Retail Selling Skills

Duration: 1 Day
Time: 8:30am-4:00pm

Creating Impactful Retail Experiences

"Make a customer, not a sale." – Katherine Barchetti

Great retail salespeople don’t just sell - they serve, connect, and build loyalty. Yet many staff lack the confidence or strategy to do this effectively without feeling pushy. In today’s experience-driven marketplace, it’s the subtle, skilled approaches that turn browsers into buyers, and first-time customers into loyal brand ambassadors.

This hands-on course equips retail professionals with the tools to understand their responsibilities, deliver service excellence, and drive sales in a natural, customer-focused way. Participants will leave confident, proactive, and ready to exceed expectations at every interaction.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

• Retail floor sales staff
• Newly appointed retail supervisors and sales managers
• Professionals in customer-facing retail roles aiming to sharpen their effectiveness

HOW YOU WILL BENEFIT

• Strengthen your ability to deliver memorable customer service
• Master proactive selling techniques that feel authentic and customer-centred
• Develop sharper listening and interaction skills to create positive impressions
• Improve how you respond to complaints and difficult situations
• Learn to see objections as sales opportunities, not barriers  

WHAT WILL BE COVERED

Introduction

• The role of the retail sales agent
• Why service and subtle selling go hand-in-hand
• The impact of excellent customer experience on business success

Understanding customer service

• Service excellence – what it looks like in a retail context
• Moments of truth – recognising critical customer interactions
• Service chain – how your role impacts the bigger picture
• Understanding your customers – needs, expectations, and emotional drivers

Creating positive impressions

• Good interaction skills – from greeting to farewell
• The 70-30 principle – mastering the balance between listening and speaking
• Being a good listener – asking the right questions, hearing the real answers
• Using our voices correctly – tone, pace, and clarity
• Body language signals – reading and responding to customer cues
• Overall appearance – projecting professionalism and approachability

Selling in a proactive manner

• Why we need to proactively sell – the value to the customer and the business
• Sales questioning techniques – uncovering true needs
• A case in point – applying techniques through real-world examples
• Objections are opportunities – reframing resistance
• Selling the benefits, not the product – linking features to values
• High touch, low pressure – mastering subtle, relationship-driven selling

Ensuring customer retention

• Worst customer experiences – what not to do
• Our negative beliefs about customers – how they impact behaviour
• Reasons for complaints – prevention through proactive service
• The benefit of complaints – using feedback as a loyalty tool