Over spring break, I went shopping with my best friend on a Saturday afternoon. We decided to stop in an Altar’D State to check out their clearance rack for something cute that wasn’t over $70. She found a dress that was reasonable and in her size, so she decided to try it on.
The dressing room was packed with a group of eighth grade girls with their mothers trying on dresses for a number of dresses for events leading up to their graduation. The dressing room attendant was paying close attention to these girls in a number of ways that really caught my attention.
First and foremost, she was using their names. It is a practice in the store to write the name of the girl on the door of the stall she is in. The attendant made sure to use the name that was written on the door when addressing the girl she was speaking to. This created a very personal relationship and created an atmosphere of trust to lead into the second tactic…
…Which was giving her opinion where it was asked. She was talking to the mothers present about the style and fit of the dresses. As she began to pick up the styles the girls liked and the approval given by the moms, the attendant offered other dresses that would fit with the look they were going for. The biggest part of this is that she was willingly doing it, even without being asked by the moms to get more options. She would say things like, “We have another dress that’s similar to that but with wider straps,” or “What about one in blue? I think that would go well with her skin tone.” She was proving that she had knowledge of her products and that she had the best interest of the customer in mind.
Finally, she was so encouraging. She was hyping up the girls like it was her job (which it was!). She would constantly say how cute the girls looked and drew attention as to why it looked good on them. Even if the dress didn’t fit or wasn’t the cutest, she framed her words in a positive manner first. This created a fun atmosphere for everyone involved, including me simply observing it.
Overall, her personal, positive approach resulted in a fun day for the girls and their moms, as well as in sales for the store on clothing not on the clearance rack. Good selling made for a win-win scenario for everyone involved.
testacr22
This was a really great insight into some of the smaller sales practices retail corporations use to train their employees. While they’re not necessarily applicable all the time, they are still great core practices to include into your sales routines.
I have never been to Altar’D State, but I have heard a lot of amazing things. Honestly I have never had any dressing room experience like that and I feel like I’m missing out. The attentiveness of the sales person is impressive, but what is more impressive is that they were able to still keep reasonable boundaries with customers. All around this is a really great example.
This is awesome because a lot of the time in retail, the sales consultant is very pushy and they pressure the client to buy something. It’s great that she was so personable and kind to the girls and didn’t force the clients to buy.
This Altar’D State employee sounds like an expert saleswoman! She not only made the experience personal but even helped the prospects to feel comfortable asking questions and taking advice from her. This sounds so different from some types of shopping experiences where employees will push sales onto customers of items they aren’t looking for or employees who will simply ignore customers in the store. Sounds like an interesting situation to observe and learn from!