Adam Hankinson, Managing Director at Furniture Sales Solutions, shares three New Year’s Resolutions on how to make 2025 your Best Sales Year yet.
I’m sure there are many people reading this who still enjoy making New Year’s resolutions every year, as I do. I love making list and setting outlandish goals anyway, but the new year is always a good time to zoom out for a moment and really challenge yourself to achieve something new.
This year, I want to try something new, by setting all you furniture salespeople reading this a few key resolutions, which if you’re able to persist with, will make 2025 your best sales year ever!
Resolution 1: Become a Beacon of Positivity
A great way to build a friendly store environment that customers enjoy spending time in, is to build a positive and collaborative relationship with your sales team.
Make it your mission to:
Start each day in a positive mood. If you can leave your problems at the door and enter with a genuine smile on your face, you’ll immediately notice a positive change. Positivity is contagious and, before long, your whole team will be feeling happier and more motivated.
Celebrate every win. If your co-workers just closed a sale and they’re happy about it then be the first one to congratulate them. People will naturally re-pay the favour next time you secure a nice order.
Pick others up. When you notice someone’s been let-down by an order, they thought they were guaranteed to be closing, make them a coffee and offer some encouragement. They’ll do the same for you the next time you get knocked-back.
Resolution 2: Ask and You Shall Receive
If you get stuck just ask. Genuine curiosity and interest will get you a long way.
The whole conversation with your customer should be punctuated by great open questions. At the end of the day, you’re trying to find out as much from the customer as you can in order to find them their dream product.
Some questions you could ask could include:
Who’s going to be using it? Or Who’s it for?
What do you have at the moment?
What do you like about it?
What do you want from your new sofa/bed/dining set/etc?
When are you thinking of completing everything by?
Where have you come from today?
Where-abouts in the room is it going?
Why are you thinking of changing?
Why that particular fabric/leather?
How’s your last sofa/bed/dining table/etc been?
Questions like these have 2 huge advantages. Not only will they help you to create a clear picture in your mind so that you’re able to more accurately prescribe them the ideal item, but they’ll also help the customer to decide what it is that they truly want. Often, a customer hasn’t thought much further than “we want a new sofa, bed, dining set, etc”, and “I don’t like what we’ve got at the minute”.
Resolution 3: Make Exceptional Service your North Star
When was the last time you were blown away by the customer service in any store you might have visited? For me, it’s very rare, which is why it’s so easy to stand out!
Smile and welcome every customer genuinely, guide them through the journey of finding their new ideal product, encouraging them to tell you more, asking about the bigger picture (Are they moving house? Are they re-decorating? Etc), and finally, when the sale has concluded, genuinely thank them and walk them to the exit for a friendly goodbye.
Make It Happen
This year, give these resolutions a try! Share them with your team, so that they can hold you accountable and you can encourage each other.
Small changes and improvements like these can result in huge changes when implemented consistently. So, Happy New Year! And here’s to another year of fantastic customer service and exceeding your sales targets.
