WEBVTT 00:00:00.010 --> 00:00:02.970 Today, we're going to jump into a really crucial 00:00:02.970 --> 00:00:05.230 conversation, especially for you if you're an 00:00:05.230 --> 00:00:08.710 executive running a retail operation with a lot 00:00:08.710 --> 00:00:11.230 of locations. We're focusing purely on the front 00:00:11.230 --> 00:00:14.970 line, specifically how to maximize the potential 00:00:14.970 --> 00:00:17.149 of every single transaction that walks through 00:00:17.149 --> 00:00:19.550 your doors. Exactly. We've been looking at the 00:00:19.550 --> 00:00:22.309 source material and one idea really stands out. 00:00:22.649 --> 00:00:26.190 It's this subtle but massive difference between 00:00:26.190 --> 00:00:29.269 an associate who is just clerking and one who 00:00:29.269 --> 00:00:32.479 is truly selling. It's everything. Our mission 00:00:32.479 --> 00:00:35.420 here is really to distill how to capture what 00:00:35.420 --> 00:00:38.119 we're calling the $1 ,000 opportunity. $1 ,000 00:00:38.119 --> 00:00:40.200 opportunity. I like that. Yeah. It's all that 00:00:40.200 --> 00:00:42.340 revenue that just walks out the door when an 00:00:42.340 --> 00:00:44.299 associate just completes an order instead of 00:00:44.299 --> 00:00:47.159 actually building a basket. It's task completion 00:00:47.159 --> 00:00:49.479 versus true revenue generation. OK. So let's 00:00:49.479 --> 00:00:51.880 unpack that. The core idea seems to be that most 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:53.679 staff are just clerking. It's only the really 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:56.880 good ones who are selling. So let's define that. 00:00:57.380 --> 00:00:59.340 Imagine you're on the fails floor. A customer 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:01.539 comes up and says, hi, I'm looking for a black 00:01:01.539 --> 00:01:04.659 dress. The associate, being helpful, leaves them 00:01:04.659 --> 00:01:07.319 to the rack, points to the dresses, maybe gives 00:01:07.319 --> 00:01:10.379 a polite smile, and then just fades into the 00:01:10.379 --> 00:01:13.840 background. What just happened there? Well, that 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:16.159 is the textbook definition of clerking. It's 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:18.780 pure task fulfillment. Just checking a box. Exactly. 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:21.040 The associate answered the question. The customer 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:22.840 got what they asked for. But here's the key. 00:01:23.019 --> 00:01:25.900 There was no real engagement, no follow -up questions, 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:29.400 no energy. Nothing. Nothing beyond the most literal 00:01:29.400 --> 00:01:31.920 interpretation of the request. And the result 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:34.519 is almost always a single item sale. It's not 00:01:34.519 --> 00:01:37.480 wrong, but it is a massive failure of optimization. 00:01:37.739 --> 00:01:42.519 The customer leaves served but not really style 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:45.040 or inspired. Right. So now let's contrast that 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:47.079 with selling. The interaction starts the exact 00:01:47.079 --> 00:01:49.500 same way. I need a black dress. But the selling 00:01:49.500 --> 00:01:52.700 associate... They don't stop there. The entire 00:01:52.700 --> 00:01:55.840 focus shifts from the product to the customer's 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:58.159 need, to the context. So they ask a question. 00:01:58.260 --> 00:02:00.239 They ask an intelligent, open -ended question. 00:02:00.540 --> 00:02:02.219 Something simple like, oh, absolutely, is it 00:02:02.219 --> 00:02:04.379 for something special? Or, tell me about the 00:02:04.379 --> 00:02:06.239 event. And let's say she says it's for a cocktail 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:09.900 party. That's it. That context is the key that 00:02:09.900 --> 00:02:12.639 unlocks everything. The associate isn't just 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:14.199 pointing anymore. They're starting to paint a 00:02:14.199 --> 00:02:17.479 picture. They might say, OK, for a cocktail party. 00:02:18.090 --> 00:02:20.830 You know, we just got these new clutch bags in 00:02:20.830 --> 00:02:23.229 that would look incredible with that. Ah, so 00:02:23.229 --> 00:02:24.689 they're already thinking about the whole look. 00:02:24.789 --> 00:02:27.770 The whole look. Or they might recommend a specific 00:02:27.770 --> 00:02:30.530 heel that works with the cut of the dress. All 00:02:30.530 --> 00:02:33.610 of a sudden, that single black dress is turning 00:02:33.610 --> 00:02:37.449 into a three -piece sale. Dress, bag, shoes. 