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SRI™ Seminar Update
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SRI™ Retail Management & Sales Education SeminarsConducted by John F. Lawhon
Now Forming SRI™ Retail Management Seminars
The SRI™ Management seminar offered has been expanded and updated....
It will focus on establishing productive routines – for a multitude of little, seemingly insignificant, things when done routinely by the salespeople and employees, will each be adding value upon value to what you sell without adding one penny to your costs. In fact, most are actually reducing costs. You will see that each one of these routine activities is actually increasing the perceived quality of what is being sold in the mind of the prospective customer, the salesperson, and the employees of the company causing salespeople to become proud of what they sell and proud of the company they sell it for. It is a veryexciting antidote for Internet woes.
In his book, Business @ the Speed of Thought, Bill Gates says, "The Internet changes everything. The manufacturer can now have the Internet equivalent of a retail factory outlet with none of the retail costs.... If the retailer is to survive, he must be able to add value to what he sells without increasing costs nor reducing quality." He goes on to say that when he gets e-mail regarding getting a big account, his first thought is "no one ever sends me e-mail telling me of the accounts we didn't get, because that is the bad news. I sometimes think that my most important job as CEO is looking for the bad news." This is the founder of the world's biggest corporation, so what is the "baddest" of all bad news to him? The prospective customer who didn't buy. Bill Gates then says to the retailers: "You must require your people to gather every bit of information gained with every interaction with every prospective customer and then you must act on that information. If you don't, your people will think it was not important to you and they will stop bringing it."
Those attending this seminar will leave with the only proven way for your salespeople to add value to your products and services with the introduction of one feature to make it easier and more effective.
When I wanted to attend my first merchandising seminar in 1955, the owner of the company I managed said, "You have already forgotten more about merchandising than all those guys combined!"
"All the more reason for me to go," I said, "because I need to be reminded of those basics that I have forgotten."
Wise men have always advised those with problems in business to get back to the basics. With the development of the SRI™ Retail Management System© I came to realize the need for a textbook for retail managers, and I have been working on one continuously especially after the completion of The Selling Bible - for People in the Business of Selling, but with the numerous and frequent changes in the world of retailing, I am about to decide the Seminar Workbook must be that book for management–a perpetually updated one.
The obvious need was dictated by the Law of
Cause and Effect, and made apparent by an old adage: The person who knows how will always have a job. But, the person who knows how and why will always be the boss.
For over ten years, I have updated, added to, and revised the Selling Retail Management Workbook© for every seminar held. This past year I have focused on those things the retailer can and must do that adds value to what they sell and the services they perform without raising costs.
Many of these seemingly insignificant things, when done routinely as a policy of the company, actually reduces costs and any one of them will return the cost in time and money spent attending the seminar thousands of times over when applied in a retail furniture operation.
Seminar SessionsIn addition to these added features, the seminar includes updated sessions on the following subjects throughout the three days.
DAY ONECASH FLOW
The number one cause of failure in our industry. Improving cash flow is a critically important factor. We will cover:- Things to do that improve cash flow.
- Steps to take when cash flow problems develop.
- More steps to take if serious cash flow problems are serious.
DELIVERY SERVICES.
In many companies, delivery problems are the number one cause of customer dissatisfaction. It has gotten so bad that California has a law that requires deliveries to be made within two hours of the promised time or pay with huge fines.
All delivery problems are effects. Eliminate the causes and the effects/problems cease to exist. A simple plan identifies the causes, whether it was a defective product, damaged product, salesperson, delivery people or others. Follow the simple plan to eliminate these causes and watch delivery problems drop dramatically.
The longer the customer must wait for service, the harder he/she is to please. A simple scheduling plan greatly reduces the causes.
WAREHOUSING.
Operationally, no one factor can have a more dramatic effect on your company's bottom line. The needs now vary dramatically from zero warehouse to mass movement distribution centers. In all cases, the bottom line is determined by turn-over. A short session, but important insight for management in companies of all sizes.
Note: Other sessions, when followed, increase inventory turns dramatically also, which reduces warehouse needs.
NEW STORE LOCATIONS.
Essential information before a retail company plans a second operation. Demographics are changing rapidly in today's market.
WHAT TO DO WHEN NEW COMPETITION IS COMING.
The local retailer in all cases will either do more business or they will do less. Like all other things, this fact is based on The Law of Cause & Effect. The simple plan laid out in the seminar, when followed, assures the retailer that they will do more business when new competition opens. But why wait? Follow the plan now and do more business whether new competition comes or not!
