How important is your sales role in today's retail photo market

The Last Three Feet

The internet has created a new but not totally different set of rules for retail photo sales people, according to Glynn Lavender.

In the days before the internet, the main sources of information on either new camera gear or how to use existing gear, came from magazines, books, brochures and YOU ? the person behind the counter.

Your influence was one of the greatest factors in determining which brand and type of camera a customer purchased.

The enormity of information out there at the touch of a keyboard has certainly changed the roles of books and magazines as their lead time to print is usually so long the product is well and truly on the shelf before they hit the printers.

So has the internet had the same impact on the retail sales person?

Yes, we now have customers coming into our stores that have far more knowledge on the particular camera they are looking for then even we do.

They can spend weeks learning everything about one camera whereas we need to know a fair amount about every camera on our shelves.

So, in some ways, yes - the customer is far more knowledgeable than they used to be BUT far more often than not they have all the terminology down pat and SOUND like they know what they are talking about.

In reality, they are just about as confused and unsure as they ever were when they came into the store in the 'good old days'.

Understanding this is vital when it comes to being a successful sales person.

Knowing how to put the techno babble that our industry seems to thrive on into simple, understandable bite-sized pieces of information that our customers can really grasp is the way to sales success.

Once you can clearly show that you are listening to what they are interested in and have succinctly reassured them that they are indeed on the right path, or in some cases help them change path to gear that will suit them better, then you can quickly move on past the technology and start introducing products and accessories that will complement the hardware that they now feel more comfortable about buying.

Too many sales people are afraid of adding accessories to a sale for fear that suggesting the customer spend more may lose them the sale they already have.

While this is something to worry about if all you are doing is competing on price with the discount store up the street, it is not something to fear when you help and educate the customer.

Once you have established this relationship with your customer you are doing them the favour by selling the right accessories for them to take the photos that they want or to protect their new equipment.

And that will make EVERYONE happy!

Glynn Lavender has been involved in the speciality photo retail market for 28 years. Contact Glynn at glynn@mackcam.com