Whether you carry a bag, handle the phone, receive animal owners at the front desk or meet them in the aisles, selling skills are important. They differentiate you from competitors. Jacob Dillon shares marketing tactics and tips that you can use to kick start your sales skills and improve the outcomes of your actions:
- Sell benefits instead of features
- Know your customer better than you know yourself
- Develop a unique value proposition
- Offer value for free
- Create a daily sales ritual
- Study your competition
Source: Sales and Marketing Management, December 12, 2018. Link.
Improving your sales skills through effective marketing tactics is a long-term process that demands constant practice. If you observe significant benefits, scale the strategies that provide those benefits.
INSIGHTS: Before you poo-poo Dillon’s recommendations, consider his perspective in the context of your own roles. Here’s some examples:
Field sales: chose two prospects each week to stop and leave information about a new product or promotion to be sure the account has been informed. Put these customers in your regular schedule to deliver valuable information with or without an order.
Telesales/customer service: ASK for one or two items related to a customer’s order, such as syringes/needles with vaccine, scalpel blades/gauze with suture, shampoos with clipper blades. Check their history and share promotions that fit their purchasing profiles. Send a link to an article that reflects your knowledge of the account.
Vet clinic staff:
- Research and call two to five animal owners you haven’t seen in 14 to 18 months. Inquire about their animal. Consider offering a wellness exam at X percent off if they set an appointment during your slowest times of the week.
- Choose a service or regimen to discuss with every animal owner, such as home dental care products for every cat or dog, heartworm protection for both dogs and cats, shampoos matched to skin issues, 7-way blackleg vaccines with BRD complex vaccines, hoof care and foot bath products for every horse person or dairyman.
Retail associates: Carry around and feature a popular toy when saying hello to a customer in the aisle. Ask about their pet to know its size, breed and any challenges they have. Show and tell about the best treats. Always inform animal owners of any specials that align with their answers to your inquiries. Cat owners often respond to anything litter-related.