How to appeal to all five senses of a customer

Mahabir Danwar Jewellers focuses on training its staff to offer excellent customer service, firm in the belief that sales will be an automatic outcome of it. The jeweller has also seen increased confidence and cooperation in the team, with regular training sessions.

For Mahabir Danwar Jewellers of Kolkata, training is a continuous exercise to keep the staff up to date with the industry’s trends. Believing that salespersons are the face of every organization, and that their conduct while interacting with customers decides the fate of every sale, the company has been successfully conducting training sessions for more than a decade. GOOD SERVICE = GOOD SALES Speaking about the company’s training module, Vijay Soni, Director, Mahabir Danwar Jewellers, says, “Sale is a byproduct of the services we offer. If the service is good, sales automatically improves. So, our main goal behind the training sessions is to teach salespersons to provide complete satisfaction to customers by offering the right solutions to them.” The company’s initial training sessions were focused on areas such as personal grooming, incorporating leadership qualities, teamwork, etc. Then, the focus shifted to enhancing selling skills and know-how of various techniques required by a salesperson to close a sale. “Every human being has five senses – sight, touch, sound, smell and taste – and salespersons are required to touch all these senses to influence a customer,” Soni says.

STORY-TELLING IS IMPORTANT

The company’s training module guides staffers right from starting the conversation with customers to closing a sale with them. “As we deal in high-end products, the staff need to study in detail the frequently asked questions (FAQs) so that they sound knowledgeable to our customers. They must have complete knowledge about the products they are selling,” explains Soni. Story-telling has become an important aspect of selling in today’s time. For example, in case of diamond jewellery, the customer might want to know from which mine the diamonds were unearthed, where they were cut and polished and finally made into a piece of jewellery. In case of jewellery collections, they would want to know more about the insights behind the collection. So, Mahabir Danwar Jewellers’ training sessions are focused on these aspects. “Training is not a one-day or few-session process; it should be conducted on a regular basis over a long period of time to achieve the desired results,” Soni says.

CONFIDENCE IN THE TEAM

Mahabir Danwar Jewellers conducts at least nine training sessions in a year. Over the years, the management has observed a behavioural change in the overall working of the staff. For example, earlier, during rush hours, salespersons were not mentally prepared to simultaneously deal with multiple customers. They used to get nervous and confused at the same time. However, regular training sessions have instilled confidence in them to deal with the situation successfully. It has also improved teamwork, as whenever there is a situation wherein a salesperson is not able to efficiently handle 2-3 customers at the same time, they smartly pass on some of the customers to other sales staff without disturbing the flow. The relationship between seniors and juniors in the team has also improved markedly after the training sessions, with the seniors realizing that without the support of junior staff, they cannot achieve good results. As for training freshers and newcomers, the company first evaluates the knowledge and skills of new joinees. On the basis of this evaluation, separate training modules are prepared for them. When they reach a certain level of learning, they are allowed join the ongoing professional training sessions.

As we deal in high-end products, the staff need to study in detail the frequently asked questions (FAQs) so that they sound knowledgeable to our customers. They must have complete knowledge about the products they are selling

Vijay Soni, Director, Mahabir Dhanwar Jewellers, Kolkata