquito sprays.

He talked about the outsized salaries of college football coaches.

He talked about how well the fabric would wear in humid climates.

He talked about penguins (don’t ask me why, because I have no idea).

And I kept saying to myself: “When is he going to close already?” I had to do everything possible to restrain myself from barging in and wrapping things up myself.

I’ve been watching salespeople all my life, on our own floors and on the floors of other businesses. I’ve observed so many wonderful storytellers, so many shrewd observers of customer behavior, so many patient listeners, so many great presenters of product.

All those things inch you closer and closer to clinching a sale. But they won’t get you over the finish line if you can’t close. Time and again, I see salespeople keep presenting and presenting and presenting, and I mutter to myself, as I did that day, “OK, enough. Close!”

At some point, one hopes before the doors are locked and the store shuts off the lights, you have to, as we say in selling, “ask for the order.” This is when a presentation becomes a specific proposal and leads to a close.

Because when the sales interaction is done right with the right hugs, the customer is in a buying mood and you are not selling! He or she is buying!

We all know we could go on forever during the Show and Share phase. But many times I have witnessed sellers overselling the features and benefits of a product. They’ll say, “There are 17 benefits of this product,” and then they’ll go on to explain all 17. That can get them in trouble. They might mention something that may be a positive feature to the seller, but the customer perceives it as a negative. Or risk boring the customer. After a while, the customer tunes out and just hears blah, blah, blah.

So many sellers lose sales because they continue to present a product when the customer doesn’t need or want to hear anything more. In effect, they talk past the sale. You have to know when to stop.

You’re not a seller if you can’t close. I always think of the selling floor as a “possibility zone”—a place where anything is possible. If you can’t close, you eliminate the most important possibility—a completed sale.

Admittedly, closing is a tricky area. It’s important to have an end point in mind and a path to get there. Great sellers don’t rely on prayer and a visitation from a sales god but influence their own results. What you can’t do, however, is force a buy. As I keep saying, great sellers don’t sell. They don’t push a product on someone at knifepoint, even if it’s a butter knife.

Closing should be the easiest part of the conversation. If everything has gone well, it’s easy to ask if the customer would like to have the product. The softer the words in a close, the more likely the person is to make a commitment.

In good selling, the customers feel they’re being helped, not taken advantage of. You don’t persuade customers; you facilitate things so they wind up persuading themselves. It’s a matter of allowing the customer to buy.

And so this fourth stage, which I call Allowing the Buy, is when either it happens or it fizzles—the moment of sales truth. It’s the stage when the money is made and the customer’s desires are fulfilled. It’s crunch time.

NEVER HEARING NO, NEVER SAYING NO

Why do so many sellers have trouble closing? Often, fear of rejection. Rejection is a very, very big issue in selling. It’s something both inevitable and commonplace, yet still dreaded. All salespeople sense it to some degree. For some, it can be paralyzing.

Obviously not every customer is going to buy something. There will be times you spend an hour, two hours waiting on someone, answering a thousand questions, and the customer leaves the store empty-handed, rejecting everything you suggest. It’s just the way it is.

Simply because people don’t want to buy something from you, though, doesn’t mean they need psychiatric care. When they say no, that doesn’t mean they’re saying, “You sure are an awful salesperson.” It just means that, for any number of legitimate reasons, they don’t want to buy the product at this time.

Still, it’s hard for salespeople to deal with rejection. Many times a seller is afraid to anticipate what a customer may be willing to buy for fear of rejection—the salesperson is always imagining the worst, so why try presenting something if you “know” you will fail? And when a salesperson is scared about being turned down, customers usually can detect that fear. And that makes them reluctant to commit.

One day I was hitting balls with Greg Moran, my tennis pro, and he was showing me a routine where I had to volley coming to net and then put the shot away. I just couldn’t get into putting the shot away. And I was thinking about this book, so I said how about I say, “Close the sale”? And the minute I said, “Close the sale,” I was hitting the ball perfectly and putting it away.

What I’m trying to get at is that the fear of failure, in my experience, is worse than the actuality. And once you recognize that, you’re able to close.

Lots of excellent salespeople find themselves calling on 10 to 20 customers before they get a bite, a hit, a sale. That’s a lot of noes before the yes, and it takes some thick skin. Arthur Levitt, a good friend of mine, shared with me that his first job was selling advertising for Life magazine. Most of the time he was told no. After being rejected many times, he learned to “let it go” and come back again, blending persistence with passion, and then suddenly, wow, he made a sale!

It was embedded in his brain by his first boss that every good salesperson needed to understand rejection and that the way to understand rejection is to be rejected a lot.

If it happens too often, of course, you’re not going to sell very much, and you won’t last long in this business. But selling is a matter of taking swings and having lots of misses. The important thing is to take the swings. It’s the only way to get hits. And eventually homers.

I read that Kenexa, an IBM company that provides employment and retention solutions, found from its extensive research that the most important attribute for success in selling is to have the emotional courage to keep on selling after being rejected. My own observations confirm that completely.

Sellers need to realize that what they learn from rejection allows them to become better at selling. And great salespeople learn how to limit their rejection rate. It’s key to think. Great salespeople think through things. To excel at selling, you have to visualize “the win”—the successful sale—and also anticipate each step along the way.