BUYING TO A PLAN.
As an industry, our salespeople sell about 15% of the prospective customers who show up at our showrooms, but 85% leave without buying. When we have no accurate record of what they thought they wanted or needed, our buying will, at best, be 15% customer driven.
In his book "Business @ the Speed of Thought," Bill Gates says that he considers his most important job is to require his salespeople to record every bit of information gained with every customer interaction. He further requires employees to act on it and bring it to his attention.
The only known plan to accomplish this is included in this seminar. When understood, it causes product buying to be 100% customer driven – and that is the least of its benefits. This is exciting stuff!
GROUP PRICING.
This is without question, the least understood factor in the retail furniture industry. It can dramatically increase sales volume at all price levels -- even at the high end of the market.
PRICING.
When there is no integrity in the price of what is being sold, there will be no integrity in the selling. Cutting the price doesn't add value to what is being sold. It only makes it cheaper, which reduces the perceived quality in the mind of the prospective customer and the salesperson who does it. Immediate steps are given that will establish integrity in your prices, increase profit margins and make selling easier -- especially during peak traffic periods.
PRICE GUARANTEE.
This has been made essential by the internet. This simple legitimate Price Guarantee has sold more furniture than all other price guarantees combined with less claims that all others combined. It is a service that adds value to what you sell without increasing costs and gives the prospective customer the confience in your company that is needed for customers to buy without fear of having paid too much.
ADD-ON SELLING.
Retailers have tried every conceivable gimmick and incentive to get their salespeople to sell add-on items with little success. You can have the most productive add-on selling plan ever developed. It can be installed at once with little or no added cost. Within a day or two, it will have saved your salespeople more selling time than it took to install the plan and it works. Why it works is simple and will be fully explained in the seminar. BONUS! It adds value upon value to what is being sold without increasing costs, while raising the perceived quality.
SELLING ON CREDIT.
Professionally competent salespeople agree that the more integrity in the company's pricing policies, the easier it is to make the sale, and the more satisfied their customers are. They are even more adamant when it comes to the company's credit plan. The basic rules for a consistent credit policy that makes selling easier and customers more satisfied is included in Day One.
ADVERTISING.
Advertising will not sell your products. At its very best, it only starts a sale that must be completed in the showroom. And 85% of customers leave without buying. Some go home, but most continue to shop. At any given time, retailers have more people put into their showroom by the competitor's advertising than by their own.
New at this Seminar. A new addition to the SRI™ Ad Plan that uses the bane of the retail industry, the 80/20 Rule. (Which means you do over 80% of your business with less than 20% of your selection). When the SRI™ Ad Plan is now followed, the 80/20 Rule will have your salespeople prepared to complete sales started by your advertising – and even better prepared to complete sales started by the competition's advertising -- because these added sales during peak traffic periods will be made in less time.
BEDDING SELLING PLAN.
This plan has been developed over a period of four years. It is for the retail furniture dealer. Here's why: The average retail furniture customer had shopped about six furniture showrooms when they finally bought. They will make a significant furniture purchase once a year.
Industry research has long shown – and continues to show – that from the time a man and his wife first discuss their dissatisfaction with the night's sleep they are getting on their old sleep set until the time they bought, five years passed. During each of those years, they were in six or more furniture showrooms becoming a hotter and hotter prospective customer for a new sleep set.
The simple bedding selling plan introduced in the seminar (when followed in its simplest form) has had a dramatic effect on bedding sales, average prices and increased gross profits. Note: Combine this with the "What's Next?" selling plan and the SRI™ bedding plan becomes even more effective.
This plan was developed to sell bedding. Once in place, the same concept applies to other areas such as motion furniture, dinettes, sofas with beds inside and gets similar results.
THE SRI™ BETTER NIGHT'S SLEEP GUARANTEE.
The most important of all guarantees to the prospective bedding customer. It too, has sold more bedding than all other guarantees including so-called "comfort guarantees" with almost no buy-backs. It works! And it works every time when used as instructed.
DAY TWORULES, POLICIES, & PROCEDURES GUIDELINES, IN EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK FORM.
