The fine art of salesmanship

A garden center can stock the finest plants, containers, tools, and gardening accessories. It can be located near a thriving metropolitan area with higher household income neighborhoods. However, unless the store is adept in the art of salesmanship, it simply won't be able to attain its highest income potential. Salesmanship can be considered the sum of the social interaction (building, merchandise, and sales personnel) and the product or services being offered (1). As there are no hard and fast rules for conducting effective salesmanship, it can be considered an art. Just as there are proven tips for growing vibrant, healthy nursery stock, there are a host of time-honored sales strategies that can be employed in order for a business to have the greatest success.

Meet and greet
One of the first challenges in salesmanship at a garden center is making initial contact with a customer who has just entered the store. All too often the sales associate will ask "Can I help you", and the customer will respond with the phrase: "I'm just looking", or "I'm just shopping", or even simply "No". These types of reply are often subconscious on the part of the shopper to avoid having to talk with the sales staff member (2). If the customer does eventually have a question on merchandise the sales associate will be sought out. None-the-less, in order to encourage the chances of making a sale, some form of relationship needs to be made between the seller and the shopper. There are several proven methods of overcoming a shopper's hesitation to talk with a staff member. First off, the opening line with a shopper should have nothing to do with business. By talking directly about the merchandise first the prospective customer can easily feel intimidated or over-whelmed by the sales associate (3). There has to be some form of customer recognition or greeting first between the sales associate and the customer.

Secondly, the opening question towards the shopper should be open in nature, such as: "How can I help you?", "What brings you in today?", or "Where can I direct you today in the store?" Such open-ended questions will elicit more than just a yes or no answer, thus helping start a conversation. Thirdly, the opening question on the part of the staff member has to be creative or unique. If the customer seems interested in a product but appears hesitant to buy, then the initial questions have to be made openly, carefully, and in a positive mood. It's best though, to wait and watch the customer's eye contact and body language before approaching.

Sales training
Every retailer needs to develop an on-going product training program for staff associates. Without a thorough understanding of the products they are selling, the sales staff simply won't be able achieve their highest success. Business owners will need to contact their suppliers for handbooks, videos, or any other product descriptions for use in training their sales staff (4). Some businesses assign sales staff members to lead training sessions for their fellow associates. While this technique helps spread the product knowledge throughout the company it also brings a sense of shared leadership.

With the ever-expanding use of web pages to describe a product's attributes, any shortcomings in sales training will often become glaringly evident by the astute shopper. Staff training events will need to include any updates on the businesses' web site.

Point of purchase (POP) can be used to supplement sales staff training. What are the keys to successful P.O.P. merchandising? POP material is used to communicating products attributes, pricing or promotional information in a clear and dramatic fashion (5). POP material should be easy to read, but still demand the consumer's interest. Garden centers often use POP material to show a plant's flowering habit, spread, or other interesting features that may not be observable given the stage of plant development at the time of sale.

Some business owners will assign staff members to certain departments in the store, thereby further assigning well defined roles to further advance salesmanship. In retail garden centers its not un-common to find staff associates assigned to the following departments: roses, floral, trees and shrubs, herbaceous perennials, or help-desk. Badges denoting department specialties can be used to help shoppers find the best sales associate to talk with.

Understanding consumers
Sales associates who are only thinking of making a sale without listening to the needs of the consumer will find that their long term success in repeat business will suffer (6). Ian Baldwin refers to recognition of the needs of the shopper is often referred to as managing the customer's buying (6). If customers feel that their interests are not being heard they will either leave or seek out another sales associate. Sales staff need to listen first, and then attempt a sale if it seems appropriate. The initial questions should be more general than specific (7). If the consumer seems eager to talk the sales associate should continue to verify and confirm the questions and concerns until both parties agree on a plan of action. During this phase of the sales transaction the sales associate tries to match the product, or service to the shopper's specific needs.

In landscape horticulture there are no perfect plants for every situation. Basing sales recommendations on assumptions invariably leads to disappointments in the short term, and reduced chances for additional business in the long run. Successful garden center sales takes good, local plant knowledge and a certain amount of landscape design skill, to suggest a particular plant or plants, in order to satisfy the customer over the long run. Unless the garden center is located in an isolated area, there are generally other establishments competing for the customer's business. Firms employing sales staff that make honest attempts to understand their customers generally do the best (8).
At the close of the transaction, re-enforce the buyer's decision in a positive fashion. A note of thanks, a smile, and possibly a handshake, all go towards contributing to repeat business.

