Paying More Money for Exceptional Service
Last year, we were assigned to investigate why some salespeople had significantly higher closing rates with their customers compared to others. There were three salespeople whose closing percentages were more than double those of the middle group. Specifically, the top three were closing sales at 53%, the middle group (comprising fourteen salespeople) had a closing rate of 25%, and the bottom five were only managing to close 16%.
All salespeople were given equal opportunities to interact with customers and worked on a rotational basis, ensuring that everyone dealt with an even amount of customers. Initially, we suspected that the top three might be taking on more customers or perhaps assisting a greater number of referrals and repeat customers. However, we found that aside from the bottom five (who had almost no referrals or repeat business), most salespeople had similar percentages in these categories. Interestingly, the top three actually served around 2% fewer customers each month compared to the mid-tier group. Contrary to our initial beliefs, the top three were not providing better deals; instead, they averaged higher profit margins per sale and sold more products with each transaction, compared to the rest of the team.
To delve deeper into this, we decided to take two approaches. First, we would observe the salespeople directly in the store. Second, we undertook a mystery shopping initiative, where we hired individuals to pose as customers and experience each salesperson’s approach firsthand. Over several months, the mystery shoppers interacted with each salesperson multiple times, though they were not the same individuals shopping each time. What we observed and what was corroborated by the mystery shoppers was a noticeable difference in how the top three salespeople engaged with their customers. Feedback from the mystery shoppers was overwhelmingly positive for the top performers, with common comments including: “So helpful and informative” and “the salesperson took an interest in me.” Many remarked, “I enjoyed my visit,” which starkly contrasted with their experiences with the other sales staff.
During the time of our study, the retail store was making 250 sales each month, with the top three salespeople accounting for over 35% of total sales, all while achieving higher profits and selling more products per transaction. Additionally, these top performers averaged 5% higher in customer satisfaction survey scores, and their clients returned surveys 15% more frequently. The key findings from our study highlighted a clear correlation: customers are more likely to purchase from salespeople they connect with and enjoy interacting with. Furthermore, engaging with these top three salespeople led to customers being more cooperative in the sales process, more open to pricing discussions, and seemed more willing to pay for exceptional service.