Most of what must be done in your company is a multitude of little things. And these little things must be done routinely, because if any one isn't done right, isn't done when needed to be done, or isn't done at all, causes seemingly insignificant little problems. But, as they continue to pile up, suddenly you are faced with one giant insurmountable problem. (And this causes me to hear many times from management people something like, "Aw, c'mon Lawhon, we are a big company with big problems, we can't bother with a bunch of nit-picking!" -JFL)
When these rules, policies and procedures in the employees handbook are complied with, they establish work routines that keep employees involved in productive activities during all their working hours. Management simply uses disciplines of these rules, policies, and procedures to educate and motivate while the competition's management uses discipline that penalizes and demotivates.
Note: Most of these rules, policies and procedures are required by law. The consistent discipline that educates and motivates the employees are all required by laws.
The hundreds of hours your company would invest in this handbook starting from scratch would be daunting -- but SRI™ has done most of the work for you. You and your legal advisor will simply need to tailor it to your company.
RULES, POLICIES & PROCEDURES FOR YOUR SALESPEOPLE.
New & Exciting!
The highest-paid, highest-volume salespeople in our industry follow a daily routine that keeps them engaged in productive selling activities during every working hour. These routines soon develop the productive selling skills of the masters of selling into productive selling habits.
If you have read Selling Retail and/or The Selling Bible, you know that John F. Lawhon has employed thousands of retail furniture, carpet, bedding and appliance salespeople over the years. He has studied the routines of those rare masters of selling who sell almost every prospective customer they come in contact with – including the lookers, browsers, tire-kickers, mooches and especially those dropped by the other salespeople. He has been working for several years developing the simple rules, policies and procedures that, coupled with the Employee Handbook, will keep them engaged in the same productive selling activities as the masters of selling. Without their realizing it, they are perfecting the same highly productive selling skills.
Most retail salespeople's working hours in our industry are spent in counterproductive activities. In this seminar, Mr. Lawhon will present a complete set of rules, policies and procedures, that when followed, establish a daily routine that will keep your salespeople engaged in productive selling activities during all working hours.
Each one of these policies, when followed routinely by a salesperson, is adding value upon value to what he/she is selling without increasing costs or reducing the quality of your products and services. In fact, it actually causes these services to be improving as the salespeople improve.
Incredible, but true! It causes selling to be getting easier as their incomes go up. You will want every one of these rules, policies and procedures working for you, your salespeople and most importantly, for your prospective customers as soon as possible.
NEW AT THIS SEMINAR!
John F. Lawhon teaches that all plans require that you start where you are -- even with their hard-core sellling habits that result in a sale less than 15% of the time. Without the salespeople even realizing it, they will be perfecting (one skill at a time in sequence) the skills of the highest-paid salespeople in our industry.
This improvement can actually be gauranteed when the disciplines of the SRI™ System/franchise are used to educate and motivate. It is now possible due to the Salesperson's Handbook!Here is the most exciting part: Your salespeople will want these rules, policies and procedures working for them!
Note: This one thing done during the hiring sequence can do more to eliminate the primary cause of turnover than any and all other things done to date.
SALES MEETINGS.
John F. Lawhon conducted surveys in all types of companies that asked what three things make it hardest for you, as a salesperson, to do your job. Literally everyone listed "sales meetings" as top on their list. Most added, "We come in all ready to sell and when they get through with us in the sales meeting, we couldn't sell anything!"- Why are sales meetings needed?
- When are sales meetings needed?
- How can salespeople be caused to become more productive instead of counterproductive?
They considered their company's advertising their second biggest deterrent to easy sales. Answers and the solutions are yours when you attend this seminar.
GETTING READY TO SELL & STAYING READY TO SELL DURING ALL BUSINESS HOURS.
This is one of those things that adds value to what you sell without adding costs or reducing the quality. In fact, it greatly increases the perceived quality for both the salesperson and the prospective customer while actually reducing some costs. This saves all sales people important time during peak traffic periods which increase the number of sales made. (This is one of the vital procedures that becomes a part of the sales person's daily routine.)
STAFFING YOUR SHOWROOM.
Prospective customers don't come in an orderly manner. They come in bunches during peak traffic periods and straggle in one at a time. Average salespeople selling 15% of these prospective customers sell 20% during slow traffic periods and 10% during peak traffic periods. When we need them at their best, we get them at their worst.
There is only one set of numbers that will tell you how many salespeople you need and when you need them. No one leaves this seminar with any questions on this subject.
COMMISSIONED SALESPEOPLE VS. ANY OTHER METHOD OF COMPENSATION.