00:02:37.689 --> 00:02:39.710 And the customer leaves feeling like they didn't 00:02:39.710 --> 00:02:42.409 just buy something. They got expert advice. They 00:02:42.409 --> 00:02:45.310 feel styled. That's the transformation. And for 00:02:45.310 --> 00:02:47.229 an executive, that's everything. It's the difference 00:02:47.229 --> 00:02:49.710 between an organization that just survives on 00:02:49.710 --> 00:02:52.469 traffic and one that thrives by maximizing the 00:02:52.469 --> 00:02:54.349 value of every single person who walks in. It 00:02:54.349 --> 00:02:56.449 goes straight to your margins. But hold on, I 00:02:56.449 --> 00:02:58.930 can hear an executive worrying right now. Doesn't 00:02:58.930 --> 00:03:01.050 all this consultative selling, you know, slow 00:03:01.050 --> 00:03:03.909 things down, especially during a holiday rush 00:03:03.909 --> 00:03:06.800 or a big sale? That's a really fair question 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:09.000 and it's a common misconception. We're not talking 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:11.259 about aggressive pushy sales tactics here. Right. 00:03:11.460 --> 00:03:13.860 A proper consultative approach actually in many 00:03:13.860 --> 00:03:16.800 cases speeds up the decision because you've qualified 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:19.719 the customer's needs so early you focus the search. 00:03:20.120 --> 00:03:23.759 It's about being effective not just fast. A slightly 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:26.680 longer high value transaction is always better 00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:29.699 than three rapid low value ones. That makes a 00:03:29.699 --> 00:03:32.099 lot of sense. So let's move on to this other 00:03:32.099 --> 00:03:34.599 major pitfall you highlighted, this idea that 00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:37.259 sometimes poor habits are completely invisible. 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:40.759 Let's talk about the hot product trap. Yes, this 00:03:40.759 --> 00:03:42.979 one is so important. We've all seen this. A brand 00:03:42.979 --> 00:03:45.120 gets hot, maybe a product goes viral online, 00:03:45.259 --> 00:03:47.960 and suddenly associates are just, they're scrambling 00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:50.479 to keep up. Sales are through the roof, everyone's 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:53.139 happy. Everyone feels great, but when that external 00:03:53.139 --> 00:03:56.439 demand, the hype is doing all the work, the default 00:03:56.439 --> 00:03:58.639 behavior of clerking can look a lot like selling. 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:02.460 A false positive. A huge false positive. Conversion 00:04:02.460 --> 00:04:04.620 rates are high because customers are walking 00:04:04.620 --> 00:04:07.159 in already sold. The executive team sees the 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:09.340 numbers and thinks, wow, our team is amazing. 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:12.340 But the truth is, the product is the hero, not 00:04:12.340 --> 00:04:14.900 the associate skill. So what happens when that 00:04:14.900 --> 00:04:17.139 hype, you know, inevitably cools off? And it 00:04:17.139 --> 00:04:19.459 always does. That's when the cracks start to 00:04:19.459 --> 00:04:22.860 show. Suddenly, conversion dips, baskets shrink, 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:24.819 and teams start to struggle because they never 00:04:24.819 --> 00:04:26.639 built the underlying skills. I were just taking 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:29.579 orders. Precisely. They were relying on a viral 00:04:29.579 --> 00:04:32.100 video to sell the product, so they never learned 00:04:32.100 --> 00:04:34.379 how to sell the add -on or the warranty or the 00:04:34.379 --> 00:04:37.279 alternative. The organization is just left completely 00:04:37.279 --> 00:04:39.839 flat -footed. So the big insight here for you 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:41.939 listening is that the best time to invest in 00:04:41.939 --> 00:04:44.680 real sales training is when business is already 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:47.220 good. That is the absolute best time. You have 00:04:47.220 --> 00:04:49.339 to reinforce the right behaviors when the pressure 00:04:49.339 --> 00:04:51.360 is off so the skills are there when you actually 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:54.680 need them. You build the habits during the boom 00:04:54.680 --> 00:04:57.240 so you can outperform during the slowdown. So 00:04:57.240 --> 00:04:59.800 