SANDY TECHFANATIC

Summary: I want to find ways to maximise my sales. Can anyone suggest the different ways and methods to enhance sale at my showroom Description: I am running a showroom at Vikas Marg, Delhi . The size of Showroom is approximately 2000 Sq. Feet. The products on display are men’s and women’s wear. The women’s wear are mostly pants, jeans, shirts and T-shirts, Suits, winter wear and all the clothing requirements of men excluding the under garments.
RESPONSE – MENTOR1: in order to increase sales many different factors play a role. And some ground work prior to any actions is required.

First of all, you have to know your market.
1.Who is your target? Who are your target customers in the area where your showroom is?
2.What are their needs?
3.What sort of fashion do they like and want?
4. What are the market trends?
5. Is the market high-end, mid-end, low-end?
6. Do you address with your products the right group in the area? Or is there a mis-match between the market and your offerings?
7. According to the market, is the window appropriately designed and dressed?
8.Does the window really reflect your offerings in the store and does it therefore attract the right target group in that area?
9.Do you perhaps have too many items in the window? Would less be more attractive and appealing?
10.Who are the competitors? What is the most successful shop in your area? WHY? What do they do differently? What target group do the competitors and the most successful one approach? How are their windows? How do they follow the market and fashion trends? What advertisement do they do?
11.In this competitor’s context, after having analyzed the market thoroughly, a benchmarking exercise with the competitors would be certainly recommendable!
12.What are the competitors' strength and their weaknesses? What are yours?
13.What are the opportunities in the market and how can you exploit them best? What are the threats you should be aware of and work accordingly against?
14.What is your positioning?
15.How do you approach the customers?
16.Identify improvement areas
You could look at three "tool kits" as I call them:
(A) Sales Framework
- Framework for further sales tools and systematics
- Analysis tool for identification of improvement levers to increase sales performance
- Efficiency and effectiveness focus
Here you have to align your corporate strategy with your sales strategy, process, organization, and people

(B) Sales Growth
- Short-term sales push
- Cross Selling
Here you should align your sales strategy, different sales stimulation tools that should be identified, the opportunity scan, and the direct sales push

(C) Margin Improvement
Here you should re-analyze and evaluate. Readjust your pricing and your sales efficiency

There are different sales stimulation strategies in order to increase sales and it is difficult to make any recommendation or give advice without detailed information. However, to make you aware of the different possibilities, please keep the following in mind:
Changing economic environment requires faster sales performance through simultaneous approach to sales stimulation and cost reduction. There are basically two main strategies depending on the market (the first part I am talking about above):
(1) "V - concept": Sequential approach
- Adapted for growing market environments
- Lean cost structure as prerequisite to leverage sales stimulation activities

(2) "Turned V- concept": Simultaneous approach
- Adapted for stagnant and shrinking market environments with intensified price pressure and competition
- Sales performance levers show double effect:
- Cost efficiency and sales growth
Once the market is identified and the right strategy in place, the communication marketing, including window design, should be addressed accordingly. As I said, it is difficult or rather impossible to suggest any sales increase methods without having the complete picture analyzed and re-evaluated. Only then success is possible.

Perhaps these points will help you stimulate some thoughts. Please, feel free revert to me at any time and perhaps you would like to take this conversation to a Private Forum.
RESPONSE – MENTOR 2: One sure way to improve sales is to increase footfalls into your show room. Other mentors have covered the factors extensively already. You need to look at all of them before hand. But the key to success is to make more visitors (foot falls) to your show room rather than a neighbourhood store. In a fiercely competitive market like you have in India, differentiator is your ability to to make more people visit you and when once they are in provide fine service through appropriate greeting, courteous handling and having well trained salespeople/counter boys & girls.
Therefore think of some ways in which you can make a person who is a passerby step in. A window shopper to come in and enquire about the product and so on. When once someone has stepped in 50% of the work is done. In fact it is more than 50%

RESPONSE – MENTOR 1: Mentor 2 is absolutely right; you need to increase your footfalls. In order to do this you must be different and make your showroom attractive. Increasing the footfalls sometimes requires re-thinking of your strategy, your positioning, your marketing activities, hence, you might want to consider some of the points I have listed out which might help you to increase the traffic.
RESPONSE – MENTOR 3: You have some excellent advice here. The only point I would add is to study your best competitors. Pick a dozen stores that you think do a good job and visit them. Hang around, ask questions of sales staff (you'll be surprised how much they will reveal), look at their shop floor operations, look at the types of customers who visit. Write all your observations down so you can compare across them. I think you will learn about some things before you even try them out.

The last piece of advice is to consider your business as: (1) new customers; and (2) repeat customers. Common strategies apply to both, but some are unique to each group. Keep track of visits of frequent customers and see how much of your business comes from really frequent customers. Go out of your way to keep them. RESPONSE FROM PEERS:
PEER1: Just trying to trigger some thoughts to boost sales in your showroom;

1. Add music
2.More visual appeal
3.Run a email / mail campaign inviting footfalls / lucky draws / surprise gifts etc
4.Get a celebrity once in a Quarter
5.Offer value packages
6.Have helpful and smiling staff members - train them hard
7.Come as a disguised customer and test your staff
8.Make sure trendy stuff is always available
9.Replace your stock periodically
10. Reward consistent customers
11.Give alterations FAST
12.Offer home delivery
PEER2: I can tell from the perspective of the young gaming community in India that good quality merchandise is highly appreciated.
There are a few gaming clubs in Delhi which would happily embrace your products if the quality is good. For gamers even if the pricing is high they accept it.

Let’s say you have a set of unique T-shirt models, maybe you could give away 1 of each kind as prizes to a gaming festival; and this in turn would promote your brand manifold. Last event that GoLive participated in Delhi Hindu College and Shri Ram College of Commerce - the turnouts were huge.