The mind set of the commissioned salesperson is simple: "I get paid when I sell something and I don't get paid for doing anything else." It is expressed to me with these words: "Mr. Lawhon, you wouldn't believe what they make us do in this company. They even make us pick up things and put things away! Mr. Lawhon, if we didn't have to do all those things, we would have a lot more time to sell and that's what they hired us to do, wasn't it!?!"
Re-setting the minds of salespeople is key to this seminar. The introduction of the sales-person's daily routine will change this mind set immediately when they see the effects on their income.
IT'S YOUR DECISION...
but, this short session gives you added insight that will help you to make the best decision for your company. Any change in method of pay upsets salespeople more than any other thing. Examples will be given and how the change can be made with the least disruption or loss of top salespeople will be given.
Early on, we discovered that most retail furniture dealers did not pay their salespeople according to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1933 as amended and were in violation of the laws. All legal methods will be explained.
DAY THREERECRUITING, HIRING & TRAINING SALESPEOPLE.
Retail home furnishings figures for 1998 show that when a salesperson or trainee quits, fails, or gets fired within the first few months, it has cost the company about $7,000 (over and above monies spent hiring and training them.) This is over and above any money they were paid, not to mention the thousands of dollars in lost sales income that led to the failure.
This $7,000 doesn't show as a line item expense on the company's statement and no one in most companies knew it happened.
The ongoing economic upturn has elevated this problem to an epidemic level. Experts see it as one of our fastest growing costs in our industry.
Example: A rapidly expanding company hired and trained forty salespeople one week for a new showroom. Within four months, another thirty-six had been hired and trained for one week and only sixteen were still with the company. That was sixty sales trainees lost at a base cost of $420,000 and a total cost that is well over $1 million and no one in the company is aware of it.
Fact: Success and failure are both effects. There has to be a cause.
The number one reason/cause of a person being fired, quitting, or failing is due to the fact that the job did not live up to their expectations on the day they were hired.
In 1987 SRI™, in the first three-day manage-ment seminar, introduced the first plan for the hiring and training of commissioned retail salespeople that was in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1933 as amended. The objective was to eliminate the number one cause of failure in the hiring sequence.
In one session, this seminar defined the sales floor rules and their need is fully explained. To my knowledge, no one objected to any of these rules but, those rules were not made company policies because they only applied to the salespeople.
Three years ago, we made the first really important breakthrough. The sales floor rules were fully defined and made company policies that applied only to the salespeople and put in a salesperson handbook. When newly hired commissioned retail salespeople and trainees agreed to the rules, policies and procedures in both handbooks as a part of the terms of their employment, it reduced the percentage of failures noticeably. But it didn't completely eliminate the cause. Here's why: There is no such thing as doing nothing. Any and all activity during working hours will be productive for the individual and the company or it will be counterproductive to the person and to the objectives of the company. It may be more or less productive or counterproductive, but it will be one or the other. That is not an opinion, it's a fact based on the Law of Cause & Effect.
Why should your salespeople be willing to change and make the effort to follow this productive routine that will take them out of their counterproductive comfort zones? When a commissioned retail salesperson is engaged in any productive selling activity during his working hours, he is earning more money. He's getting better at doing it and his job is getting easier -- a whole lot easier.
When a commissioned retail salesperson is engaged in any counterproductive selling activity during his working hours, he is not making any money and he is getting better at making less. A whole lot less. This will be a major breakthrough for any company that adopts these policies but only when the disciplines of the policies are used to educate the salespeople and motivate them--because it will have eliminated the number one cause of failure and turnover in your company. The three basic management skills needed to do this are clearly defined in the seminar.
The most amazing phenomenon about these things that start getting done by salespeople routinely, are the very things you have been trying to get done without success.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR AND WHERE TO LOOK FOR SALESPEOPLE OR SALES TRAINEES.
The ongoing boom in the economy has made this a serious problem. We start this session telling what not to look for and where not to look, which is the opposite of what most management people are looking for and where they are looking.
In this Seminar... using the "Principle of Reflection" (Selling Retail and The Selling Bible Revelations) you will learn what to look for with profiles of those who stand the best chance of success in your company. These profiles were based on the highest-volume salespeople in our industry. We will even give you a list of places to look. This list has been expanded for Seminar/2002.
The Seminar includes the most effective classified sales "help wanted" ad ever developed. It has been used worldwide, but that is not enough in today's competitive job market. That's why we have expanded the list of places to look.
INTERVIEWING & HIRING SALESPEOPLE.