Jeff Kozak, one of our great store selling managers, explained to me once that he never hears no. Of course he does hear it. But what he hears is that the customer doesn’t want a gray pin-striped suit, but he may want a black suit. He may not want the green crewneck sweater, but he may want the burgundy button one. It’s not a no; it’s more of a pause while the customer moves on to the next possibility. He’s still making a decision; he hasn’t outright rejected a sale. That’s how Jeff copes with rejection, and it works very well for him—and it can for others.

At the same time, when it becomes clear that a customer isn’t going to buy, accept that reality and move on. Sellers must be like poker players and know when to hold them and when to fold them. Once you’ve been proactive and you have laid out the alternatives and the customer still isn’t buying, fold. Deal another hand in another part of the store, and do it all with a smile.

Sometimes a no today brings customers back with more desire another day! Just because today isn’t the day, much groundwork has been put in place to build the trust and relationship for tomorrow.

Just as Jeff doesn’t like to hear no, he doesn’t like to use that word either. All sellers should try to avoid the word “no.” If there’s a request from a customer that can’t be met, rather than say no, offer an alternative:

“We can do it tomorrow [not today].”

“We can get the red one for you [not the blue].”

Remember, selling is both emotional and intellectual. The word “no” has a negative emotional charge to it. When sellers hear no from a customer, they feel bad about themselves. They think they’ve failed. When customers hear no from a salesperson, they feel let down, that their needs are not being met. That’s a turnoff. It’s like hitting the wrong note on a piano.

The idea is that we rarely want to tell a customer no. In the big picture, the goal should be to entirely redact the word from the selling process. Our great sellers don’t hear no, and they don’t say no.

FLAP YOUR EARS

I see a lot of salespeople get very sheepish when it comes time to close. They withdraw. They slump their shoulders. Before the customer’s eyes, they actually seem to shrink.

Good closers are confident. They’re not cocky. There’s a big distinction.

I suppose I’ve always sensed the difference; yet my picture of it is when I’m really getting my first serve in well and consistently at tennis—just where I want to place the ball, with the speed perfect and the spin tough to return—I’m confident. But then I sometimes slip, and I forget to focus and I move to being cocky. I must say to my muscles, “You can even hit it harder, with more spin.” In a flash, I begin to miss, and I lose the game.

In selling, great sellers who are confident listen and react to the verbal and nonverbal response. That tells them when to “close.” On the other hand, sellers who are cocky—maybe because they’ve just made a big sale to another customer or because they feel like they own the universe—will try to close without listening, focusing on their own needs and desires rather than the customer’s. When this happens, the customer may get turned off and lose respect for these sellers and just leave. Lose/lose/lose.

What are other signs of salespeople who are cocky? A puffed-out chest. Those who point a finger in your face. Their attitude is telling rather than sharing. The sellers talk more about themselves rather than listen to the customer. They don’t care about appearance. So what if their tie has mustard stains! So what if they have onion breath! They look at others rather than directly at the customer. They don’t accept help or advice from anyone. They oversell.

In a nutshell, they are what Linda, my wife, calls a “me-first person.” Sellers need to be a “you-first person.” I’ve heard customers encounter salespeople like this and say, “Who’s the customer here?”

I really don’t think cocky sellers last long. Most customers don’t want to work with a know-it-all. I know I don’t.

It comes down to ego control. Big egos are vital to selling and foster confidence. But too much ego is bad. Sellers with a big head feel invincible, but good sellers ought to show a certain amount of vulnerability. It’s that touch of vulnerability or humility that keeps them on their toes and always striving to learn and improve. You need both a big ego and a small ego.

Especially in their early years of selling, the more important issue is that many sellers just aren’t confident enough. I like to think it’s a matter of knowing to flap your ears.

My friend Joe, a very successful executive, once shared with me a story that really resonated. Joe was with his family on an African safari. Escorted by a guide, they were driving in a car through some countryside when they found themselves surrounded by elephants—easily 30 or 40 of them. The elephants were right beside the car, and they were huge. “I won’t say I was scared,” Joe told me. “But I didn’t see an exit.”

The elephants nosed around the car, presumably trying to figure out if this was something that might taste good. Fortunately, they decided it was unappetizing. Their ears were hanging limp, which the guide said was a good sign.

“Oh really?” Joe said.

“Yes,” the guide said. “You can always tell when elephants are ready to charge. They flap their ears.”

“Why?” Joe asked.

“Because they want to look big.”

And Joe told me that there’s a selling lesson there—that if you look big, you will think big.

I certainly agree. A simple suggestion shared to me by my public speaking coach . . . “Just stand up on the balls of your feet an inch or two and you feel bigger, in control.” And sellers love to be in control of the selling process. Salespeople need to look big, feel big, think big. They need to flap their ears. And then they will close.

PRICED TO BUY

Price, needless to say, is pivotal in the selling process, and while it often comes up early on, it has to show up during closing. Because that’s when the customer must decide whether to pay or not to pay.

Since our stores specialize in high-end clothing, most of our customers are not overly price-conscious. That doesn’t mean they don’t care about price. I’ve long believed that everyone is interested in a bargain. I always say, “A rich man loves a bargain, and a poor man needs one.” And a host of people are in the middle, quite amenable to getting one.

