Category: Columns
It’s Not What You Say… It’s How You Say It
Two things that are important to a sales presentation are humor and metaphors. Humor eases any tension that can arise in a sales presentation, and a metaphor can give one more power. A good example of a metaphor is Shakespeare’s inimitable language in his play As You Like It. He wrote: All the world’s a [...]
Teach Your Children Well
For Howard Gittli, being the Manager of Louisville KY-based Mom’s Music is not just about making a sale. It’s about making a customer and—even more than that—it’s about making a musician. “We want more people playing music, and we want to help them with those dreams,” said Gittli, who began working for the store 16 [...]
Strength In Numbers: Why Join a Buying Group?
You just opened your e-mail only to see an ad from a big-box or chain store offering the same merchandise to consumers at a lower price than you’re paying for it. How many times have you commented on (or griped, complained and ranted about) how these businesses have all the buying power because they have [...]
The Sound Of The Underground
The main location for All Music Inc. in Plainview NY, on Long Island, is in a precarious position within the area’s retail landscape. Not only are there two Sam Ash stores and two Guitar Center locations within a 15-minute drive, but the store itself is also only noticeable to the most eagle-eyed of customers. “We’re [...]
The ‘Crowd Mind,’ ‘Trial Closes’ & ‘Pacing’
I have kept my sales training to the basics because, just like in school, we aren’t able to read until we first learn our ABCs. There is a lot of psychology connected to selling, because the customer is buying emotionally. You all know that I hate psychobabble. Unfortunately, in selling, the customer’s mind is making [...]
It’s Time To Exercise Your Authority
How do you want your store to be perceived online? What impression do you want to make to your customers? Simply posting bits of information about your business and possibly adding a few products to a shopping cart isn’t really going to do much to inspire and motivate customers to remain engaged, build their trust [...]
Buying & Selling
I get e-mails from all corners of the industry, from both the retail and the supply side. Sometimes, the message is “thank you” or “you took the words out of my mouth.” Sometimes, I am accused of a Pollyanna-esque, ivory tower viewpoint. (Pollyanna? Perhaps. Ivory tower? Make that makeshift tree house.) I also get people [...]
This Grandma’s No Little Old Lady
Grandma’s Music & Sound is currently the largest music store in the state of New Mexico—in terms of both square footage and sales—but that wasn’t always the case. Thirty years ago, when Micky Patten first moved to Albuquerque, he barely intended to open a music store in the first place. “No one was hiring,” recalled [...]
Persistence Is The Key To Success
President Calvin Coolidge said, “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are the omnipotent.” Persistence is a [...]
How To Get Your First 1,000 Facebook Fans
Vice President Sales and Marketing, Cutting-Edge Solutions Promoting a vacant Facebook page is kind of like running an empty pizza parlor. You might have the best pizza in town, but, if no one comes in to eat, what’s the point? The same holds true for your Facebook fan page. Great content will go to waste [...]
