Hey, it’s Bob Negen, and welcome to this episode of Real Retail TV. In this episode, you are going to learn the ultimate retail selling system. This is cool stuff, so stay tuned.

So I’d like you to do me a favor, if you would– think of the last time that you went into a store and you had an amazing experience. Do you have that in your head? Now think about the sales associate who helped you.

So that person engaged you skillfully. That person showed you other merchandise. That person added on and showed you better quality merchandise. That person made you feel special. That person was a great salesperson.

And before we begin, I just want you to think about and recognize that selling is service, that selling isn’t pushy. It’s not manipulative. It’s not psychological trickery. It’s about getting your customer to this thing that we call “the perfect purchase.”

In order to give your customers the service they deserve and to make all the money that you should, you need two things– you need a goal, and you need a system that will get you to the goal. So both the goal and the system will be explained in these next two videos from the Retail Sales Academy.

So the goal is a perfect purchase. The process, the way to get to the goal, is the six steps to the perfect purchase. And in these two videos, you’re going to learn what the perfect purchase is, and you’re going to learn the process, the system that we created to get your customers to the perfect purchase.

But I just want to sort of back up and share the importance of a system. Our youngest son, Sam, is a basketball player. And if you know any basketball players at all, you know this is true– when they shoot free throws, they engage in a system.

Sam dribbles the ball three times hard. He sort of loosens up his shoulders. He takes a deep breath. He focuses on a spot on the rim, and he has his shot. And he does this every single time. If you were to pull Sammy out of bed in the middle of the night, give him a basketball, and say shoot this free throw, it would look exactly like that.

That is a system. And in order for your team to be as successful as possible, they need to have a selling system. And the six steps to the perfect purchase is the ultimate retail selling system.

This first video is about the perfect purchase, what the perfect purchase is. And nobody teaches this type of customer-focused selling and service philosophy. Enjoy it. I think you’re going to find it very, very interesting.

Hey, glad that you’re back. Let’s keep it going. There’s a term I coined to describe that wonderful thing that happens when your customer buys exactly what’s right for them. It describes the amazing feelings they have about you and the experience they had in your store. I call it “the perfect purchase.” And your number one goal as a salesperson is to help your customer make the perfect purchase.

Notice I didn’t say anything about you making a perfect sale. I said your customer makes the perfect purchase. When you talk about making a sale, you’re talking about the experience from your perspective. You make the sale.

When we talk about the perfect purchase, we’re making the big switch and talking about the customer buying something. You sell. They purchase. You want them to make the perfect purchase– the exact right thing, the perfect thing for them.

So how do you know if they’ve made a perfect purchase? How do you identify a perfect purchase? There’s four milestones that indicate that the purchase has indeed been perfect.

The first milestone is when your customer comes to the counter to pay. When they pull out their wallet to pay for whatever it is you sold them, do they feel good? Do they feel happy? Do they feel energized?

Do they feel like they got what they want and what they really, truly want, need, and desire? Are they feeling excited about taking the purchase home? If that’s the case, if they feel good, you’re one quarter of the way to the perfect purchase.

The second milestone happens when they get home. Is your customer still feeling good about their purchase when they talk to their boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse, parents, roommates, or whoever about what they bought at your store? If it’s not a perfect purchase, they might feel enthusiastic at the store, but when they get home, when they’re away from the buzz of the store and away from the excitement of the salesperson, then buyer’s remorse starts to set in. If they’re not experiencing any buyer’s remorse the evening of the purchase or the next couple of days, if they’re still feeling good about the purchase, that’s a great sign that you’ve helped them make the perfect purchase.

The third milestone happens a couple of weeks or months down the road. Is whatever you sold them working exactly as they want it to? Do they still love the color of the dress? Are the shoes still comfortable to run In? Were they able to finish that quilting project? If they’re still feeling good about what they purchased, your 3/4 of the way there.

