The golden rules of the clothing trade. Merchant secrets for successful trading. good luck and be rich

For sales to go well, you need to know and use some rules, consider the main ones.

The first golden rule of the seller:

"The right approach to the buyer is the key to a successful sale."

When a potential buyer has just entered the store after 10 seconds, you need to get close enough to him, in about 2-3 steps and say hello: “Good afternoon”, “Hello”.

Ideal if your appeal arouses the interest of the buyer. Also, along with a greeting, to attract attention, they ask questions: “Did you come to us for ...?” "Are you interested in discounted products?"

Don't expect the buyer to show interest in the seller. Greetings must be spoken in person to the buyer.

Common mistakes:

The expectation that the buyer will contact you, you are not a vending machine, you can be the first to establish contact, since you are a seller.

You can’t greet a person in the back, it can scare away and this is a sign of bad taste.

No need to shout through the entire store (salon, restaurant), this is done only in the market.

You can’t say hello because of any obstacle, for example, the reception prevents you from making eye contact.

The second golden rule of the seller:

“We find out what the buyer needs and offer.”

After the greeting, it is important to find out what interests the buyer. To do this, you need to ask what exactly the client needs and offer several products. If the buyer does not like the offered goods, you need to ask again, clarify what the buyer would like.

Common mistakes:

No need to wait for the buyer to choose the product himself. It is necessary to help him with a choice, to offer the most competitive positions.

It is impossible to immediately offer absolutely all goods from the doorstep, without a greeting and clarifying questions.

Do not fully figure out what the buyer wants and offer him the wrong products.

Third rule:

“We explain to the buyer not only the properties of the product, but also its benefits.”

When listing the characteristics of a product or service, the buyer does not always understand how it will be useful to him in everyday life. When describing a product or service, it is necessary to give real-life examples of what benefits the buyer will receive after the purchase.

Common mistakes:

Description of the product without listing the benefits.

The fourth golden rule of the seller:

"Special offers and promotions help sell."

For the entire conversation with a potential buyer, you need to talk about a maximum of two ongoing promotions at the moment. It is necessary to talk about promotions at the beginning of the conversation, in the middle and at its end.

The main thing is to convey to the client all the benefits that he will receive by participating in the action. If the buyer is interested and wants to take part in a special offer, he needs to tell all the details of participation.

Common mistakes:

Communicate with the client without informing him about promotions. This is the biggest mistake, because stocks are the strongest selling tool.

You need to start talking about the promotion with very tempting benefits, and all the details later, if the client is interested.

You don't have to say too much. The more unnecessary words, the less you will be understood.

Additional Information

Each buyer has his own way to purchase, each person is guided by his own decision-making factors.

Therefore, people do not buy right away, they start thinking, putting it off for later, and as a result, they get a lot of idle, unproductive communications with customers.

You need to constantly improve your knowledge of your target audience. And learn to overcome objections. All this is based on the psychology of people's behavior, as well as what problem your product can solve.

In order to improve your skills, I recommend that you read Harry Friedman's book No Thanks, I'm Just Watching.
This book outlines the entire process of working with a potential client. Finding out needs, competently demonstrating the product, how to deal with objections and closing the deal.

Ideal conditions for the seller - cheap, unique product, which has no competitors in the market. Alas, this is an absolute rarity or a dream. In fact, trade is a sphere of permanent fighting for the buyer, or rather, for his wallet. Is it possible to win without cheating and cheating? Everything depends on you. And your desire to use at least a few of the 10 secrets of successful sales:

1. Your product is unique. How many people sell pears? Of course. Imagine a situation when a batch of Duchess with small dark dots on the peel arrives at the warehouse. Catastrophe?! But if you think logically, this external defect is only evidence that the fruits have not gone through all the stages of chemical processing during cultivation and have not been processed in all sorts of ways for long-term storage. If you know this, then why not inform potential buyers about it, most of whom are adherents healthy eating and worry about environmental safety products.

