.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} I’m in Las Vegas at the The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, the most expensive retail rental property in America.

The merchandise is all attractive. Like the lure of Las Vegas, everything glitters. And the customers are all in a festive mood. People with bags. Big bags full of purchases they just made.

The paradox is the salespeople. As good as the mall is, as good as the merchandise is, as good as the customer ready to buy is, that’s how bad the salespeople are.

“Can I help you?”

“No, I’m just looking.”

Or, if you actually need sales help, often the sales clerks are talking to one another.

In Las Vegas, none of that matters. In spite of lousy salespeople, the customers will still buy. But I’ll challenge every store owner that if their front-door people were friendly greeters, and their salespeople were engaging, their sales could double.

How are you engaging your customers?

Not greeting them. Engaging them.

Let me give you the elements of engagement and let you judge for yourself:

1. Smile. Your smile tells the customers that they are welcome. Do you smile every time you greet someone?

2. Friendly. Friendly is a manner that comes from within. It’s a personality and an attitude. It also allows the customers to be more open with you. Are you friendly all the time?

3. Asking a question that creates meaningful dialogue. An engagement question. It can even be a statement, as long as it engages. In retail, it can be “I have something perfect for you.” In your business it can be “When I say (insert your product here), what one word comes to mind?” Do you have five compelling engagement questions or statements?

4. Sincerity. This is an element of engagement that is as obvious in its absence as in its presence. If you don’t love your job, if you don’t love your company, your sincerity will be in question, and so will your sales. Do you love what you do enough to be sincere about it?

5. Eye contact. Look people in the eye when you greet them. It gives them confidence in you. How would you rate your eye contact?

6. Knowledge of the product or service you sell. When engaging customers, this is a given. Are you the master of product knowledge?

7. A genuine desire to help. This element comes from who you are as a person. How willing are you to serve others?

8. An incentive (commission) to sell more. If you know there is a reward at the end of a successful journey, you’ll work harder to earn it. What’s your incentive?

9. An ability to answer the customers’ questions in a manner that leads to the sale. What kind of answers are you giving to your 10 most-asked questions?

10. Tell me what you can do, not what you can’t do. Don’t tell me you’re out of stock; tell me what other store has it and how you’re going to get it to me. How easy is it for your customers to buy?

10.5. Ask for the sale. Most sales opportunities are lost because salespeople fail to ask for the business. Are you asking for the sales every time?

It never ceases to amaze me that people in business fail to take advantage of the opportunity afforded to them when a customer calls or walks into their store wanting to buy.

In these challenging times, the power of engagement can help you get to the one word in business that you seek: Profit.

Want a few real smart questions? Well, because everyone sells something different, I’ll give you the lead-ins to the questions and you can adapt them to whatever you sell. Go to www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first-time visitor, and enter the words SMART QUESTIONS in the GitBit box.

Jeffrey Gitomer can be reached by phone at (704) 333-1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com. © 2007 Jeffrey H. Gitomer