In today's economy, most management people see an effective recruiting and hiring plan as their most pressing need.
There is an established routine to follow for phone interviews. It is simple, legal, and rules out most of those who would not be acceptable. At the same time, it sets the interview appointment for those who might be.
There is an established routine for the interviewing and hiring process that follows and it gives you the best chance for success in a lot less time.
These routines, when followed at the store level, keep management from violating state and federal labor laws. It's simple, but the disciplines are tough. It takes the least amount of time and it works better than any other hiring plan to date.
In this seminar you will be introduced for the first time to the most important single thing done to date in the recruiting and hiring of commissioned retail salespeople. When this simple recruiting and hiring routine is followed, in compliance with State and Federal labor laws, it all but eliminates the number one cause of failure in the hiring sequence.
Given a choice, the applicant would rather work for your company than any company not using this plan. (I consider this the high point of the seminar.) Eliminating just one hiring mistake that could cost the company 7,000+ dollars makes the entire seminar a bargain. This will be an important refresher and update session. (Keeping in your mind, the mind set of your salespeople.)
This recruiting, hiring and training plan has been improving over the last ten years, but its most important improvement comes at this seminar with the introduction of a daily routine for commissioned retail salespeople to follow that will keep them engaged in productive selling activities during every working hour.
WARNING!
Hiring mistakes escalate during recessions. Those laid off – and especially those whose companies went out of business are, at best, only average; but, those counterproductive selling skills/habits follow them wherever they go.
The recruiting, hiring and training sessions have been reviewed to be sure all those attending leave prepared to hire, train, and work highy productive salespeople in good times and bad.
THE PLAN THAT "WORKS!"
SELLING RETAIL INTERNATIONAL'S RETAIL MANAGEMENT & SALES EDUCATION SYSTEM®™SMYou want salespeople and managers who are competent and self-motivated. The Law of Cause and Effect requires them to follow a plan that causes this to happen.
This system consists of a set of action plans. A plan requires the person to know where they are and where they want to be. The plan is a like a road map. Maintain the disciplines needed to follow the plan, stay on the right road, measure your progress, and it will get you where you want to be.
THE PROSPECTIVE CUSTOMER ACCOUNTING PLAN©.
This is the basis upon which the SRI™ System was founded. It is the heart of the system. It was developed and copyrighted by John F. Lawhon in its conceptual form in 1986.
This simple plan has been perfected and proven over a period of sixteen years. When it is followed, it is the only plan that will do for the retailer what Bill Gates says must be done now if the retailer is to not only survive–but take advantage of the effects of the Internet. This plan accurately records all information gained by your salespeople with every interaction with every prospective customer contact.
The consistent use of the prospective Customer Accounting Card required, as a company policy, is the very heart of the SRI™ Management System. It is the only known proven method. There is only one set of numbers that tell you how competent a salesperson is and only then when those numbers are accurate and ongoing.- How many prospective customers did the salesperson come in contact with?
- How many were sold?
- What was the average volume of each sale?
This is the basic measurement of individual selling competence. We call this ROCC©K pronounced "rock". It is the individual sales person's "Return On prospective Customer Contacts." If the individual salesperson is improving, the percentage sold will be going up and the average volume of each sales will be increasing. But, the ultimate measurement of selling competence is based on how satisfied the buyer was. This card, used consistently, tells the salespeople what his/her percentage return by appointment is in that company. It also records how many prospective customers were sent to that salesperson in that company by that satisfied customer.
You have a record of this information when a sale was made. That's the good news, but there is not much of it in companies who sell less than 15% of their prospective customers who shop the showrooms. Bill Gates says that "when a prospective customer doesn't buy that is the "baddest news of all bad news. I think my most important job as CEO is searching for the bad news." He considers this more important than any other essential accounting procedure. He says, "You must require your salespeople to keep an accurate record of every interaction with every prospective customer and then you must act on it or they will not think it is important to you and stop bringing it ... ...and that is the beginning of the end."
The SRI™ prospective customer accounting card, in its updated form, actually measures everything done in the company so a sale can be made and because a sale was made. Close examination reveals a simple fact: Salespeople can't be improving on an ongoing basis if all other things done in the company aren't improving too. This measurement causes both to happen.
This card, when used consistently with accurate information, does for the salesperson, the prospective customer and the company what must be done if your company is to survive the effects of the Internet -- and it includes the largest, the smallest, and all companies in between.