Our philosophy is that our prices should not be a dollar more than what they are at competitors. If we find they are, we match those prices. We never negotiate the price of a ready-to-wear item of clothing. We aren’t big on sales and only have them when our vendors and designers break their sales or at the end of a season.

We sell at regular price because there is intrinsic value in our products, and brands don’t want us breaking price before they do. Plus, and this is the heart of it, we are selling personalized customer service, and that’s worth a lot.

The big thing is that a seller needs to discover the right price point for a customer. This goes on throughout the selling process, and by the time you get to closing, you need to have found it.

Never start too low and suggest something cheap that insults the customer. But don’t go too high, either. In selling, it’s a sin to start too low, and it’s a mistake to start too high. If you’re not sure, start slightly above what you think is the person’s price point.

One miscalculation many sellers make is that they focus on price before the customer understands the product. Price is a function of value. Often, a customer who didn’t want to spend $250 on a blouse will be enthusiastic about paying that price once the seller has presented the quality and durability of the blouse. That’s why you want to fully present a product before you get fixated on price.

That being said, I can’t emphasize enough that customers should certainly know the price range of whatever they are considering buying. And be told the exact price before they get to the customer service desk. You don’t want your customers to get there and say, “Oh my goodness! I didn’t know this shirt was $350! Are you nuts?”

I know that some bridal shops refuse to tell customers how much their dresses cost until they fill out a form divulging information like occupation, employer, wedding budget, reception location, and so on. That’s no way to treat a customer. Mattress makers have been known to give different names to the identical mattress for different stores, and so the same thing will have a higher or lower price depending on location, making it impossible to compare value. Again, that works against trust.

I’ve often thought about why it is that car salespeople are so mistrusted, and I’ve concluded that a big reason is because nobody entering a car lot knows the price of anything. Sure, there’s a sticker price on every car, but everyone who isn’t from Pluto realizes that’s just the starting point for what often turns into an exhausting negotiation.

I was struck by an article I read about a car dealership in Texas, where the haggling and heavy-handed tactics were so bad that employees would tell their own mothers to go shop somewhere else. Then the owner instituted an important change. The dealership began one-price selling. No more start high and haggle down. Every car had an advertised price, and it was a fair one, for the customer and for the dealer.

Some veteran salespeople didn’t like the new approach and left. They were replaced by people with no car experience, who weren’t stuck in the old way. The upshot was that business shot up dramatically. Because customers could trust the sellers.

A lot of psychology comes into play with price. Years ago, a classic experiment was done in which people were asked to choose between a mid-priced microwave oven and a lower-priced one. Sales of the products were roughly equal. But when a higher-priced oven was added to the mix, sales of the mid-priced oven soared by 40 percent. The mere presence of a more expensive option made the moderate one look like a better buy.

One night I had dinner at an Italian restaurant with Amy and Jackie, my executive assistants. I had actually given a Hug speech there, and the manager recognized me. I asked for a full-bodied glass of red wine. The most expensive ones were around $15 per glass, but he put his finger on one that was really fantastic, and it was $11.

Later, when I got to talking to him about selling, he mentioned that he tries to do what he did with me, especially if it is the first time connecting with the customer. He looks to go a little below what he knows someone can afford in order to demonstrate that he knows the product and that you can trust him to offer the best value.

I watched this happening one Saturday at Richards with our veteran seller John Hickey. He showed a man some swatches from a brand that was very similar to those of the more expensive brand the man normally bought. The man came over to me later and told me how great it was that John would show him something of almost similar quality that saved him money. “That’s why I shop here,” the man said.

Some customers think if they pay a lot of cash that we will give them a discount. We love cash, but the price is the same for every customer. We say we will do somersaults in customer service for them. But the price is the price.

In addition, our sales associates know that management and ownership will not change the price over their heads, and that kind of integrity is critical in the selling process.

Jewelry is the only exception. For a large piece, if possible, we extend courtesy discounts depending on a lot of factors, which is what almost every legitimate jeweler does.

In the greater world of sales, prices are a lot more elastic than they are in our stores. In many industries, haggling over price is an art that a seller must master. Lawyers negotiate their fees; even doctors do. On an airplane, you can sit in first class, business, or economy, and the person to the right of you and the person to the left are paying significantly more or less.

My own feeling is that a seller should engage in as little back-and-forth as possible. I bought a painting recently by an artist I knew, and he told me before I visited the gallery, “Don’t forget to ask for the discount. They will offer you 5 percent off, but you can tell them I said 10 percent.” To me, it warps the integrity of the service or product when the price gets “footballed” around.

What I personally do when I’m the customer is to speak forthrightly: somewhere in the discussion of the car or the TV, I say, “I want the very best price, and I don’t want to be blindsided later when I find out that I could have bought this for much less”—or a dollar less depending on the item. The answer I’m looking for is, “Don’t worry. When we finish, you will get the best possible price.”

I should point out that an important aspect of cultivating relationships with customers is that it lessens the role of price in the selling process. When you develop a relationship with your customers and deliver great service, they tend to become less price-conscious. They realize that everything else they are getting beyond the product is worth something too. They are buying the value, not the item.

