Programme overview
Introduction:
Retail selling skills decide whether a shopper who walks in walks out with a purchase. Too often browsers are ignored or pounced on, questions stay shallow, products are described by specification rather than by what they do for the buyer, and a price question ends the conversation. This Core Concept course gives sales associates, floor supervisors and store staff a practical, repeatable approach to face-to-face selling on the shop floor, from the first greeting to the follow-up message. Participants rehearse each step and build a Store Selling Standards Playbook for their counter or department.
Course Objectives:
- Map the in-store shopper journey from window to till and pinpoint the moments where a seller changes the outcome
- Open conversations with browsers using welcoming, non-scripted approaches that invite dialogue rather than a reflex 'just looking'
- Uncover shopper needs, budget and usage with open, probing and confirming questions and demonstrate products that match them
- Translate product features into shopper benefits and answer objections and price questions with confidence and honesty
- Close the sale, suggest relevant add-on items and keep clients returning through clienteling records and follow-up
- Apply floor service standards, handle difficult shoppers and complaints calmly, and track personal selling results against store customer experience measures
Target Audience:
- Shop floor sellers who greet walk-in shoppers, demonstrate products and complete sales at the till
- Fitting room, counter and cosmetics staff who advise shoppers one-to-one on fit, shade, size or model
- Showroom and boutique advisors in electronics, furniture, fashion, jewellery, optical and automotive retail
- Floor supervisors who lead a sales shift, cover the floor at peak times and step in on difficult shoppers
- Store trainers and buddies who induct new sellers and model selling behaviour on the floor
Course Outline:
Day 1: The In-Store Shopper and the Seller's Role
- Retail Servicescape Walkthrough: Decompression Zone, Sightlines and First Impressions
- Shopper Types on the Floor: Browser, Researcher, Mission Buyer and Gift Buyer
- In-Store Shopper Journey Map From Window to Till and Beyond
- Seller Impact on Conversion, Average Sale Value and Items per Basket
- Personal Selling Self-Audit Against a Floor Behaviour Checklist
Day 2: Selling Models: Approach, Questioning and Product Presentation
- AIDA Buying Stages Applied to a Face-to-Face Retail Sale
- Greeting and Approach Techniques: Timing, Openers and Reading Body Language
- Needs Discovery Question Funnel: Open, Probing and Confirming Questions
- Feature-Advantage-Benefit Conversion Grid for Key Product Lines
- Product Knowledge Cards and Hands-On Demonstration Sequence
Day 3: Converting the Sale: Objections, Price Questions, Closing and Add-Ons
- LAER Objection Model: Listen, Acknowledge, Explore and Respond
- Price and Value Conversations: Comparing Alternatives and Justifying Price
- Buying Signal Recognition and Trial Close Phrases
- Closing Techniques: Assumptive, Alternative Choice and Summary Close
- Complementary Item Suggestions at the Point of Sale and the Till
Day 4: Relationships, Tough Shoppers and Store Experience Measures
- Clienteling Book: Client Records, Preferences and Consent to Contact
- Follow-Up Messages, Appointment Selling and Private Shopping Invitations
- Difficult Shopper Scenarios: Indecisive, Aggressive, Haggling and Returning Customers
- Floor Complaint Handling: Calm Response, Refund and Exchange Conversations
- Visual Merchandising Basics for Sellers: Eye-Level Placement, Facings and Display Upkeep
Day 5: Shop Floor Role-Plays and the Store Selling Standards Playbook
- Mystery Shopping Scorecard: Observable Selling Behaviours and Scoring Scale
- Full-Sale Role-Plays With Observer Scoring and Peer Feedback
- Floor Service Standards Charter: Greeting Time, Queue Etiquette and Farewell
- Personal Selling Dashboard: Conversion, Sale Value and Customer Feedback Scores
- Store Selling Standards Playbook Drafting and Supervisor Review
Skills You Will Gain:
- Shopper Approach and Rapport
- Needs Discovery Questioning
- Product Demonstration
- Benefit-Led Selling
- Objection and Price Handling
- Sale Closing
- Clienteling
- Floor Complaint Resolution
Why Attend This Course:
- Leave with a Store Selling Standards Playbook of approach lines, question sets, benefit statements and floor standards for your own counter or department
- Practise the full sale, from greeting to follow-up, in graded role-plays with observer scoring
- Handle price questions, hesitant buyers and angry shoppers without losing composure or the sale
- Compare shop floor practice with sellers from fashion, electronics, beauty, furniture and automotive retail
Conclusion:
A store earns loyalty one conversation at a time. The course moves from the in-store shopper journey and the seller's impact on results, through approach, questioning, benefit-led presentation and demonstration, to objections, price conversations, closing and complementary items, and then to clienteling, follow-up, difficult shoppers, floor complaints and visual merchandising basics. The final day uses mystery shopping criteria and full-sale role-plays to produce a Store Selling Standards Playbook ready for supervisor review.