The fourth and final test of a perfect purchase happens the next time your customer needs to buy what you sell. Do they think about going someplace else? Or do they automatically think about you and your store? Are they going to shop with you again?

The perfect purchase almost inevitably leads to more sales, deeper loyalty, and word-of-mouth referrals. And when your customers are happy, they’re going to tell more people about you and your store. So the perfect purchase– that’s your goal every time you talk to someone on the floor. Your object is to get them exactly what they need, want, and desire. You want to make sure that they’re going home feeling great about what they’ve purchased, that they continue to feel great about it a couple of months down the road, and that they feel so good about it that they’re coming back to you when they need to buy it again.

Let’s make sure you understand what you learned about the perfect purchase with a quick quiz. I’m sure you’re going to do great.

Now in this video, you’re going to learn the six steps to the perfect purchase. This is the process. Remember I talked about Sam shooting free throws? This is the process that I encourage you to teach to all of your sales associates so that they are really, really well equipped to get your customers to a perfect purchase every single time.

Welcome back. Now it’s time for you to learn the six steps to the perfect purchase. It’s one thing for me to stand here and talk about loving your customers and taking them under your wing, but it’s another thing to have the skills you need to go out on the floor, engage your customer, and take them from point A– where you know nothing about who they are or what they’re doing in your store– to point Z, which is the perfect purchase.

So here are the six steps to the perfect. Step one is greeting and establishing a relationship. And this starts the moment your customer first walks through the door, and it’s the foundation of your relationship with that person. This is your chance to make that customer feel welcome and comfortable.

Step two is questioning and listening. This is the step where you transition into the sale and ask questions to find out what the customer is really looking for. Step three is show and tell. Show and tell is when you finally start talking about your products, making them come alive for your customers. You’ll also help the customer understand how the merchandise best fits their needs.

Step four is closing the sale. If you do a great job of connecting your customer with the right merchandise but you don’t get them to the register to buy it and take it home, you’re not giving them the service they deserve. In this step, you’ll ask the customer to say yes to the purchase.

Step five is adding on. This step ensures that each customer is getting everything they need, want, and desire because if you don’t, it’s not a perfect purchase. And step six is thank you. Saying thank you is so important. You have to express gratitude for their business and ask for everything you need to continue to have a great relationship with this customer.

There they are– the six steps to a perfect purchase. You need to do all six steps every time with every single customer to get to the perfect purchase. This six-step system worked for me as a salesperson and a store owner for over 19 years. It’s worked for the hundreds of employees I had selling in my stores, and it’s worked for the many thousands of retailers I’ve trained over the last 15 years. It will work for you.

Fortunately, selling is a skill. And as a skill, it can be taught, and it can be learned. Now some people are just natural at it. They go out on the floor and selling comes easy to them.

Some people are less naturally adept, but everyone can learn it. You can learn it. Understand and practicing the six steps is what’s going to help you, whether you’re a natural or whether you’re not, become a great retail salesperson.

Let’s see what you’ve learned so far about the six steps to the perfect purchase with another short quiz. I’ll see you in the next chapter.

So there we go. You have the goal, which is the perfect purchase. And if you can keep your team focused on your customers and getting your customers to a perfect purchase every time, your sales are going to skyrocket. Your customer satisfaction is going to skyrocket. Your profits are going to skyrocket. So the perfect purchase is the goal, and the process is the six steps to the perfect purchase.

Now your action item, should you choose to accept it, is to go check out the Retail Sales Academy. Go to www.RetailSalesAcademy.com and see what it’s all about and see what it has to offer. If you want me to teach your team the six steps to the perfect purchase and much, much more, you owe it to yourself, you owe it to your bottom line, and you owe it to your customers to take a quick trip to Retail Sales Academy dot com.

As always, I appreciate your likes, I appreciate your comments and questions, and I sure appreciate your shares. So this is Bob Negen. You are at Real Retail TV. Thank you for being here, and we’ll see you next time.