Appearance
Most customers form an impression over a sales associate in the first 30 seconds, either rightly or wrongly, based on appearance and mannerisms (1). Body language, facial expressions, and clothing all send clear signals to the shopper. Traits (9) that inspire shoppers include:

• Approach and recognize the shopper,
• Make good eye contact,
• Welcome the inquiry with a smile, and a pleasant manner,
• Stand erect, and face the customer, without folding arms,
• Listen attentively,
• Dress neatly and appropriately,
• Close the inquiry or transaction with a farewell

Garden center managers often provide workers with uniforms, and name badges (first name only) in order to help customers recognize them, and to improve their professional appearance. A company that strives for consistency among its employees generally is one that makes the best impression on customers.

Sell with your voice
Salesmanship is also highly dependent on voice mannerisms (10). A monotone speaker can spoil an audience presentation as well as a one-on-one discussion. An effective sales talk exudes enthusiasm, and commitment. To add highlights to specific topics, speech pitch and volume should be altered and varied. At appropriate times in a presentation it's appropriate to build up to a "punch" statement, and then "pause" for vocal effect. When combined with good eye contact, and a smile as appropriate, carefully used alterations in voice mannerisms can make a sales pitch enjoyable for the listener as well as the presenter.

Upselling
The term upselling is used in the retail trade to denote suggesting an upgraded or additional product to a receptive customer to enhance the value of the goods or service they are already purchasing (11). Upselling can involve an additional

Very nice colorful pottery is used here to help sell the houseplants in the background. Customers will be able to see the choices available, thus helping them envision different combinations.

product or service with better or additional features, or accessories. It can also be used when referring to making purchases based on volume sales. The theory of upselling is based upon offering the customer a number of different products, which all meet the customers basic goal, but which have varying levels of options. The products which possess more features generally offer a higher return for the store.

It's up to the seller to make a buying decision without appearing to aggressive to promote the higher priced option. However, after a customer has decided upon a particular product it is appropriate to suggest accessories or related items that will supplement or improve its performance. In the garden center trade an example would include suggesting a pair of pruning shears to go along with the sale of rose plant. Another example could involve selling container stone fruit trees with bottles of copper fungicide so that the owner remembers to spray the tree during the winter months. A so called product bundle can greatly appeal to a customer, especially if it appears the customer is getting a bargain in the process.

Upselling requires that a trained sales staff has a firm grasp on their merchandise. Customers will enjoy working with a vendor that appears to be looking out for their level of satisfaction (12) after the original purchase has been made. In some cases, if a vendor does not suggest accessories, the customer may be disappointed latter when the original product does not work as well if the accessory item had been included originally. Finally, upselling works best when the original product costs more than the accessories that go along with it.

References
1. Making the sale. 2002. John Stanley. Chapter 15 of: The Complete Guide to Garden Center Management. Ball Publishing, Batavia, Illinois.

2. Open the sale is not as easy as it sounds. Harry Friedman. Nursery Retailer, September-October, 1992.

3. There's an opening line you should never use. Harry Fiedman. Nursery Retailer, September-October 1994.

4. Paying attention to your product line, pricing, service, and sales force. 1994. Edgar Faulk. In: 1,001 Ideas to Create Retail Excitement, Chapter 1. Prentice- Hall, Inc. Available through: American Nurseryman Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois.

5. Point of purchase captures your customers' impulses. 1996. Alf Nucifora. Austin Business Journal.

6. Everything starts with retail. 1996. Ian Baldwin, Nursery Business Consultants, American Nurseryman. September 1, 1996.

7. Getting your message across. 1992. Julie Higginbotham. American Nurseryman. October 15, 1992.

8. Communication clearly sells. 1995. Henry Fieldman. Nursery Retailer, July-August 1995.

9. How to make sure your team members look professional. John Stanley. In: Just About Everything Retail Manager Needs to Know. Lizard Publishing, Kalamunda, Western Australia. Sold by: American Nurseryman Publishing Company.

10. You can't sell anything if you can't sell yourself. Marjorie Brody, Brody Communications, Ltd.

11. Upselling on the upswing. 2003. Wayne Siatt, director of publishing services with the American Nurseryman magazine. July 15, 2003.

12. Successful upselling, 2001. Kevin Nunley. Smith's Family Enterprise Inc.

First posted: December, 2004.