Item #3 -- PANNING FOR THE GOLD IN THE TRANSACTION

Hopefully we have by now clearly identified that you are in the retail business, Avon Division. My feelings about the difference between taking orders and sales have been well established. And I've tried thus far to demonstrate that sales and service are so interwoven that the former cannot exist without the latter and vice versa. They are conjoined twins.

At this time I should like to begin an exploration of ways to raise the sale a dollar or more by providing the service only you can offer. We're going to see that by simply opening your mouth you open your options -- and what's in it for you are the increased profits from the expanded sale.

The change comes about when you change your perspective about yourself, recognizing that when you open your options, you have become the salesperson you feared you might become.
Here's how:

1. To the right, enter your average DAILY customer count: __________
2. Now, write down the number of days you sell: __________
3. Multiply those two figures and enter the number here: __________
4. Now go back to #3 and add a dollar sign beside it, and write that figure here: $__________

Study that figure. What would it do to the sales of your business if you added only ONE DOLLAR to each customer's bill? Take a simple set
of figures:

1. To the right, enter your average DAILY customer count: 10
2. Now, write down the number of days you sell: 10
3. Multiply those two figures and enter the number here: 100
4. Now go back to #3 and add a dollar sign beside it, and write that figure here: $100

====== If you deal with 10 customers a day and 10 days a campaign -- 100 customers -- then you have added a hundred dollars to your order, and all you had to do was it sell one lip balm, a nail polish, a set of emery boards. And you have an additional $2,600 a year!

Don't have 10 customers a day? OK. What are the figures for TWO?

1. To the right, enter your average DAILY customer count: 2
2. Now, write down the number of days you sell: 10
3. Multiply those two figures and enter the number here: 20
4. Now go back to #3 and add a dollar sign beside it, and write that figure here: $20

====== And before you know it, you've INCREASED your sale by $520 a year. That could be enough to get you to where you didn't have to worry about Campaign 7 every year. And if, instead of adding a dollar, you could find a way to add $10, that would bring you to FIVE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS A YEAR! That additional sale to every customer could put you substantially on the road to the President's Club.

And the service you have performed increases by the reminders you provide to your customers -- about birthdays, anniversaries, Valentine's Day, Secretary's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Graduation, Christmas, etc.

Are there ways to get that dollar? That dollar is:

the sharing of a product between mother and daughter.
one lip balm.
a nail polish on special.
a mascara on sale for $1.99.
an upgrade from the Avon line to the Anew line.
the addition of a decorator hand cream.
a package of emery boards.
a five dollar face cream replaced every two months.
The divisions aren't precise, but I'll bet you get the idea. All you must do is to teach yourself to change the focus of your sale.

I like this definition of an order taker: Order takers are walking, talking, vending machines.

The salesperson, on the other hand, perceives her role in the transaction as making money. She's in the retail business, Avon Division, for the express purpose to make a profit. She takes control of the transaction. She makes suggestions, recommendations, and shares experiences. She asks questions to learn of the customers' wants, needs, and desires. There is no limit to what she can earn. She knows what's in our products, how they are applied, and the benefits that may be derived from their use.

The service offered by the order taker is perfunctory at best: "What do you want to order? Do you want a matching lipstick? Want to look at a color chart? Yes I can get you a hand cream, if you wish."

The service offered by the salesperson explores all the possibilities available in the transaction. "Are you interested in a summer shade?" might be one of the questions. "Do you have dry or oily skin?" might be another. She points out what is on sale, what has been on sale and is still available, and what she knows will be on sale, assuming that the customer still has some amount of supply available.

The service offered by the salesperson evaluates the need and offers alternatives. "Sorry, that product has been discontinued, but there is a new, improved product to take its place." When the customer waffles, and customers do waffle, she emphasizes samples, trial sizes, or even the full-sized product with a 100% money back guarantee.

Because the salesperson works smarter, rather than harder, she can introduce, offer, and provide one additional product, ranging from that 99 cent lip balm all the way up to a $24 jar of Retroactive. She knows that to suggest is to sell and to sell in this manner is to serve. And, because she is smarter, she trains her customers in the product fundamentals, enticing and building anticipation until the customer has been fully served and is fully satisfied.

That Avon catalog has hundreds of items to choose from. And you know that your Product Number Guide has hundreds more -- somewhere between 3,500 and 5,000 products available to you at any given time -- categorized in such a manner as to provide a plethora (Isn't that a nice word? Look it up.) of options.

Some of you may remember a clothing chain called Robert Hall. The closest thing to it nowadays is The Men's Warehouse. For five years, on a part time basis, I sold for Robert Hall. After awhile, I could pretty much size up the customer -- 42 Regular, 31 inch inseam, coloring would indicate conservative dress interests, etc. The same is true of the Avon salesperson. Carry that thinking one step further and you can see that the salesperson can pretty much tell what color foundation is of interest to the customer. She knows the matching accent options. She suggests before she is asked. She weaves a skilled pattern into this entire transaction. And not only has she served her customer -- HER CUSTOMER KNOWS SHE HAS BEEN SERVED! That's what brings repeat business and customer loyalty.

