- Get excited about the product. Your enthusiasm will be contagious.
- Educate yourself about watches – both the brands your store carries, as well as those that your competitor sells. If a customer asks about a watch that you do not carry, you’ll be able to suggest a similar manufacturer or style.
- If you don’t know the answer, don’t fake it.
- Never say outright that you do not know the answer to a customer’s question. Instead, tell customers: “I’ll look into that.”
- When showing expensive watches, wear one, not two gloves. One glove suggests care and prestige, while two can be pretentious and off-putting.
- Always use a tray to handle merchandise at the counter and whenever you move it from one showcase to the next.
- Keep your customer database up-to-date and develop a follow-up system to contact store visitors who buy, as well as those who do not.
- To avoid confusing customers who know little about timepieces, never introduce them to more than three brands in a single visit.
- Regularly invite representatives from every watch manufacturer represented in your store to provide training sessions for your sales staff.
- Invest in a repair service.
- Allow the customer to try on product, and keep mirrors at the ready.
- Encourage sales associates to nurture their own, innate sales style.
- Particularly when selling women’s timepieces, talk about the role of watches as stylish accessories.
- Emphasize a watch’s aesthetic value and reference seasonal fashion trends.
- Designate specific sales associates to become experts on various brands – that way, you’ll have a go-to person for times when tough product questions arise.
- Encourage associates to develop vocabulary they feel comfortable using to describe timepieces’ details to customers. Urge them to avoid intimidating jargon.
- When narrowing down the selection, show either one, three or five watches to make the choice easier. Six is too many, and could overwhelm a prospective buyer.