And people are certainly less prone to haggle with a friend, so once a seller becomes a customer’s friend, it follows that the customer will be less inclined to wrestle over price. We’ve had new customers come to us who were steadfast hagglers when they shopped at other businesses. Once they became enamored of our culture and became friends with their salesperson, they never see a reason to haggle with us.

One important thing to remember is never be sheepish about price. If you act embarrassed about the price, as if it were something you’d never pay, that’s a big turnoff to the customer. Mel Gross, a great seller of ours who retired years ago, liked to say, “Never apologize for the price to a customer. Never!”

ASK FOR THE ORDER

So at this point in the process, the seller has heard the customers say, “I like it,” or give some other conscious signal that they are in the buying mood. They are ready to buy the coffee maker, buy the lawn mower, buy the blue-and-white cocktail dress. This is when you need to, as we like to say, “ask for the order.”

Once the customer has put the jacket on, or has donned the dress, and is looking in a mirror to see the fit and is smiling or nodding appreciatively, the time is ripe. With men, suggesting that a man try on the pants to a suit is a great way to close a sale. As mentioned before, experience shows that once a man puts on the pants, he will almost always buy the suit.

Every industry has its own vehicle for allowing the customer to appreciate the product, and when that’s in play, that’s when closing normally happens. With cars, it’s often while the customer is sitting in the car. With tablets, it’s while the customer is checking the picture quality on it or surfing the Internet. With us, the vehicle is the three-way mirror. It’s designed so that if the customer looks straight ahead at a particular angle, the person can see the front of the suit or dress, as well as the back. The most frequent areas that a gentleman is concerned about are the shoulder and the drape and the tightness from the underarms down over the derriere.

As the customer inspects the product, different salespeople have their own little closing phrases when they ask for the order. David Lynn, one of our best sellers, likes to say: “Are we good to go?” or “What do you think?” or “Let’s do it.”

That soft question of “How does it feel?” can be a great lead-in to a hard close. Something like, “If it feels good, would you like me to fit it for you?” Restating the soft close helps the customer say yes to the hard close.

Other industries have their own approaches. With a car, for example, the seller might say, “Will you be financing it?”

Steve Trachtenberg, from George Washington University, told me that in his fund-raising role when he’s asking for the order from a donor, he will say, “How can I help you determine how much?”

You have to be careful that you aren’t presumptuous in the wording of your closing—assuming the sale has been made and going straight to something like, “OK, let me wrap it up,” while the customer is still inspecting the product and has yet to actually say he or she is buying it. Then you’ve broken the cardinal principle of Allowing the Buy.

In my experience, the smoothest closing sentence is, “If you like it, you should buy it.” Done. Then, if it’s clothing that needs adjustment, you say, “I’ll call the fitter and we’ll get it fitted.”

If you know which fitter is available, use the name and say, “Let’s call Antonello,” since that keeps the personalization of the relationship going. When the fitter comes, introduce Sam, your new customer, to Antonello and state that “Antonello is one of the master tailors at Wilkes Bashford and has been here for over 30 years.”

By the way, at this crucial moment of closing, all members of a team must be in sync. One slipup by someone can quickly unravel a sale. You never want a wrong move without a very good reason.

There is definitely very much an art to asking for the order. It’s key that you don’t force customers into saying yes. I can’t stress it enough: allow them to make the decision.

Someone very successful in the insurance business told me about what he calls his silent time. Once he’s made his presentation for a policy and laid out the various options and prices, he shuts up. Many of his colleagues, he’s learned, keep on talking, trying to wring out that final yes and a signature on the dotted line. But that gets customers’ guard up. So he doesn’t say a word.

He says it can be excruciating, sitting there during this silent time while the person looks over the papers and silently runs the numbers. The seller is a naturally gregarious person, and he’s dying to say something, but he doesn’t. He thinks of it as a game, where if he talks first, he’s the loser. And the vast majority of the time, the person takes the policy. And the buyer feels good about it, because he or she doesn’t feel pressured.

That’s good advice in any industry. When the customer is clearly in the buying mood, it’s time to use the Close Your Mouth Principle.

During that quiet time that you have your mouth closed, though, don’t simply stand there and stare at the customer. When you ask for the order, I always believe in looking the customer in the eye. But if the customer needs to think for a minute or two, don’t stare at him or her. Some studies have even shown that salespeople who keep staring at a customer actually discourage sales.

Give customers a bit of space, and odds are they will allow themselves to buy.

ALWAYS CLOSE ON ONE THING

Once customers have entered the buying zone, it’s imperative that you start to close on at least one item. If you start suggesting other things before you’ve done that, people might get distracted, and you may lose them entirely. They could slip out of the buying mood, and all your effort will be for naught.

There’s no question that the best sales are the multiple sales where you add on other items, something I’ll tell you about shortly. But you can’t get to that multiple sale until the customer has definitely decided to buy a single dress or Blu-ray player or blender.

And it’s important that the first item is one that the customer truly loves, because that’s what gets the customer in that buying frame of mind—that magic mood shift to buying.

Many customers close quickly. Others are more of a challenge.

One of the most common responses sellers get is, “I’m going to need to think about it.”