Accompany the batch of pears with a letter of recommendation explaining this "flaw". Notify your partners working in retail network, that you will be ready to pick up unsold goods if your information is not confirmed.

8. Be willing to give in. Business is unpredictable. Do not sprinkle ashes on your head by making a mistake. The main thing is to take it into account and treat it as far as possible with a sense of humor. In the early 60s, when color TVs were extremely rare and expensive. In one of the European countries, television broadcasters reported that if several pairs of colored nylon stockings were pulled over the TV screen, the image would turn out to be in color. After this message, people stormed the departments selling stockings and tights. And the next day, a huge crowd of indignant consumers gathered at the television center. The deceived fellow citizens were hardly able to calm down, declaring that it was a joke. Nevertheless, customers had to use colored stockings and tights for their intended purpose, and soon this accessory came into fashion.

9. Know everything about the product and even more. The buyer understands the difference between simply praising the product and truthful information about it. Therefore, success is often achieved by those sellers who know their business inside and out. A real merchant, even becoming the owner of several large supermarkets, had to start his journey from the position of a simple seller. Anyone who sells tea should re-read a ton of literature about this drink and taste all its possible varieties. And those who specialize in furs should at least visit a furrier's workshop.

10. Be mindful of your customers. Every seller becomes a buyer at some point. In order to master the skill of sales, you just need to remember and analyze which of the sellers with whom you had to communicate left best experience and why? Manners, voice timbre, facial expressions of these people - all this must be adopted.

Rule number 1: "The right approach to the client is the first step to selling."

How to:

10 seconds after the client entered, approach him at a distance of 2-3 steps and greet him (“Hello”, “Good afternoon”, etc.). Ideal if the greeting and the first appeal will arouse the interest of the client.

This can be achieved by provoking questions: “Good afternoon. Would you like to purchase…?” or clarifying questions: “Good afternoon. Are you for ... or for ....?” We speak the first phrases to the face of the client, eye contact is important.

Main mistakes:

• Wait for the client to show interest in you (this is a function vending machine, not the seller)
• Greeting in the back to the client (this is not decent and scares away)
• A welcome cry through the entire salon (reminiscent of a bazaar)
• Greeting from the reception (obstacle prevents contact)

Rule number 2: "Find out what you need, then offer"

How to:

Ask two or three clarifying questions, understand what the client is interested in, and only after that make a few suggestions. If the proposals did not interest the client, it is necessary to ask a few more clarifying questions and, based on the information received, make more proposals.

Main mistakes:

• Wait for the client to choose the product himself (the seller's task is to help the client and promote the most competitive commercial offers companies)
• Immediately after the greeting, offer all the goods in a row (without information about what the client needs, it is difficult to make an offer that is interesting for him)
• Ask a couple of questions, and so do not clarify the need of the client, present him the entire product

Rule number 3: "In addition to the properties of the product, pronounce its benefits"

How to:

When making an offer to the client and naming the properties of the proposed product or service, say the benefits that this property will bring. To convince, we give examples from life, demonstrate the product, that is, we give time to become its owner.

Main mistakes:

• Name many properties without benefits (the characteristics of the device have little to do with the daily life of a person)

Rule number 4: "Use promotions and special offers"

How to:

During the entire dialogue, use at least two promotions to motivate the client to buy here and now. Promotions should be offered at the greeting, during the presentation of the product, just before the end of the contact. Offer a share with a short and simple appeal or question, reflecting the main benefit of the action.

After the client has become interested in a special offer, pronounce the mechanics of the promotion and all the conditions.

Main mistakes:

• Communicating with a client without offering shares (this is the most stupid thing possible, shares are the main tool of the seller)
• Immediately pronounce all the conditions and nuances of the action (the client needs to be interested by saying about the main "raisin", then having interested the person, tell the details)
• A lot of unnecessary words, the more words, the less they understand you.

