Selling to consumers in a retail setting can be challenging (I know, all selling can be challenging). In retail, we have little control over our prospects. They can exit our store at any time. We don’t have offices or desks or conference rooms to anchor our interaction. We typically don’t have any privacy with our prospect as we might in their office or in our office. They often have children or other family members with them when they need individual attention, or don’t have a family member with them in order to move ahead with a purchase.

But we have several collaborative selling devices available to us in retail that can aid our selling in the retail sector. Use of these devices can increase customer engagement and increase our sales effectiveness. Here are three of my favorite retail selling techniques that use collaboration to its best advantage.

1. The Turn-Over.

Sellers of big ticket retail items can benefit from having a system in place so you can turn-over your prospect to another sales representative (or sales manager) if things are not progressing appropriately. A turn over can be particularly helpful in one call close sales situations.

Let’s imagine you sell boats and watercraft, and a couple comes to your store. You spend an hour with them discussing their needs and desires and looking at a product that interests them, but then progress seems to stall. You haven’t been able to develop the rapport that you want, and the relationship between you and your shoppers seems to lack energy.

It’s time to bring someone new into the relationship! Prospects with different personalities sometimes have preferences for salespeople with certain personalities, and your personality may not be the right one for this couple on this day. So bring on “the turn-over!” Here’s how to execute one.

Excuse yourself from your couple and fetch another sales representative or your sales manager. Quickly tell them you want to do a turn-over. Bring him or her back to your prospects and introduce everyone. Then, summarize the action so far: “Megan, this is Linda and Tony, and they’ve been looking at the XRT-100. They really like its [insert feature or specification here], and they have some good friends who have an XRT-90 which they purchased about five years ago. We’ve talked about the [insert feature here] and the [insert feature here] and aren’t sure they would use them.”

Continue the summary until Megan has a very clear picture of what’s going on, and then be quiet. Megan should now take the lead and start asking questions of the couple to either clarify or confirm the information you just shared with Megan and then move ahead with the selling process. You hang out with Megan and the couple for a few minutes while quietly observing. Then, you quietly slip out of the picture. Megan is now the primary sales representative for Linda and Tony and you are free to move on.

Turn-overs need to be a part of the company culture and guidelines in place so everyone knows how to initiate one and how to step into one. It needs to be practiced like any element of selling.

When Linda and Tony buy, you split the commission. Since half commission from a buying customer is better than full commission from a non-buying customer, everyone comes out a winner when a successful turn over is executed.

2. Team Selling

In police work they have “good cop / bad cop.” In selling, we have “team selling.”

“Good cop / bad cop” is used to manipulate a suspect through intimidation and fear, and then removal of that intimidation and fear to achieve the desired result. Although some companies use team selling in a similar manner (to intimidate), team selling can be used in a more comfortable and ethical manner to help move the sales process forward.

Team selling is most effective not when you use it to gang up against your prospect and close the sale through intimidation, but when two salespeople bring different strengths to the table. These strengths might be contrasting personality types, contrasting knowledge, contrasting experience, or something else.

Although the team selling concept can be introduced to your shoppers at the outset of the sales interaction, it’s usually more effective if you wait until some level of trust and rapport exists between an initial salesperson and the prospect. It’s even better to wait until some progress is made at identifying the prospects’ needs and desires.

Here’s a team selling scenario: It’s a slow Tuesday morning at the car lot until prospect Ben enters the store. You greet Ben and introduce yourself. Within a few minutes, Ben feels some level of comfort with you and he’s explaining why he’s there and what he needs.

To begin team selling, you excuse yourself and retrieve the other team member. You bring Rachel into the conversation and introduce him to Ben by saying, “Ben, this is Rachel, and she also has an interest in hybrid vehicles, so she’s going to join us as we chat if you don’t mind.” Rachel and Ben shake hands, Rachel shares some niceties, and if Ben seems amenable to the situation, you have now successfully initiated a team selling initiative.

You selected Rachel for some asset that you yourself don’t possess. It might be her analytical nature, her knowledge, or her killer body, but team selling works best when each team member offers distinct advantages to the conversation.

You and Rachel split the commission for the sale.

3. The Product Expert.

John and Danielle enter your furniture store. You learn that they are looking for a pair of recliners for their new cabin. As you get into the sales interaction, you excuse yourself and bring Charles into the conversation like this:

“Charles, this is Danielle and this is John, and they’re looking for a pair of recliners for their new cabin they purchased on Lake Whisper by Big Falls. Charles and Danielle, I wanted you to meet Charles because nobody knows more about recliners than he does.”

You and Charles continue selling together. Consumers love experts, and the more specialized the expert, the greater the likelihood this will influence your shopper’s decision.

You and Charles split your commission for the sale.

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Whereas the internet has become a significant sales tool for B2B sales people, the internet has gone largely untapped as a resource for business-to-consumer sales professionals. The internet is not magic, but it can help the consumer sales person in four ways:

1. Research the Prospect

Just as in B2B sales, it’s good to know about your prospect. If you sell in a way that allows research before your sales interaction (I’m thinking about those who sell in customers’ homes, or those who sell insurance or financial products, and I’m sure there are others where it would be applicable, too), a quick Google or LinkedIn search can shed light on important personal and business information about your prospects.

But you don’t just have to stop at a Google search; there are many other sites that can provide valuable intelligence on your consumer prospect. One of my favorites is OpenSecrets. You can look up any individual and see which political campaigns they have contributed to in the past. It may be time to remove that campaign sticker from your SUV before parking in front of Mr. Smith’s house for your appointment tomorrow afternoon.

2. Learn How to Sell

There’s a wealth of excellent information available on the internet for those who want to improve their sales knowledge. This site is a good example. And best of all, it’s free. The downside, though, is that there is a lot of misinformation about selling on the internet, so a word of caution is in order.

Find a sales expert and subscribe to their blog and their email newsletter. Subscribe to podcasts. Take in all the rich learning opportunity the internet offers retail and B2C sales people.

3. Connect with Fellow Salespeople

The B2B sales community has responded in a big way to the networking and connection opportunities the internet offers. B2C sales people have been slower to take advantage of these sites. But networking isn’t only for B2B sales people; it’s also for B2C salespeople.

You can learn from fellow sales people who sell in the same industry but live on the other end of the continent. You can connect with sales people in different industries who may have connections for you to develop into potential leads or strategic partnerships. You can connect with sales trainers and experts in your area of selling. You can even with connect with consumers on sites they visit.

4. Connect with Potential Customers

I believe every B2C sales person who sells big ticket retail products, or sells in customers’ homes, or sells real estate, insurance, or financial products should have their own website and blog and a search engine optimization strategy to become recognized online as an expert in their field. This is important in 2009, but it’s going to be even more important five years from now, so those who start now will have an advantage.

Even if you’re employed by a company who has its own website and online marketing program, you need to create an identity for yourself in your industry and with your market. After all, you may very well be working for a different employer in five years, and you want your online reputation to follow you to your new company or business venture. The only way to do that online is to think like an individual, not just an employee.

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