My nephew Scott Mitchell, who runs our jewelry and women’s businesses at Richards, is a real stickler about what to do when that happens. Just ask the customer, “What is it about that piece that causes you concern?”

That takes a bit of chutzpah, because sellers don’t like to seem as if they are being too aggressive, but it’s a logical question, and it can often quickly resolve the problem.

If customers respond, “Well, it’s a little expensive,” they might be fishing for a discount, which we don’t do. Or it might really be a little too expensive for them. If that’s the case, you simply say, “I have something slightly less expensive that’s similar.”

They may say they need to think if this is the right message they want to send. Show them alternatives with different messages.

But Scott’s point is, if they’re thinking, don’t let them go. They’re here in the store and have entered the buying mood.

Sometimes “I need to think about it” is a euphemism for no. The customer doesn’t want the seller to feel bad. If that’s the case, then you should definitely let the customer know it’s OK not to want to buy right now. But you need to determine if it’s a real no or not. If it’s real, it’s best not to waste your time but move on. So find out about the “thinking” and try to remove the indecision.

If a problem crops up with that initial item, make sure you have Plan B, Plan C, and even Plan D.

Say someone really likes a suit or dress, but you don’t have it in the right size. That could end the sale right there, and you’ll never know how big a sale might have been possible. So you should always show a customer an alternative. More often than not, that will result in a sale.

Debbie Turtoro, our expert shoe specialist, told me, “Say someone is looking for black pumps. I’ll bring several different ones out. Then I’ll also bring out a comfort shoe and something else out of the box—a sexy little shoe. Who knows—the customer might go for it. It’s my surprise.”

Once that first item has been bought—a tie, a scarf, boxer shorts—a big click, a buying action, goes off. Put that over there. It’s the opener. Now customers are ready to continue buying.

BRING IN THE TAG TEAM FOR BLESSINGS

If for whatever reason you’re having trouble closing, signal for help.

Bring in reinforcements. This is very important—it’s OK to be needy. It’s really key in selling to understand this teamwork.

It is perfectly OK—indeed we encourage it—to acknowledge that you need help or advice from someone else on the team to win a sale. Dad always taught us to say, “I need your help.” Simple. Direct. Says it all. Bill and I both say it a lot and mean it. It’s an important yet underused request in selling, “I need your help.”

Call over a teammate who has a good sense of taste and ask your colleague’s opinion of how the item looks. You might say, “I know you well enough, Michele; you wouldn’t say it looks great if you didn’t think so.”

I call it the “blessing.” At times, customers will even request a blessing, saying, “Yes, I agree totally with you, but let’s get Bob (or Phyllis or Rita or Faran) to bless it too.” They trust the blessing of their regular seller but like to have that second blessing just to shoo away any indecision. We’re OK with that. We love to offer blessings.

In certain instances, you absolutely need two-on-one selling. It could come from two sellers working together as a team, building the sale, closing the sale. Buyers can also be helpful for the two on one. Tailors and seamstresses as well. Or a supervisor or one of the owners. I think of it as “combination selling.”

One of our veteran sellers at Wilkes Bashford, who in his career sold everything from multimillion dollar communications programs to men’s clothing, once told me: “Many sellers tend to be loners in the selling process. In other words they don’t actively seek out assistance from fellow sellers or managers. This probably stems from several factors, including an ‘I can do it all by myself’ attitude, a fear of ‘losing’ a client or part of a commission to the seller who’s assisting, etc. How shortsighted!”

Years ago, when he worked in an ad agency, he learned that, whenever possible, you never go into a business pitch alone. Working as a “tag team” with one or more coworkers was always much more effective and efficient.

This team-oriented selling approach works equally well in a retail setting. So often a well-timed comment by a colleague helps close a sale. Not only that, but clients really love the additional attention and fuss.

Always, anywhere, saying “I need your help” from a colleague gets results. Here’s an example. I was driving from Connecticut to take in the US Open tennis tournament in Queens. I was nearby but, for the life of me, couldn’t find the parking lot. I’m a constant worrier about directions and getting places on time, often for good reason. I followed one sign, and then there was no sign and eight different directions you could go. I took one. Of course, it was the wrong way.

I spotted a guy driving a sanitation truck and figured he would know. I said, “I need your help,” and told him my dilemma. He gave me directions, but I explained I’m partly dyslectic and if there was any way he could take me, I’d be happy to pay him something. “No, no, you don’t have to give me anything,” he said, “Follow me.” And he escorted me right to where I wanted to be. Just because I said I needed his help. Too often people ask for help in an entitled way, and that gets you nowhere.

We always try to introduce customers the first time, and the second time, and so on to our specialists like Bruce Kelly in shoes or Naki in jewelry, who all know more about the product than the associates, so the customers get to know more of the team.

There are multiple benefits to involving other sellers. Our own analytics show that if customers work with four or five different sales associates over a year—by this I mean a main associate along with specialists like a shoe salesperson and a jewelry person—they become even more loyal to our store. Knowing multiple people well really makes them feel like family and at home.

Even with the tag team and even after asking the question that Scott suggests, there are always customers who can’t make the decision right then but are still wavering. So you say, “I can put this on hold until you make up your mind.” Which means you put it in a special area for a few days.

