Retail trainer Wolinski discusses benefits of consultative selling
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, June 12, 2006
Henderson, Nev. — Veteran retail trainer Ron Wolinski says bedding sales associates shouldn't forget a basic part of the sales process: asking for the order.
"I've been in a store for days and never heard a salesperson ask for the order," Wolinski said at Furniture/Today's Bedding Conference here.
Wolinski, who has trained more than 1,500 managers and sales associates and has established corporate universities at Simmons, Art Van Furniture and Thomasville Furniture, offered these keys to closing the sale:
-
Believe the sale is made.
-
Summarize important benefits.
-
Ask for the order.
He said sales associates need not fear the close. "A good close is the happiest time," he said. It should be a time when the sales associate can say to the customer, "We found it" or "This is right," he said.
Wolinski outlined a program of "consultative selling" that he said will give sales associates an edge on the floor. It is critical for the sales associate to view himself or herself as a communicator rather than a salesperson. A communicator provides solutions and establishes trust and empathy with the consumer.
And communicators understand they are always in a communications cycle, a dynamic process, according to Wolinski.
He said sales associates need to conduct meaningful discussions with customers about their need for sleep and how to get it, rather than simply "pitching" a product to make a sale.
In consultative selling, Wolinski continued, the customer supplies the need, the product supplies the features, and the needs and features combine to create the customer benefit.
The sales associate should probe with the customer to determine his or her needs and issues. There are two types of probes, Wolinski said, open and closed.
The open probe invites the customer to speak his or her mind. Some examples of open-probe questions are: What's important to you in a mattress? How did you sleep last night? What kinds of problems are you experiencing with your mattress? How soon do you need delivery of your new set?
These kinds of questions help the sales associate build rapport with the customer, Wolinski said. "They give value to that person," he said. "The customer wants to feel special."
The other type of probe is the closed probe, according to Wolinski. He said these questions, unlike those in open probes, are answered with a "yes" or a "no." Here the sales associates direct the questions to a certain area.
Some examples of closed probes include: Is brand-name quality important to you? Have you experienced backache from your current sleep set? Does your current set sag in the middle? Are you experiencing back, neck or muscle pain?
The goal with both types of probes is to get information that enables the sales associates to do a "needs analysis" for the customer.
One key in talking to consumers, Wolinski said, is to "talk less and listen more." Listening can be one of the most difficult parts of the consultative selling process, he said.
The next step down the path to success on the sales floor is to support the customer's needs with product benefits that meet those needs. Here, "support statements" play an important role. In those statements, the sales associate agrees with the importance of the need and stresses the appropriate product benefits.
"The more benefits you bring up," Wolinski observed, "the stronger your close will be."
He has 27 years of experience in the home furnishings industry as an executive in sales, marketing and training and development. His positions have included manager of sales education for Simmons, manager of training for Art Van Furniture, national director of education and development for Value City Furniture, and director of education and retail services for La-Z-Boy.