Before we move on to the disclosure of the topic, successful trading in things, I would like to say the main nuances in working with this direction. The main thing is your personal attitude to business, trade and communication with people. If you like it, and you have found yourself in it, then all the rules and recommendations, which will be discussed further, will work. You should enjoy the process of organizing your business, negotiating with the buyer, successful deals that will bring you profit, and failures that are also inevitable, and with the right attitude can be a strong lesson for you and teach you to work even better. If you love your job, then all the ways and rules that will be discussed further in combination with your desire to work and develop in own business will become number one in the clothing market.

The first step, from which a successful clothing trade begins, is to decide on the format of the store and its concept.

Beginning of the clothing business. Verified, step by step recommendations to start a business
The first step, from which a successful clothing trade begins, is to decide on the format of the store and its concept. What exactly are you going to sell - men's clothing or women's clothing, perhaps both. Maybe you are interested in selling children's clothes, or you have a large store where you can combine all departments.

The second step is to consider the state of the market, that is, competition.

Approximately how many outlets are there with the same or similar product group as yours? Weak and strengths your competitor. Be sure to monitor and analyze such outlets. Especially consider what kind of goods are not enough in their outlets. This will be one of yours. the best benefits trumps, so to speak. It will also be a very strong step to first conduct a brief social survey of the population where you are going to do business. What exactly is the main lack of clothes for the population? What would you like to see more often? What does not suit you much in working with current outlets? Perhaps, the price, range, delivery time of the right clothes when buying under the order, and so on. Only constant analysis gives a complete picture of your competitors and the real needs of your potential customers. Be flexible in this matter and never be lazy.

The third step is the location of your trading space.

That is the area where you are going to trade. Naturally, it is better to locate the outlet where the highest traffic of people is. In the first place here are shopping centers, hypermarkets, supermarkets. Also indoor and clothing markets. Definitely accommodation in mall or the hypermarket requires additional investments. And sometimes quite large, because of the payment of the rent of the premises. But the probability and possibility of earning there is naturally higher. However, do not be upset in advance if, for example, you are not ready to spend additional funds on expensive rent and can only afford to trade on clothing market. At proper organization earnings from a retail outlet in the market often exceed the amount of earnings in a prestigious shopping center. The main thing is careful planning. And the ability to make the most of the features of the particular area where you will trade.

The fourth step is the registration of your business activity in terms of the legislation of your country.

The main thing here is honesty and transparency in work and business relations with inspecting legislative bodies and tax authorities. If you plan to work in your business for a long time, then just don’t think about how you can “not pay extra”, “not show something”, “hide”. Either way, you will be exposed. And hiding some trifle from the law, you risk losing a license for the further activities of an entrepreneur. And all your work, efforts, perhaps long-term ideas can become in vain at one moment, and even worse, lose the trust of your regular customers. Therefore, work honestly, and then you will sleep peacefully and with a clear conscience.

The fifth step is to find a supplier of goods.

One or possibly several. According to different assortment and group of your goods. Be sure to find out in detail the duration of the supplier's work on the market, his reputation and reviews from other entrepreneurs, working conditions and delivery of goods, work with penalties. Compare supplier prices. Be interested in discounts with constant cooperation. Communicate personally with each and find out all the details and nuances to the end. Orders, as an option, can be made from wholesale suppliers or foreign ones, a lot also depends on your volume of purchases. As a rule, many entrepreneurs work with wholesale clothing suppliers.

The sixth step is a lease agreement, which you will need to conclude with a clothing or covered market, or a hypermarket, depending on where you decide to start your business.

Here you need to be attentive to the clauses of a specific contract that you will need to sign. The main points that are important to consider are the term of the contract, payment utilities(at whose expense it will be made), who pays for the repair. To sign the contract, you will need to bring the relevant business registration documents with you.

The seventh step is the first purchase of goods and its delivery in assortment to you, to the point of sale.