So the process begins by THINKING of yourself as a salesperson, not as an order taker. These eight perceptions will help you to assume and maintain that perspective:

1. You're going to work so many hours, so many customers, so many days each campaign anyway. Why not make the best use of your time? Suggest things to your customer. Sell those things and other things that are related to the product. And when you do, you will have served.

2. Your customers are not browsers. They are buyers. You gave out your brochure one to 10 days ago. They've already done their browsing. When they are with you, they are ready to buy. They may have their minds fixed on what they are going to buy -- and it becomes your role to serve them in the manner that is best for them, not for you. Best for them, however, must be expressed in terms of benefits, not in terms of units purchased and not necessarily dollars expended.

3. You've already paid your advertising costs, with at least the distribution of your brochures. Now in order to serve, you must make those brochures work for you. Do you suppose that it would be beneficial to know what is in each brochure? Do you suppose it would be beneficial to know what your customers' product purchase histories are? Do you suppose it might be in your best interest to sit down and make a list -- do a bit of preparation -- before visiting with your customer? And with EVERY customer?

4. Whatever percentage you make on your sale -- from 20% to 50% -- represents a dollar commission value. That value increases, naturally, as you increase the size of your sale. But as it increases, the percentage increments kick in. You pass from 20% to 30% to 35% to 40% and beyond. If you remember high school math, the process could be considered to be logarithmic. It isn't precisely that, but neither is it linear. Your service increases the product sale which increases your service. It's a vicious (but nice) cycle!

5. Suggestive selling is not "pushy." It's helping your customer to evaluate the information she must have to make decisions that are good for her. The fact that it helps your bottom line should be a good motivator for you, as well.

6. When the customer is on a buying binge -- and it happens -- that's the time to make the most suggestions. Get excited! This customer isn't about to purchase only one of something -- she's going after three! Suggest the broadening of the purchase, even at the sacrifice of the third item. That way you can get two of two different items onto the table -- or perhaps one each of four different items -- and when that happens, a product appetite has been born.

7. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Be careful that you don't jeopardize the sale by jumping among product lines, however. Move upward as a function of increased capabilities per diminished unit cost. The absolute worst that can happen is that the customer says "no." And that's not a big deal. You can overcome a negative reaction with skillful questioning and refocusing upon the product.

8. By now you should be pretty much aware that a suggestive salesperson can outpace an order taker significantly. Take the figures that are reflected by your business and plot them out on a graph or enter them into a graphing spreadsheet. Plot last year's business (total average sales per customer by campaign, incrementally) and then simply add one dollar per customer per campaign, graphing that new line above the one you have just drawn. You will be astounded at the outcome.

Perceptions are fine. But it's actions that make the difference. Here's another set of eight things you can do to help you to achieve the level of service that will help your business to grow:

1. Build a scoreboard for yourself -- on paper or on the computer. Track your sales with the suggestion and without. You can help yourself here by indicating on each sales slip what the value of the suggested item is.

2. Build your data such that you can peg it to a campaign, month, or even quarter of the year. That way the data will have value to identify and assist you to build growth year after year.

3. Once you have your graphs built, print them out. Compare comparable periods, year to year. You will, in effect, be comparing two people -- the order taker you used to be to the salesperson you have become.

4. Take some time to study and review your figures at least every two to three campaigns. See if you can identify why the peaks are high and the valleys are low. That's the first step towards a leveling (initially) or the line and the subsequent bending of it in an upward direction.

5. Tell yourself repeatedly that you wish to be a salesperson. Identify how you used to function as an order taker and the difference you have become once you made the decision to find out what gold was in the sale for you.

6. As you go out each and every day, set goals for your sales. How many sales will you make before you come back in? What will be the planned average value of each sale? What increment will this sale demonstrate relative to the last sale for that customer? It doesn't mean that you'll always have an increase. You may not. But it will mean that you moved out into the sales field expecting an increase and determined to do what you must to obtain it. That makes a big difference.

7. Don't go campaign to campaign without doing at least a cursory study of your performance. You can analyze it later, of course. But the idea here is that if your movement toward your daily goal is falling short, you can know what you must do to pick it up before the campaign closes. And if its moving ahead, LEAVE IT ALONE. And perhaps increase your goal.

8. Above all -- don't let all this talk of performance and measurement make this to be just work. It can still be fun. You can still accommodate the changes necessary to cause your service, and therefore your business to grow.

Summary
What we've attempted in this post to do is to get you to see that the differences between "order taking" and "salewomanship" lie in your knowledge and your willingness to go after the smallest increment, initially, or larger increments as you are able to justify them. We've identified the types of increments that are available to you and shown several ways to approach their introduction, finishing off with yet a series of ways to change your perspectives about yourself, your product line, and the sales/service you can provide to your customers.

Next time we'll concentrate upon what the order taker doesn't know that keeps her from becoming the success she can be. Among our discussions will be six things to know that will help you to provide better service.

Ken the Man

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