Of course, treat them the same as you would treat someone who is buying. Keep an upbeat mood, and try to get a date when you can call them, or get additional information on whether they are ready to buy. It becomes an excellent opportunity to gather their phone numbers, email, address, occupation. Hand them your business card and ask for theirs, making it easier to follow up.

HIT SOME DOUBLES AND TRIPLES

Singles are nice sales, but doubles and triples are much better. I first watched Dad accomplish these 55 years ago, and they happen all the time at our stores.

It starts with a customer who is in the buying mood and simply can’t decide which item to buy. For instance, Jimmy and his wife, Jackie, very loyal clients, were working with David Lynn, Jimmy’s menswear seller, and our jewelry specialist Naki. The couple were trying to decide between two pearl necklaces, an anniversary present for Jackie. The necklaces had different-size pearls and were different lengths.

I waltzed over and listened to the conversation. Clearly they both loved both necklaces. So after a little personal hug as they were pausing again, I said, “You should really just have these gorgeous pearls. Both. You love them both, and it’s your anniversary. Go for it!”

“Great idea,” Jimmy said. “I like it, Jack.” And Jackie smiled a big smile.

So, happy customers, happy sellers, and happy owner of the company. Win/win/win.

Even triples are sometimes within the realm of possibility. It’s the same idea, only the customer is weighing three alternatives. My wife, Linda, was at Marios in Portland, Oregon (before we entered into our partnership) picking up a couple of blouses, and I joined her at the jewelry counter. She was examining three pieces, all of them simple yet Linda style. After watching her for a while, I said, “Get all three.”

I almost fainted when she said OK. She is normally more frugal. But I loved buying her these pieces and making a triple.

The point here is that customers often get so wrapped up in trying to decide between items that many times they leave in frustration. They tell the seller that they will come back or call, but once they leave, they get out of the buying mood and end up not buying anything. And thus they are not satisfied at all with the shopping experience. If the seller had only tried to close by strongly suggesting they buy both or all three, they would have left excited.

Within a few days, Linda had already worn all three of those jewelry pieces and was smiling and enjoying them. And I was a happy husband.

When you double or triple the size of the sale, most of the time you also achieve an even happier customer. We owners love it too—win/win/win!

BUILD THE SALE

Too many salespeople, once they close on that first item, figure the sale is done. Wrong. Often, that’s just the beginning. It’s when a so-so sale can quickly become a memorable one: the guy who bought a pair of socks and, before he was through, went out the door with five suits, a tuxedo, a top coat, seven shirts, fifteen ties, two sweaters, and a couple of packages of boxers. The couple who arrived at the appliance store for a meat thermometer and left with a refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, dehumidifier, and popcorn maker.

OK, not every sale goes quite like that, but it happens more often than you think. I heard about a fellow who went to the car dealer for floor mats and left with a motor home.

My friend Harry Rosen, the fabulous Canadian merchant, taught me that once customers buy one item, they normally want to buy more. It’s not always a lot more, but it’s almost always more.

I’m that way. I don’t like to shop at all. But when Linda sends me out for chicken because we’re out of chicken, once I’m in the grocery store, I’ll go around and get some of the things I like, especially some onion rings. For I’m in the buying mood.

So you have to build the sale and keep showing customers why it’s fun to have a pair of suede shoes, some new pants, a sweater. Hey, if it seems right, get the customer over to jewelry. If a man buys a suit and you don’t sell him a shirt and tie too, you’re not really selling—and the customer later is frustrated, even mad at you, when he can’t find a shirt and tie in his closet to go with his new suit.

Whenever Frank Gallagi sold a customer a suit or sport coat (what we refer to as a “hanger” or “sleeve”), Frank immediately put down two or three shirts and two or three ties that went with it. Three is a good number, because you would like the customers to buy at least two, and having three allows them to discard one. If they buy all three, we won’t protest.

Indeed, Faran, our wonder woman in our Palo Alto store, has permission with probably 20 or so of her clients to pick shirts and accessories for the clothing. She chooses every detail of the shirt, from the thread buttons to the cuffs to pocket or no pocket. They love her taste—all done for them. Surprise hugs.

Whatever industry you’re in, building the sale matters. With cars, it’s a matter of adding on GPS, special floor mats, a better sound system, or an automated braking system. If you’re selling TVs, you want to ask about the Blu-ray player and the better connecting cables and a nice stand. If you’re selling pets, don’t forget to ask about food, leashes, jackets, chew toys.

This step is always hard for new salespeople, since many of them—and even veteran sellers—don’t want to seem overbearing.

We had a wonderful customer named John that Jeff Kozak served. He was in our Richards store often, since he got his shirts dry-cleaned across the street and would park in our parking lot. I was always urging Jeff, “Go show John some new suits or new swatches. He loves, loves clothes.”

And Jeff would say, “Jack, he has more clothes than you can believe. I loaded him up. He doesn’t love me showing him new things all the time.”

I would respond, “He is from Canada, Jeff. Canadians are often far more fashionable than Americans. Show him more.”

