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An Introduction to Store Fixtures
Everybody is familiar with the old retail chant, "Location, location, location!" It speaks volumes about making the right decisions from the start to make your retail establishment a success. Once you've decided what it is your store is offering to the general public, the next step you'll take is finding the right location. Once you've found it, the next step is to decide how to dress up your establishment; you'll need to decide what retail store fixtures will properly display your product. At this stage another invaluable cliché applies, "Presentation is everything!" It's true that how you present your products for sale is as important as the location, the timing of your venture and the pricing of your merchandise. On one hand, you wouldn't display expensive wares in cheap, shoddy or dirty store display fixtures. An appearance that turns people off the minute they walk into your store isn't going to help sales and, in fact, it will probably hurt them. On the other hand, you don't want your display choices to completely overwhelm the merchandise. Dazzling displays that distract from the sales appeal of your merchandise won't help business either. In order to maximize your sales potential you need to decide what look and feel of the store will appeal to your target customer. Remember, no sale is complete until the customer leaves the store satisfied with his purchase, and a crucial part of that process is the way in which your products are displayed. There are many choices to make. It can be helpful to visit other stores selling similar merchandise even if your product is so unique that you have to travel to another city to find them. Even if you are selling an invention of your own that doesn't exist anywhere else, it will still fall into a category of stores that you should investigate before setting up shop. Art stores have one look, plumbing supply stores another and clothing boutiques still another. Even if your investigation helps you decide which display perspectives don't work for you, that knowledge can save you time and money in the long run. Store Fixtures Info provides detailed information on metal, antique, wholesale, and used store fixtures and store fixture parts. Store Fixtures Info is the sister site of Mannequins Web.
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RELATED ARTICLES
Mindset Over Materials: The Secret Weapon of Sustainable Sales Success
Long-term sales success has less to do with skills or knowledge
than you might think. Nor are stunning brochures or excellent
products guaranteed to make one iota of impact over time. Unless
certain critical elements already exist in the salesperson,
providing training and tools in hopes of improving performance
does nothing more than giving a PGA golfer's best driver to an
amateur. The club itself can't make someone a pro.
Yet a pro can take a cheap driver and make a better shot than an
amateur with the best and biggest Big Bertha has to offer.
Likewise, you probably know one or two standouts who have
excelled without classic sales training, without flashy support
materials for their products, and even without a superior
product to represent.
Then what makes the difference? If it's not remarkable closing
ability, appealing brochures, outstanding product knowledge, or
relentless objection handling... if it's not talent or
brainpower or tools that create sustained success, what is it?
In more than twenty years studying the top performers in many
fields, I've discovered the mysterious X-factor is mindset: a
group of attitudes, understandings, beliefs, and resulting
behaviors. Whether you're talking about golf or sales or any
other pursuit, the same principle applies. Ultimately, the
mindset creates top performance, excellent production numbers,
and prosperity for both the salesperson and the company he or
she represents.
Creating a mindset of sustained success requires you to focus on
three key areas:
The beliefs you have about yourself;
The attitudes you have about your customers, product, and
industry;
The ownership you take of your own success.
The Inner Game of Sales
You have to see yourself as successful in the inner game in
order to be successful in the outer game. When you give that
"command" to the unconscious mind -- when you imagine how
you'll feel, look and sound when you are producing at the level
you desire -- the mind thinks it's already occurred and calls
for an encore performance in the real world.
The first step to changing your own "mental programming" is to
recognize it. Think about it. Think about why you don't do what
you know intellectually you should. Then start thinking about
what's behind it. What do you have to believe about yourself,
your world, your product, your industry, to cause this behavior
to occur?
Some common underlying beliefs that regulate salespeople's
performance are
"I need more training and skills before I can succeed."
"I'm not worthy of earning more than..."
"I am not good at cold calling."
"I'm not able to talk to (or get to) the decision makers at
the top."
Once the underlying belief is uncovered, a new belief must be
chosen. The new belief can be the opposite or an "antidote" to
the old one, such as "I have unlimited life knowledge and
experience." New beliefs must then be "installed."
Specifically, the new belief must be supported by both evidence
and habit.
Start by answering a simple question: What will I have to see,
hear, and feel to cement this belief? Then begin vividly
visualizing these results at least twice a day. (Note: the mind
is most open to suggestion first thing in the morning just after
waking and the last thing at night before sleep.) Many people
think that results build belief, and in some cases this is true,
but it's more often the inverse. Remember the chain:
thought/word-image-emotion-action-result. You must be able to
see yourself already in possession of the outcome of the new
belief.
Champions in any field create an unbending belief in themselves,
program themselves to continually find evidence to support its
truth, then consistently and vividly see themselves in
possession of the desired goal. William James, the father of
modern psychology, said, "Your belief creates the fact."
Now Forget Sales, and Focus on Your
Customers
Once you've visualized yourself achieving your goals and removed
any psychological obstacles, it's time to put those goals aside
and focus on the customer. Again, this all happens in your mind,
but it has a profound impact on the way you affect your outer
world.