Carefully check the complete availability of all accompanying documentation, namely, invoices for goods, certificates of conformity and declarations for goods. If any documents are missing, you may lose the goods, in the form of confiscation from the inspecting regulatory authorities. Therefore, show maximum attention and exactingness when receiving the goods, especially when you are only the first time you encounter this and start business relationships with your suppliers.

The eighth step will be finding and hiring salespeople to work in your store.

I’ll tell you right away if it is appropriate in your specific work. Perhaps you plan to trade personally yourself, or you want to look for and hire sellers to work a little later, so to speak, after the initial promotion of your business. So, if you still plan to work with sellers in your store, then the information said in this step will be useful to you. It all starts with the search for responsible, competent and hardworking employees. You can advertise in the newspaper, or use the relevant sites on the Internet, where people are looking for work. In addition to the ability to trade, your salespeople must be disciplined and clearly follow the chain of command. After you find the number of sellers you need, and decide to cooperate with them, be sure to officially employ them in accordance with the rules labor law and with a corresponding entry in their labor books. Always negotiate with sellers employment contracts. And each of them will need to get honey. book. By doing everything right, and in accordance with the law, you form a positive and sustainable image for yourself. This will inevitably increase your credibility among buyers, as well as professional managers for sales, which in turn will willingly come to you to work on mutually beneficial terms. And this will give you the opportunity to increase your conversion, customer traffic and profit growth.

Six golden rules for trading things

The rules that we will now consider in detail are rightfully called golden ones, as they have proven their efficiency in trading things one hundred percent. And most importantly, they have been tested by many years of experience successful businessmen in this area.

The first rule is never take clothes for sale.

Before starting your work, you carefully calculate all the possible costs associated with paying rent, taxes, salaries to your salespeople. In this case, you can forget about the product if you take it for sale, thinking that by doing so you will reduce costs. This is a serious mistake, since the goods are mostly sold for sale when it is difficult to sell, or the price is not seasonal. This means that you will have a very low demand for this product, and you can work in the red.

The second rule is setting a markup on the goods you purchase.

It should reach 100 percent. In any case, during your first purchases, while you gain experience and stability in working with the market. You must accurately calculate your profitability, that is, income and expenses, and the net profit received. Then later, when you already have more experience in working with suppliers, with your client base, you will certainly be able to create your own discount system, perhaps develop discount cards for regular customers, and this will increase the flow of customers and interest in your point of sale. In general, always try to buy quality and new clothes as cheaply as possible, but to sell it already at the most profitable and appropriate modern market price. Always be profitable.

The third rule is to plan your budget for the purchase of goods.

The cost of creating a clothing inventory, or in other words, the formation of an assortment, will be the largest and, perhaps, the main share of your investment in the market. Sometimes it is 60 or even 85 percent of the main amount you invest. The most successful clothing stores purchase clothes in advance and therefore receive an extremely small price for the purchase of goods, but the markup should already increase, as already mentioned above, up to 100 percent at least. This formula works very stable and promising.

The fourth rule is the correct work with the remnants of goods.

Always try to buy more product than you plan to implement it. Here the layout and presentation of goods on the shelves plays an important role. In other words, range. One of the postulates of successful trading says the following - 20 percent of the assortment gives as much as 80 percent of all profits. However, this is only possible with a full showcase of goods. Let your customer choose. Since all people have their own specific and specific shopping motives, and they are completely different for everyone, although sometimes they are a little similar. It is extremely rare to take and sell all the remnants of the store completely to the last thing. For the thing that you have been in the store for a long time, or the seasonality of the goods has lost its force, you can always make a discount, highlight it separately, that it was correctly and clearly presented. But, your shelves should always be stocked with merchandise. Perhaps, to store large volumes of goods, you will need a warehouse, or a separate place in your hall, if the volume of your store allows. Having correctly understood the needs of the client, you can trade things directly from your warehouse. It is for this that you need to buy a large amount of things so that you are always in trend and compare favorably with competitors in the market.