Still, Jeff was just too uncomfortable. Then one day when Jeff happened to be in Toronto, he dropped in on the Harry Rosen store on Bloor Street and spent some time with one of the managers. Jeff puffed up with pride about John, this great customer he had from Toronto. The manager replied, “No kidding. John’s a great customer of ours, too.” He checked in the computer, and it turned out that John was spending more money with Harry than with us.

Jeff came back, told me the story, and said, “I learned my lesson, Jack.” From then on, every time John waltzed through the store, Jeff was there with a new swatch or sweater or suit, and guess what? He bought more and more from us, and everyone loved it.

I fondly remember one customer who always kidded, “I don’t fool around, I don’t touch the sauce too much, but boy do I love clothes.” That was, of course, music to our ears and very rare for a man. The unbelievable part was that many times he bought the same shirt and same tie to go with several different jackets. Turns out he laid out his closet by outfit so he knew what combinations fit with what. He didn’t care if he bought the same item twice—it just made it easier to pack when he was traveling.

One time, he bought over 100 ties in a single visit. Who in the world would buy 100 ties at once? He would. And Rita Roman would just keep presenting, and he would say yes, no, yes, no, and finally after several hours, he would say, “I’m finished.”

Another gentleman loves to have two or three of the same item if he likes it. But it was like pulling teeth to convince our shoe seller to sell him three pairs of wing-tip shoes, same style.

Then the customer shared the story that the same thing happened when he was buying a new car and went to the dealer and bought a black one with the extras he liked. When he was finished, he had to make the suggestion—not a peep from the salesperson—that he buy another one for his wife. He did, but he was frustrated that the salesperson didn’t suggest it, and he got in a car and went to another dealership and bought a third one for his daughter.

After hearing that, our shoe seller had no problem with the duplicate orders.

Another small tip: Sell anything you’ve got if it makes a customer happy. At our stores, we have “try-on” shoes that customers who arrive in boots or sneakers can use when getting pants fitted for the proper length. I happen to be very tough on shoes, and I would turn over my scratched-up ones to the try-on shoe area. Many of them were still quite decent.

Back when Bob was young and we had sold just about everything from the store during our sale period, Bob went ahead and sold 8 out of the 10 try-on shoes of mine at $25 each. And why not? The customers got a good deal, and the store rang up some more sales.

The bottom line is that you never want to undersell and you never want to oversell. What you’re aiming for is the sweet spot of selling, just the right quantity that the customer is in the mood to buy.

I always say to our sellers, “Keep presenting and showing product until the customer says, ‘No más; that’s enough.’”

Keep in mind, though, that customers are not always that explicit. A sharp seller has to sense when customers have reached the limit. They are less attentive. Their eyes wander. They act sluggish. They don’t come out of the fitting room to show you what they have on. Dad always used to say the customer was “out of gas.”

You want the customers to leave the store on a high, not worn out and feeling as if they went 15 rounds with a battering ram.

When you realize that your customer is on empty, then say, “Thanks so much, Leonard. You are going to love these choices.” Or if you suspect there might be a few drops of gas left, you could, of course, say, “I do have one really special shirt I’d like to show you.”

Once again, that’s my One for Good Measure Principle. The great sellers always have a special one for good measure in mind. It doesn’t have to be high-priced, and it might be best if it isn’t. Just one more special idea, at least to plant the seed for a return visit.

Of course, it could be a nice farewell hug of a cup of hot coffee in the winter or a cold bottle of water for the road in the summer.

ALWAYS TRY TO OVER OVERDELIVER—NEVER OVERPROMISE

At some places during the selling process, sellers promise the world, and then they deliver a small town. Well, they shouldn’t have promised something that wasn’t possible from the beginning. There are many salespeople who are so eager to make the sale and make themselves look great, fueling their egos, that they routinely overpromise and leave others to clean up the mess.

Don’t do it. There’s an old adage in the business world: underpromise and overdeliver. Even though it’s well known, it’s astounding how many sellers don’t come close to living it. It’s really essential to making customers happy.

At our stores, if something is out of stock and we have to order it, our sellers check to see how long it will take to get the item. If they find it will take three days, they’ll tell the customer a week to be safe. Then when it comes in after three days, the customer is delighted because we’ve overdelivered. The same for how long to get something tailored. We’ll add a day when we talk to the customer to be sure and then beat that, often having alterations done two days ahead of when we promised.

Doctors are famously guilty of overpromising and underdelivering. You have an appointment at noon. You see the doctor at three. Patients are told the test will take two minutes, but they wait forty minutes, an hour, two hours for those two minutes. One day, I waited six hours! And when you ask every half hour why, you’re given no information, just idle shrugs.

Doctors would be a lot better off when they give you your appointment to tell you that you’ll probably have to wait three hours. Then when you only have to wait two, you might feel great. Well, maybe.

Not long ago, I was on a flight, and we were sitting in the plane waiting for the crew members, and there was an announcement that as soon as the airline found them, we would leave. Can you imagine if we said to a customer who had waited four hours for the tailor that we’re looking for him and as soon as we locate him we’ll get the suit fitted? We’re checking the local bars and the bowling alley, and we should find him any minute now! Pretty soon, we’d have no customers.