that leads to the really big question. If we 00:04:59.800 --> 00:05:01.980 know the difference and we know the payoff is 00:05:01.980 --> 00:05:06.100 huge, why do so many associates default back 00:05:06.100 --> 00:05:09.120 to just clerking? It's easy to jump to conclusions 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:12.939 like laziness or lack of engagement, but the 00:05:12.939 --> 00:05:15.779 material we've seen points to something much 00:05:15.779 --> 00:05:18.360 more fundamental. Which is? A confidence gap. 00:05:18.579 --> 00:05:20.879 A confidence gap. Tell me more about that. Well, 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:24.480 think about the risk for the associate to actually 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:28.519 sell, to guide a customer. You have to ask questions. 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:30.860 You have to be ready to offer solutions. Right. 00:05:30.860 --> 00:05:33.060 You're putting yourself out there. You are. And 00:05:33.060 --> 00:05:35.399 if an associate doesn't have deep product knowledge, 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:38.079 or if they haven't been trained on how to smoothly 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:41.639 pivot the conversation, they will always, always 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:43.879 revert to the safest possible behavior. And the 00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:45.819 safe play is, let me get you what you asked for 00:05:45.819 --> 00:05:48.199 and get out of the way. Exactly. They avoid looking 00:05:48.199 --> 00:05:50.620 pushy, and they avoid being asked a question 00:05:50.620 --> 00:05:53.920 they can't answer. It's self -preservation. So 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:56.720 the root cause isn't a lack of desire, it's a 00:05:56.720 --> 00:05:59.079 lack of tools. Which brings us to training. And 00:05:59.079 --> 00:06:01.160 we're not talking about, you know, the one and 00:06:01.160 --> 00:06:03.800 done onboarding a session or some boring e -learning 00:06:03.800 --> 00:06:06.699 course. No, that stuff doesn't build real confidence. 00:06:07.100 --> 00:06:08.899 The training has to be real world, it has to 00:06:08.899 --> 00:06:11.180 be repeatable, and it has to be relevant. So 00:06:11.180 --> 00:06:14.120 for a big operation, hundreds of stores, what 00:06:14.120 --> 00:06:16.259 does that actually look like? You can't fly everyone 00:06:16.259 --> 00:06:18.899 in for a seminar. You can't. The solution is 00:06:18.899 --> 00:06:22.040 to shift the focus to short, sharp, in -the -moment 00:06:22.040 --> 00:06:24.319 coaching. Right there on the sales floor. So 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:27.379 this is on the store managers to deliver it is 00:06:27.379 --> 00:06:30.579 it means managers Observing and you know intervening 00:06:30.579 --> 00:06:33.680 constructively. It's about catching those coachable 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:35.620 moments Can you give me an example of what that 00:06:35.620 --> 00:06:38.800 looks like in the moment coaching? Sure a manager 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:41.740 overhears an associate just clerking They just 00:06:41.740 --> 00:06:44.120 point to the black dresses after the customer 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:47.560 leaves the manager pulls them aside for Say 60 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:50.300 seconds. Not a big formal thing. Just a quick 00:06:50.300 --> 00:06:52.819 chat. A quick chat. Hey, great job helping her 00:06:52.819 --> 00:06:54.920 find the addresses. Next time, let's try adding 00:06:54.920 --> 00:06:57.699 one question. Just one. Ask her what the occasion 00:06:57.699 --> 00:07:00.600 is. Let's see what happens. It's small, it's 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:02.939 specific, and it's immediate. And that, done 00:07:02.939 --> 00:07:05.540 consistently, starts to build the habit. It builds 00:07:05.540 --> 00:07:07.060 the habit, and it builds the confidence. And 00:07:07.060 --> 00:07:10.220 the ROI on that is just enormous. If you can 00:07:10.220 --> 00:07:13.079 move your average transaction value up by just 00:07:13.079 --> 00:07:16.660 10%. Which seems. Totally doable. Oh, it's more 00:07:16.660 --> 00:07:18.319 than doable. The difference between clerking 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:21.779 and selling is often way more than 10%. You could 00:07:21.779 --> 00:07:24.100 fundamentally change your profitability. And 00:07:24.100 --> 00:07:25.839 there's another piece here for executives to 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:29.579 think about. What's that? Job satisfaction. When 00:07:29.579 --> 00:07:32.060 employees feel competent, when they're succeeding 00:07:32.060 --> 00:07:34.740 at a higher level skill, like consultative selling. 