Fifth rule - Constantly replenish the showcase with new goods.

Perhaps some new fashion has appeared, or new thing from famous designer and so on. The fact is that it emphasizes your image as a professional businessman in the market. And your customers will certainly appreciate it. Buyers who constantly visit your outlet automatically get used to your assortment and product items on the shelf. If you constantly replenish the shelf with exclusive, new models, people will know that for all new models you need to go to you. You will get an increase in sales. Customers will be constantly loyal to you and your product. Some entrepreneurs believe that it is necessary to sell the old product, then buy a new one. This is a misconception and an erroneous approach in sales. Constantly update your positions and thanks to this, your buyers will look differently at those more outdated positions that you have left. Since you will constantly change the display, add new items and the old ones will sell better.

Rule #6 - Don't end seasons with zero balance.

Very few businessmen are clearly aware of the fact that it is almost impossible to return the full money that you have invested in a product. Since the very filling of the inventory will constantly grow, change. That is why, a certain amount of the balance sometimes has to be discounted or written off. Or sell your old leftovers at cost price. Which is also not always beneficial, of course. You can try to give the goods for sale. One of the most effective tricks here is to lay a reserve fund, counting in advance on a possible markdown or write-off of goods. The main idea of ​​this recommendation is that usually all merchants reduce prices for goods closer to the end of the seasons, suspend the purchase of goods in order to end the season with the rest zero. Yes, of course, to a certain extent it is correct, but also a little dangerous, because in this situation, you can finish the season without a trace. This fact will reduce the volume of trade. It will also inevitably affect the work with the next season. Often, non-seasonal goods are willingly bought by people due to the low price for it in a certain period of time. Therefore, summing up, it is important to note that the remains in in large numbers very necessary to keep round trading year. Then you will always have an assortment, demand for goods, regular loyal customers, and, of course, turnover and profit.

Finally, I want to tell you - always work with good mood, give it to your customers, employees, if you work with sellers. In general, always work with enthusiasm, enjoy your favorite activity, and you will always be successful and leading businessmen in the trade of things.

Successful sales to you.

1. DO NOT COUNT TAKE CLOTHES FOR REALIZATION

Usually, start-up entrepreneurs take into account investments in the renovation of the premises, shop equipment, rent, but at the same time they forget about the product, hoping to take it for sale and get by with minimal costs.

This is their first serious systemic error, which puts an end to the very possibility of making a business profitable. Clothing for sale in most cases is given when it is impossible to sell it on an advance payment due to inconsistency price to quality or season, and therefore it will not be in demand, and it will not be possible to make a sufficiently high margin on it. And this is the second important rule:

2. MAKE AN INITIAL MARKUP OF 100% AND HIGHER

A fairly common myth is that the price should be as low as possible, it is better to make a smaller margin and earn on turnover. However, in order to earn the same amount at a lower margin, turnover must grow. in geometric progressions.
This leads to the third rule:

3. PLAN YOUR PRODUCT BUDGET

The experience of successful clothing stores testifies to an indisputable fact: they planned to buy goods in advance, thereby obtaining the lowest possible purchase price and increasing the margin. Inventory costs account for the lion's share of all investment in opening a store and often reach up to 50-80% of this amount.

Ignoring this truth and inherent in our compatriots eternal hope for "maybe" from the very beginning transfer the project to the category of stillborn. As the classic said: "Money in the morning - chairs in the evening." If you want to sell a product, take the trouble to buy it first. If you do not have enough funding for this main article expenses when opening a store, better don't open up. But let's say the financing problem is solved and you are ready to buy clothes. How much does it need to buy?

4. BUY MORE THAN YOU PLAN TO SELL, CONSIDER YOUR RESIDUE

The law of the genre is the constant presence of sufficient remnants. It is unrealistic to sell goods "at zero": the store cannot successfully work with empty or half-empty shelves. A trivial truth, and most already working entrepreneurs, after reading it, will say: “Of course” - and move on to the next rule. But take your time: not so simple. Let's say, with a full layout, you can put 100 pieces on the trading floor.