One thing you run into when you consistently overdeliver is that repeat customers come to expect it and overdelivery becomes the norm for them. It doesn’t surprise or excite them. What you want to do is raise the bar for them. Rather than have something ready a day earlier than they expected, do it two days every now and then.

Of course, there is a saturation point. We haven’t yet figured out how to get something altered yesterday or the day before yesterday. But if you overdeliver time after time, that will distinguish you enough to make customers exceptionally happy.

VISUALIZE IT TO MAKE IT HAPPEN—EVEN THE SNEEZE

One of my favorite techniques for making sales happen is visualization. By that, I mean imagining the sale happening before it does, actually simulating it occurring. Anyone learning to sell and anyone having trouble getting a sale closed will profit enormously from indulging in this idea.

Visualization has long been part of how athletes in many sports prepare for competition. Tennis players do it. Baseball players. Golfers. Bobsledders. More recently, many athletes prefer the term “imagery,” rather than “visualization,” because they try not only to see themselves competing, but to hear and smell the experience—the works. The thunder of the crowd at the Super Bowl. The smell of the grass and the dogwood trees at Augusta National during the Masters golf tournament. Even the aftermath of victory and being interviewed by the media.

Some athletes record “imagery scripts” that they read into a recorder and then play back as they relax, eyes closed, injecting themselves into the moment.

The members of the Blue Angels, the famed Navy demonstration squadron, actually “fly” each of their shows three times. Beforehand, every pilot sits around a table, closes his eyes, and flies the show in his mind, from the first movement of the wheels right through to when he puts the brakes on the plane back on the ground. Then the pilots will actually fly the show.

Once they’re done, they will reassemble and talk through the entire show. If a pilot had any deviation from perfect, he will announce it to the team. Not only is he letting his team know that he is aware of his mistake; he will say, “I’ll fix it, and it won’t happen again.” He’s being accountable. The Blue Angels do this for every show and every practice session.

In their own way, great sellers do the same thing. Driving to work or coming in on the train—or the night before, as they are lying in bed about to fall asleep—they imagine making that big sale. In detail—from A to Z. I like to say, “See the forest and the trees”—be like a camera lens that can zoom in and zoom out.

Imagine yourself greeting the customer with a firm handshake and a wide smile. Imagine probing for information. Imagine slipping on the customer a jacket to consider, and what color the jacket is and the size (or showing the customer a car, a TV, a microscope, hair curlers). Add in the hustle and bustle in the dressing area and the sounds of other customers.

Make it real, so it penetrates. Visualize the customer sneezing and your saying, “God bless you,” and asking if the person needs a tissue. Imagine another seller has brought in a corned beef sandwich for lunch and you can smell it. Think of what the customer might say as he or she checks out the jacket in the mirror: “Oh, I’m not sure it’s right for me.” And then your response: “What bothers you about it? We could try this alternative.” Get to the customer’s saying, “I’ll take it.” And the warm, wonderful feeling you have inside.

Remember to visualize it as a game, not a battle—selling isn’t life or death, but winning is important. We are caring sellers, not fighters and killers.

Obviously there are many different scenarios to imagine, and you can mix up your visualizations with new plots or keep repeating your favorite. But they should all lead to the same outcome: a customer, with your help, has found something he or she desires and is going to buy it.

This is also very important. I have often heard it said, “If you don’t know why you’re there, please stay in the car.” Before each customer interaction, especially when you’re going to the customer rather than the customer is coming to you, know why you’re there.

Don’t just know what you want to discuss; know exactly what you want to discuss and exactly how you would like to discuss it. Even write down how you would like the dialogue to go. Prepare for possible resistances you think might arise and have a conversation with yourself before you arrive.

One more thing: In your visualization and in real life, always be ready to close. My friend Steve told me this story about when he was a young boy. He was riding on his first airplane trip with his father when his father and the flight attendant got into a conversation about her life. All of a sudden, his dad whipped out from his briefcase a life insurance application form and sold her at 35,000 feet a $25,000 life insurance policy. He turned to Steve and said, “Son, I always carry an application form and a pen. You have to be prepared. You can never foretell when you can close a sale.”

Good advice for anyone who sells. But we’re not done selling. Not yet. Now we move into the fifth stage, the Kiss Goodbye.

ALLOWING THE BUY RECAP

•   Once you’ve made a complete presentation, don’t keep talking or you will talk past the sale—prepare to close when the customer is in the buying mood. Recognize when it’s time to close—and close!

•   Eliminate no from the selling process—don’t say it or hear it and you will overcome the fear of rejection.

•   When customers enter the buying mood, ask for the order with a simple nonpresumptuous sentence like “Let’s call the fitter” or “If you like it, why don’t you buy it?”

•   Close on one item first. Asking for small commitments can lead to larger behavior changes and the joy of a gigantic sale.

•   If necessary, bring in help to close; customers are often more loyal when they’ve dealt with multiple associates. Don’t forget to brief your teammates on previous conversations.

•   Try for doubles and triples by showing alternatives to customers having trouble making up their mind.

•   Build the sale until the customer waves the white flag—most people want to buy more than one thing.

•   Underpromise and overdeliver, unlike doctors; and for repeat customers over overdeliver.

•   Visualize the successful sale, down to the smallest detail, and it will help make it happen.