This is one of a series of articles by Mónica Arias of Excellence Consulting, a luxury sales and marketing consulting firm based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. These articles will focus on ways that sales and marketing professional in the jewelry and luxury industries can improve their techniques.
Your own sense of style, a smile and your creativity are the keys to crafting one of the greatest tools imaginable in your sales repertoire: the customer database.
It is no news that today more than ever customers in the worldwide luxury market are experts at searching the web for companies that match simplicity and excellence and offer superior items on a consistent basis. Moreover, luxury market customers have been networking through social media for years now and have learned to use social media to interact with those companies that get them inspired, effortlessly clicking the button to say “Yes” to the products they find irresistible and to recommend those products to their peers.
In this digital age your job as a salesperson has radically changed, as I have explained in previous articles. You now must move from the mindset “I know how to do my job pretty well” to “I need to learn more in order to serve my clients best.”
Don’t worry, though, there is no great mystery to this process. This is the secret: You must serve your customers in such a way that they feel and experience your excellent service during the sales process. More important, you must develop the ability to revive that experience of excellence long after the moment the customer visited your store or decided to purchase with you on line.
Start by asking each of your clients many questions (my favorite sales trick). Then, use the answers to craft a focused customer database that will help you immensely in providing superior customer service in the future.
An Excel or Word sheet will do as the place to store your data, but you might instead opt to hand write your own database on a beautiful and colorful notebook, probably posting there some encouraging phrases, shiny stickers or simply highlighted texts that can easily be retrieved when needed.
Let me share another secret: whatever means you use to craft your customer database, do it with grace and color; our brains work much better when our eyes are treated to lovely and beautiful images, especially if we create these images based on our own taste. Also, while you create your database, smile, even if you don´t want to. A key concept to remember and use: our brains do not distinguish between fake and real smiles, they just work much better the more we smile, even for no reason whatsoever (this of course is no news to seasoned sales reps).
Your Customer database is your best asset. Once you have crafted a list of each client’s information and have divided this valuable information into specific topic areas—name, address, language, likes, dislikes, family, product preferences, etc.—you will have an amazing tool enabling you to shine as the excellent service provider you are.
This gorgeous list, full of color and relevant information, is now your staunch ally, helping you to successfully pursue your unique "Emotional Strategic Campaign."
While enjoying the pleasure of crafting your unique customer database, think beyond the present moment to your of future fantastic sales. Fun guaranteed!
Mónica M. Arias
Excellence Expert & Consultant: Helping you discover how to reach your next level through excellence.
contacto@monicaarias.com.ar
Copyright 2012
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