What do new entrepreneurs usually do? They buy just 100 pieces, promise the supplier to come in a week, and, happy, cut the red ribbon of the new store. On the first day, buyers buy 10 pieces, naturally the most interesting, the next 5 pieces, then 3 pieces ... and the trade stops. Why? Because the Pareto law comes into play, which says: 20% of the assortment gives 80% of the profit. And you did not replenish the product display on the trading floor in a timely manner, and now buyers are forced to choose the best of the worst. And 20% retail space you are idle.

Conclusion: it is necessary to maintain the balance of goods in the hall every day, and for this you had to buy 150 or even 200 pieces, depending on how often you have the opportunity to receive new product from the supplier. If you don’t have a warehouse, it’s better to fence off part of the trading floor for it, but in no case reduce the exposure, bring and lay out clothes daily to replace the sold one. In addition, nothing prevents you from finding out the needs of the client and offering him something special, especially for him, from the warehouse. Psychologically, this encourages the visitor to buy very well.

5. SYSTEMATICALLY INTRODUCE YOUR NEW PRODUCT

Systematically means preferably weekly. Your regular customers have already seen your collection and they will visit you as often as you update the display. If they come again and see nothing new, they will be disappointed. If they get used to the fact that you have, for example, an update every Thursday, then visiting your store will become a habit for them.

And your new supply is almost guaranteed to be sold out. In addition, in order to bring new models into the hall, you will have to reposition the old models, and most likely, your visitors will see them in a new light and purchase along with the new product. Systematicity in this case gives stability of sales and high customer loyalty. If for some reason you didn’t manage to sell what was planned by the time of the next purchase, then you should still update the assortment. Usually entrepreneurs don't do this and wait until something is sold out before making another purchase.

How nor paradoxically it sounds, but such an attempt to stay within the budget is extremely negative for future sales and profitability of the project as a whole. And so that you are not afraid to go against what seems to you common sense, but in fact it is not, we will talk about the sixth, strategic rule:

6. RESIDUE IS NOT A PROBLEM! DO NOT ATTEMPT TO END THE SEASON WITH ZERO RESIDUE

It is known that businessmen are sympathetic to the fact that the money invested in the repair of the store, are not returned. They also do not expect to sell the equipment at the purchase price in the event of a store closure or relocation and are ready to make a very significant discount in order to get rid of it. What few of them realize, however, is that recovering their inventory investment is almost as difficult. The structure and composition of commodity balances will constantly change, but their value will constantly grow due to the remains of new seasons. Some part will have to be written off, and some will have to be discounted.

But it is possible to sell your stock completely and immediately only at a price several times lower than its cost. Otherwise, there will be only one way out: to give these clothes without any guarantees to someone for sale. Therefore, when evaluating your business, we strongly recommend that you set aside a reserve to cover losses associated with the markdown of the minimum inventory balance. We usually do not want to think that any store will have to close sooner or later, deluding ourselves with the thought that, if this happens, it will not be soon. But life usually corrects our plans without our consent, and those who have been honest with themselves can avoid unnecessary disappointments. Practical benefits this rule is as follows: when the season comes to an end, entrepreneurs begin to reduce prices and stop current purchases in order to finish the season with minimal leftovers and for released funds to buy clothes of the new season.

Everything is logical and such efforts are necessary, but within reasonable limits. It must be understood that it is impossible to finish the season without residue, and that such attempts lead to a sharp and unjustified decrease in turnover. Moreover, the reduction will affect not only the current, but also the next season. For example, if you ended the summer season with stock equal to at least half of your product display, then in January-February, when winter sales begin to drop sharply, your visitors will be happy to purchase this summer product at a discount, which will allow you to maintain turnover during the off-season. That is, the leftovers are not only not a problem, but their presence in sufficient quantities is vital to ensure good sales during the whole year.