Those attending this seminar will go home with these updated plans in their workbook.
PERSONAL ACTION PLAN
How would you like salespeople to be self-motivated? Coming to work because they want to -- not because they had to. Doing all those things they need to do to be successful in your company because they want to -- not because you ordered them to, or because it is a part of their job. Sounds impossible? Read "The Secret of Self Motivation" in The Selling Bible again. When your salespeople are consistently following the prospective customer accounting plan, the manager can help them establish their own personal goals -- both short term and long term. The prospective customer accounting card shows them where they were income wise and where they are. This permits the manager to show them where they will be in one year, then five, then 20. They can for the first time see themselves easily achieving their personal goals as well as their career goals in your company. They are caused to become more and more self-motivated as each personal goal is achieved. Not an opinion. It is The Law of Cause and Effect.
SALES EDUCATION PLAN
This may be the most important plan to most managers, but it is only a part of the plan. It will not happen without the rest of the plans in place and working systematically.
Learning is not static. It must be ongoing. A person may stop learning, but they don't stop forgetting and soon become unlearned.
All learning institutions require four basics to become an educational system:- Textbooks which are accredited.
Selling Retail©
The Selling Bible©
Furniture Facts©
Homework reading assignments have the salesperson or trainee reading Selling Retail (and later, The Selling Bible) daily, highlighting their books as they go. When the pages are thumbed by management, it shows a pattern–an easy way to monitor their compliance.
A word about the new 28th Edition of Furniture Facts©. It has been used to gain essential specialized knowledge for the salesperson since 1924, but the new edition includes selling information that not only adds value without increasing the costs, but contains valuable information on new technology. For example, the leather and bedding sections contain crucial updates for the retail salesperson. The Interior Design section can increase their concept of add-on selling greatly.
- A learning curriculum:
SRI™ Level One - 3 weeks;
SRI™ Level Two - twelve weeks;
SRI™ Level Three -12 weeks and then roll-over into an ongoing life-time of learning that keeps the salesperson up-to-date.
The Administrator's Manual is a day-by-day, step-by-step road map to successfully lead salespeople to their (and the company's) goals.
- A full-time teacher in your company.
John F. Lawhon via audio tapes for homework assignments and state-of-the-art Video Classroom sessions.
When managers have read Selling Retail© and The Selling Bible© the first thing they say upon meeting John F. Lawhon is this. I sure wish we had you in our company to teach our sales people more about this and more about that..."
Now with the aid of modern technology, digital recording and video, John F. Lawhon becomes your company's full-time teacher. With the video classroom study plan , he is teaching full time in the video viewing room/area five days a week, with two sessions in the morning and two sessions in he afternoon to allow for all salespeople and trainees' schedules. These are for full-day sessions expanding in detail on the skills needed to achieve each of the ten simple objectives that will make them the most productive salespeople in the industry. Each session is broken down into nine mini-sessions that are played in rotation each week. Probably more classroom teaching than is obtained in a semester at universities and colleges.
This schedule permits a new sales trainee to be enrolled any Monday and get the entire thirteen-week course in sequence. It permits refresher assignments and classroom help for salespeople with problem areas as common objectives are discussed during break assignments.
AUDIO TAPE HOME ASSIGNMENTS
John F. Lawhon reinforces the reading of Selling Retail© and The Selling Bible© and what is taught in the classroom. Salespeople can check out or be assigned specific tapes to help with any problem area. They actually look forward to listening to the audio tapes on their way to and from work. They are more motivated when each day begins. The Selling Bible© on Audio is a perpetual aid for managements while it greatly increases the rate and scope of comprehension for salespeople during Level Three.
(Over the past three years, in response to questions from retail sales managers, John F. Lawhon has worked on a project we call "Success in the Works". While its primary objective has been to fully define the job of the manager, it has proved to be an excellent aid to sales managers in planning sales meetings. The audio tapes which he recorded to accompany the text provides information, motivation and updates for both management and their salespeople and are often used as the basis of planned sales meetings. These are integrated into the SRI™ Retail Management & Sales Education System© Administrator's guide.)
CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE PLAN
Those salespeople using the Prospective Customer Accounting Card wind up with their own personal customer file in your company. Over 80% of those customers return by appointment to buy within one year.
