1. Retail Practice
Rediscovering the art of selling
Josh Leibowitz
Even after researching products Josh Leibowitz is a principal in
on their own, many customers enter McKinsey’s Miami office.
stores undecided about what to
buy. For retailers, that’s an opportunity
to improve off-line sales in an
increasingly multichannel world.
Retailers as far back as the legen- what they want and just need
dary pioneer Marshall Field once to buy it. Yet McKinsey research
focused intensely on clinching sales indicates that as many as 40 percent
once customers walked into of customers remain open to
stores. But recently, the industry has persuasion once they enter a store,1
been missing opportunities to despite undertaking extensive
make sales. New technologies, exten- product research, reading online
sive retailer Web sites, mobile- reviews, and comparing prices
shopping tools, and in-store Internet on their own. Retailers that fail to
kiosks have separated customers have knowledgeable staff on
from sales associates. Content to let hand to help customers make
consumers research products decisions, or even to create arresting
independently, many retailers have in-store visual marketing materials,
been reducing in-store sales staff are losing sale after potential
and eliminating commission-based sale. More than ever, retailers need a
models. This approach has resulted sales-driven mind-set focused
in lower costs, but it has also on having the right number of sales
1
See David Court, reduced incentives for those left on staff; ensuring those staff are
Dave Elzinga,
the floor to make sales. knowledgeable, well-trained, and
Susan Mulder, and
Ole Jørgen Vetvik, motivated to sell; and providing
“The consumer Many retailers assume that the right in-store experience for
decision journey,”
mckinseyquarterly customers walk into stores for purely customers.
.com, June 2009. transactional purposes: they know

2. 2 October 2010
Bolstering the sales staff
Many retail executives argue they before ultimately going to a store
can’t afford to provide high- to make a purchase. With an average
value sales help. Simple arithmetic selling price of $200 and an
suggests they can’t afford not to. average gross margin of 10 percent,
It’s true that adding frontline staff that or $20 per sale, the cost of hiring
can sell effectively is costly and a good salesperson is recouped by
takes time, and we’re not suggesting selling just one additional product
a return to an old-fashioned, per hour on the floor. When the profit
expensive, labor-intensive sales sys- margin from up-selling or cross-
tem. But there’s a powerful and selling accessories is added, just one
straightforward business case additional sale every two hours
for investing in frontline sales staff: is needed. At one self-help apparel
when done correctly, adding company, for example, providing
salespeople offers one of the more extra sales assistance during select
attractive payback opportunities hours increased the conversion
in retail. rate by 1.5 to 2 times, driving fitting-
room use 37 percent higher
Consider the case of home electron- and recouping the cost of the extra
ics sold through discount stores— human help within an average
the ultimate self-help format, where of 10 to 15 minutes during normal
consumers typically undertake selling hours.
product comparisons independently
Building the right frontline sales force
Watch skilled salespeople at work about their work. Our research
and you soon realize that while selling indicates that, at most, 45 percent
is an art that can be approached of frontline employees across
in a variety of ways, it boils down to multiple retailing sectors have the
four basic steps: open, ask for personality and attributes to be
needs, demonstrate, and close. Sur- effective sellers.2 Retailers need to
prisingly few frontline sales redesign the way they hire and
associates know these steps well, deploy staff into selling roles to
and fewer do all four consistently. attract employees with the person-
2
The survey was At one retailer, for example, we found ality and attributes required to
completed in August that associates failed to ask to succeed. In addition, we found that
2008 and received
close the sale 86 percent of the time. few retailers provide training
responses from
1,675 frontline Having staff that understand with the specificity and quality to
employees across and enjoy the sales process is para- effectively support sales associates
eight retail sub-
sectors: apparel
mount, and that means attracting in their mission to sell more. That
and footwear, the right employees, training leaves even natural salespeople often
department stores, them effectively, and rewarding them unable to answer basic questions
discount stores and
warehouse clubs, appropriately. about their products from potential
drugstores, customers who are increasingly
groceries, large
Effective sellers share common informed (in some categories, more
specialty stores,
off-price retailers, traits: they are motivated by helping than 75 percent appear in the
and small specialty customers, have extroverted store having done extensive indepen-
retailers.
personalities, and are passionate dent research).

3. Rediscovering the art of selling 3
Improving the in-store experience
Better visual merchandising Examining the way consumers
can make a big difference in helping make decisions also makes a
consumers make certain buying difference. At one leading personal-
decisions, accelerating the payback bath-care chain, for example,
on frontline staff. Consider one executives realized that people pre-
self-help retailer that simplified its ferred to shop by “scent” rather
point-of-sale signage for digital cam- than “function”—they preferred all
eras to make comparing products vanilla products in one area,
easier for both consumers and sales rather than all shampoos in one area
staff. Rather than using techno- and all soaps in another. Reorga-
logical jargon such as megapixels nizing the entire merchandising
and zoom sizes, the retailer layout from a function-based to a
instead used “photo-enlargement scent-based display resulted
sizes” and “distance to picture in increased category sales, as
Copyright © 2010 object.” Memory cards emphasized customers bought multiple products
McKinsey & Company. the number of photographs a with the same scent, rather than
All rights reserved.
card could hold, rather than describ- just one. It was a simple but effective
We welcome your ing them in gigabytes. Because change reflecting how consumers
comments on sales staff could use the visual actually shop. Paying attention
this article. Please displays as a way to sell products to to these kinds of customer behaviors
send them to
quarterly_comments@
customers without having to remains invaluable, despite the
mckinsey.com. memorize technical details, they unprecedented access to product
were more confident and achieved information, reviews, and prices that
more sales per hour. consumers have online.
Missed opportunity?