Today's customers and clients require a new attitude, one that
offers something rather than asks for something. In a high-tech
society, high touch is highly valuable. The new-school
salesperson focuses on giving instead of getting, on service
instead of sales. Always a man ahead of his time, Henry Ford
captured this mindset eloquently: "Wealth will never be
achieved when sought after directly; it only comes as a
by-product of providing useful service."
This level of service takes some guts. Sometimes you have to
tell people what they don't want to hear. Sometimes, you even
have to say, "Maybe I'm not the best for you... I'd like to
send you to someone who will be." Service means that you're no
longer willing to do whatever it takes for the sale. Now you'll
do whatever it takes for the customer -- because it's the
customer who makes or breaks your business, not an isolated
transaction.
Old Hat, New Head: Take Ownership of Your
Success
Have you heard these ideas before? Are you utilizing them as you
should? If not, why not? Likewise, are there other, obvious
principles of business success you've overlooked?
Sales success grows out of a fundamental mindset, based on some
ideas that may be "old hat" but require a "new head" to fit
you. I operate from the premise that you know what you need to
do, and you have what you need to create a six- or seven-figure
income. Most salespeople have heard all the "magic bullet"
ideas and pitches. But until you begin to think in new ways, you
will never apply these time-tested principles. The distinction
between short-term flashes in the pan and sustained success is
simply doing what may seem obvious to you right now. We might
say, "If the hat fits, wear it."
Make Your Trade Show Booth Popular
So, you are taking your products and heading to a trade show, but this year you want to make your trade show booth popular in order to garner more business and have no idea how to do it. Actually, it really is quite simple to make a popular trade show booth as long as you put forth the effort.
My Competitor Has a Better Product
The topic of this issue's article is a response to a question submitted by one of my newsletter readers.
Why Should I Buy From You?
Virtually every business you contact has this question in their mind. To truly maximize your revenues you need give people a reason to buy from you versus a competitor. Here are a few strategies that will help you differentiate yourself from your competition.
More Cleaning and Janitorial Customers Using Yahoo
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Lazy Man?s Way To Get Customers
No matter how big or small your business is and no matter how high or low sales are right now, there is something you need, badly. And that is a selling system.
Why Cold Calling Is Dead
Our world of selling is closed off from other areas of business that continue to
adopt and embrace new, efficient ideas. I was reminded of this recently while re-
reading Seth Godin's "Permission Marketing." Here's a book that was intended for
business owners and marketing executives, yet it provides a much-needed dose of
common sense that would be of great benefit to sales organizations, especially
sales managers, who continue to cling to very old, and, in their minds, very right,
ideas. Unfortunately, our brave new world has made these old ideas very wrong.
Pinging for Success: Creating Search Patterns
One of my first internship jobs as a college student was working for a defense company who, at the time, developed a highly sophisticated torpedo for hunting down submarines and destroying them. The operation of the torpedo was pretty fascinating. The torpedo was launched from the deck of a ship or dropped from a helicopter into the water.
An Introduction to Mannequins
Just about every clothing store uses mannequins. There are many types of mannequins made of different materials including wood, wax, fiberglass, and plastic. Some mannequins are set in one pose, while others have adjustable arms and legs. There are mannequins that look like men, women, and children. Some mannequins are even made to resemble famous movie stars and celebrities.
Selling For Keeps
When you are in sales and you come across a customer, you don't want to think of that customer as someone you can only make one sale to, you want to think of them as someone you can make several sales to.
How to Lose the Sale Quickly & Easily
Here are five sure-fire ways to guarantee you will not get the sale;
What Not To Do With Your Leads
Anyone that works in sales knows just how important it is to have lead sources to keep your pipeline filled. But it is not only how we obtain the leads that is important, it's what we do with them once we get them.
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and contrast....yada yada yada". Well, here's an exercise to
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In Sales Service Means Business
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Warming Up To Cold Calls
Will you do just about anything, including sending out hundreds of letters, to avoid making cold calls to your potential customers/prospects? If so, you're not alone. Millions like you have started their own businesses, only to find that the thought of making calls to potential customers/prospects leaves them paralyzed with anxiety. Believe me I was one of them. For those of you who know us and have read "Who Makes It Happen", remember what I used to go through before I would get on the telephone to cold call.
What Should I Charge?
People ask me, "What should I charge?"
How to Leverage Your Influence
Why do we get into sales? Typically it is two reasons for most people. One is to make money, and the other is often that we like working with other people.
Five Keys to Make Your Cold Calls Sizzle
Do you clam up on the telephone? An advertising rep called the other day to sell some ad space in a local news magazine. After I said, "Hello," there was nothing but monotone dialog until I interrupted him a minute later. It sounded like he was reading a script... but he wasn't (I asked).
Going Back To Get Ahead
Have you ever run DOWN an escalator that was going UP? Well, I did at the Tampa Airport last week. Here's what happened:
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