THE SRI™ FABRIC PROTECTION SELLING PLAN
This is the most successful selling plan ever developed. It was introduced in 1986 at a cost of $199. One of the largest companies was charging $19.95, $29.95, and $39.95 to treat a chair, love seat or sofa and selling fewer than 30% of the upholstered furniture buyers. They raised the prices to $60, $70, and $80 respectively. Their first full calendar month they sold over 80% of upholstered furniture buyers fabric protection and put over one million dollars additional net profit in the bottom line. Today, over ten years later, if you are not selling over 90% of the upholstered furniture buyers fabric protection or leather care, you can't work there. They know when you are not following the plan.
The plan was developed to prove to retail managers and salespeople just one basic fact: What gets accurately measured on an ongoing basis will be improving on an ongoing basis.
The retailer has an accurate record of all upholstered furniture sales and the salesperson that makes the sale. When the percentage sold is used as the measurement, it guarantees ongoing improvement in that salesperson's competence when it comes to selling fabric protection and leather care. To my knowledge this plan, when followed, has never failed to work for even the weakest salespeople in the industry.
This simple plan added so much value to what was being sold without adding one penny in cost that over 90% of the prospective customers were willing to pay over three times as much and wind up far more satisfied.
This most important session of this seminar shows another plan that when followed may not have every salesperson selling over 90% of their prospective customer contacts in your company. But when this one discipline of the plan is used to educate and motivate, it will have every one of them selling over 30% of their prospective customer contacts in your company within one year. With or without the Internet competition in a industry that wasn't selling 15% before the Internet competition started.
What causes this to happen?
When the simple Fabric Protection Selling Plan is followed, it does the two things Bill Gates says the retailer's salespeople must do if they is to survive the Internet competition:- It adds over three times the value to product making it worth over three times the price asked to the upholstered furniture buyer.
- But, it does more because it greatly increases the perceived quality fo this company's fabric protection.
If you are using this plan and it is not working at least this well for you, it can be within 30 days after you or one of your people return without costing you one penny more. If you are not using the Fabric Protection plan, you can take it home with you for $199 and get this off and running in your company.
When you or your people leave this seminar they will have another plan with them that may not have your salespeople selling over 90% of the prospective customers they come in contact with, but within one year or less, it will have every one following this plan selling over 30% in an industry that doesn't sell 15% and that puts your salespeople in the top 10% of the industry and it will have cost your company almost nothing.
Keep following the plan and within the second year, most of your salespeople should be selling over 40% which puts them within the top 1%! With no added cost to the company. This percentage will be increasing the longer the plan is followed.
We even have plans that accelerate this improvement with costs that are insignificant in relationship to the effects of the improvement. Make it prove itself one step at a time staring with the fabric protection selling plan. It, by itself, will have paid for the cost of everything else we have to offer within 30 days even in small companies.
PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE
This plan is the most effective plan for obtaining product knowledge ever developed. It gets more of this essential information in the salesperson's brain within weeks than most acquire over a lifetime of selling. It also taps the individual salesperson into the wellspring of knowledge that establishes learning objectives. This is its most valuable asset. It causes routine ongoing learning that keeps the salesperson perpetually up-to-date with the products in your company with little or no management help.
CERTIFIED SALES PROFESSIONALS
The SRI™ System©, when disciplines are consistent, will have salespeople selling over 30% of their prospective customer contacts within a few months. (Current industry surveys show that salespeople sell fewer than 15% of their prospective customer contacts.)
When their average has been over 30% for 90 days, that's proven consistency and SRI certifies them at the Bronze Level. They are selling with the top 10% of their industry.
When the average has been over 40% for four months, salespeople are certified at the Silver Level. They are selling with the top 1% in their industry.
When their average has been over 50% for six months, they are certified at the Gold Level and that puts them in the top 1 out of 1,000 in their industry.- One year average above 60% certifies at 1st Diamond Level.
- One year average above 70% certifies at 2nd Diamond Level.
- One year average above 80% certifies at 3rd Diamond Level.
When all salespeople in a showroom are certified at Bronze or above, that store carries the SRI™ Certified Sales Professional Certification.
Questions
CALL SRI™ 1-800-444-6141 FOR DATES, RESERVATIONS & INFORMATION!
I hope you or your key people will join me for the 3-day Seminar. I think I can shed new light on the problems you are having in every area of your company, and save you a lot of time and money with some very simple procedures.
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Transforming Ideas to Action
"John F. Lawhon is a master of compelling illustrations that transform powerful ideas into easy-to-follow instructions. Follow him he's been there and he knows the way!"
Vice President, Tandy Corporation
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