No Thanks, Im Just Looking: Sales Techniques for Turning Shoppers into Buyers

Praise for No Thanks, I′m Just Looking

"It′s what everyone′s after: a formula for being successful andhaving fun at the same time. Harry has a very engaging wayofilluminating the path to high–performance selling. This book is amust–read for retail managers and salespeople who want toexperience the thrill of thriving in a well–run store wheresalespeople serve customers expertly, and shoppers buy, withpleasure." Lynn Garner VP, Training & Development, David′sBridal

"I′d recommend this book to anyone in retail.Unless you′re oneof my competitors." Howard D. FinemanOwner, Ashley FurnitureHomeStore, Jacksonville, Florida

"BrandSource was so excited with the information in Harry′sbook,that we had The Friedman Group create a customized version ofhis sales training system just for us. At the time, our market wasexperiencing a boom and business was good. With the economicchange, our retailersneed his sales skills now more than ever, andthey′ve given us acompetitive edge that is allowing us to thrivedespite the economy." Bob LawrenceCEO, AVB/BrandSource

"There′s no other book of its kind for retail salespeople. We′veordered over 2,000 of them. Harry′s book reads likeacan′t–put–it–down novel and will cause any retail salespersontoincrease their add–ons and close a lot more sales." EvanHackel Former VP, Carpet One

"No Thanks confirms Harry as the foremost authority in retailselling. Great insight, practical suggestions, and entertaining. Wemake this book a mandatory read for our entire sales staff. Thankyou, Harry!" Russ Diamond President, Snyder Diamond

Acknowledgments xii

Introduction xiii

Chapter 1 Getting Your Act Together before You Take Itto the Selling Floor 1

The Not–So–Fun Stuff 4

Customer Service Points 5

The Four Occupations of the Professional Retail Salesperson19

The Daily Precheck 24

Hot Tips and Key Insights 31

Chapter 2 Opening the Sale 33

People Behave Reactively 35

Causing a Negative Reaction from the Beginning 36

The Primary Goal of Opening the Sale Is to Get

Past Resistance 37

Opening Lines 37

Opening Moves 41

Getting into Business: The Transition 44

Working Two Customers at Once 52

How Have You Been Opening? 54

Hot Tips and Key Insights 54

Chapter 3 Probing 59

Opening as Many Doors as Possible 61

Knowledge Is Power 62

Probing Questions 66

QAS 73

Logical Sequence 74

Logical Sequence Guide Chart 78

Switching Or Selling What You Have First! 78

Hot Tips and Key Insights 82

Chapter 4 The Demonstration 85

The Demonstration Follows What You Learned in Probing 87

Selling the Value That the Customer Wants 90

Creating the Desire for Ownership 94

Covering All the Bases 97

The Ultimate Demonstration Tool 101

Avoiding the Comparison Trap 109

The Expert Kills the Deal 112

Hot Tips and Key Insights 115

Chapter 5 The Trial Close (Otherwise Known as theAssumptive Add–On Close) 119

The Dreaded Close 121

Adding On 125

Constructing a Trial Close 131

Hot Tips and Key Insights 136

Chapter 6 Handling Objections 139

The Trial of Trial and Error 141

Why Objections Occur 143

Work with the Customer 146

The Smoke–Out 150

Handling the Price Objection 153

Hot Tips and Key Insights 159

Chapter 7 Closing the Sale 161

Intent Is Everything 163

Getting Started 164

Basic Closing Techniques 166

Handling Requests for Discounts 175

Turning Over the Sale 178

Buying Signals 182

Hot Tips and Key Insights 184

Chapter 8 Confirmations and Invitations 187

Buyer′s Remorse 189

The Confirmation: Cementing the Sale 192

The Invitation: Requesting Another Visit 194

Building Personal Trade 200

Hot Tips and Key Insights 206

Final Thoughts 209

Appendix: Retail Training Resources 211

About the Author 217

Index 219

HARRY J. FRIEDMAN, founder and CEO of The Friedman Group, is an inter??national retail authority, consultant, and the most heavily attended speaker on retail sellingand operational management in the world today. More than 500,000 retailers have used his groundbreaking high–performance sales andmanagement training systems, includingNeiman Marcus, Cartier, Hallmark, La–Z–Boy,Billabong, and Godiva. One of retail′s true thought leaders, his vision and unique ability to see what′s right and wrong on a retail floor and how to fix it have made him a sometimes controversial but always passionate friend to the world of retail. You just can′t get enoughof Harry!