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:38.360 they feel more valued. Which links directly to 00:07:38.360 --> 00:07:41.500 retention. Directly. Lower turnover, lower hiring 00:07:41.500 --> 00:07:44.540 costs, lower training costs. High confidence 00:07:44.540 --> 00:07:46.860 sellers are happier sellers. They stick around. 00:07:47.079 --> 00:07:49.620 It's a virtuous cycle. So the philosophy is pretty 00:07:49.620 --> 00:07:52.740 simple then. Selling is a skill. It can be taught. 00:07:53.300 --> 00:07:55.339 It's about giving your team the tools to guide 00:07:55.339 --> 00:07:57.800 the customer without being robotic or pushy. 00:07:57.899 --> 00:07:59.779 And when that training really starts to take 00:07:59.779 --> 00:08:03.319 hold, you see this amazing transformation. Associates 00:08:03.319 --> 00:08:06.160 stop being reactive. waiting for an order. And 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:08.339 they become proactive. Proactive. They start 00:08:08.339 --> 00:08:10.879 looking for cues, listening for context, asking 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:12.779 smarter questions because they know they can 00:08:12.779 --> 00:08:14.759 handle the answers. They're confident. And that 00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:16.800 has to change how they feel about their job, 00:08:16.939 --> 00:08:18.920 right? I mean, they're moving beyond just restocking 00:08:18.920 --> 00:08:21.560 shelves or working a register. It completely 00:08:21.560 --> 00:08:24.180 changes their job identity. They become stylists. 00:08:24.279 --> 00:08:26.639 They become problem solvers. They become really 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:28.339 storytellers for your brand. And that's what 00:08:28.339 --> 00:08:31.360 turns a good associate into a great one. And 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:34.840 it turns a one time shopper into a lifelong fan. 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:39.200 That interaction becomes memorable and valuable. 00:08:39.419 --> 00:08:41.700 And that's what builds real loyalty. So this 00:08:41.700 --> 00:08:43.580 all comes back to you, the executive, listening 00:08:43.580 --> 00:08:46.019 to this. The goal here isn't to point fingers 00:08:46.019 --> 00:08:48.600 at the front line. It's about recognizing this 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:51.840 massive untapped opportunity hiding in plain 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:55.080 sight in almost every transaction. The gap between 00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:57.820 what you are selling today and what you could 00:08:57.820 --> 00:09:00.870 be selling. It's almost certainly a confidence 00:09:00.870 --> 00:09:03.409 gap, which is driven by a coaching gap. So the 00:09:03.409 --> 00:09:05.389 big takeaway here is that sustainable performance 00:09:05.389 --> 00:09:08.509 isn't just about hot products. It's about superior 00:09:08.509 --> 00:09:11.389 execution of the fundamentals. Absolutely. If 00:09:11.389 --> 00:09:13.450 you build these selling habits during the good 00:09:13.450 --> 00:09:15.690 times, when the market eventually slows down, 00:09:16.289 --> 00:09:18.330 your organization won't just survive. You'll 00:09:18.330 --> 00:09:20.509 outperform everyone else who is just riding the 00:09:20.509 --> 00:09:22.370 wave. So the critical question you should be 00:09:22.370 --> 00:09:24.529 asking your team today isn't just about sales 00:09:24.529 --> 00:09:27.129 numbers. It's does everyone from the top down 00:09:27.129 --> 00:09:29.250 even know the functional difference between the 00:09:29.250 --> 00:09:31.639 clerking and selling? And if they know the difference, 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:33.759 the next question is how many of those in the 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:35.779 moment coaching conversations happened yesterday 00:09:35.779 --> 00:09:38.419 on the floor? That's your real leading indicator. 00:09:38.840 --> 00:09:40.480 And I guess that leaves us with one final thought. 00:09:40.659 --> 00:09:42.960 If the goal, the real goal is to create lifelong 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:46.500 fans, what vital story about your product and 00:09:46.500 --> 00:09:48.940 your brand is being left untold right now by 00:09:48.940 --> 00:09:51.480 associates who are just clerking that silent 00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:53.379 gap, that untold story? That's your thousand 00:09:53.379 --> 00:09:55.879 dollar opportunity waiting to be unlocked.