Sales the Free Geek Way

Introduction

Selling things at the store is not like selling things at Best Buy. These are not commisioned positions, and are often staffed by volunteers, thus the internal pressure to get people to buy stuff they do not need is not there. Actually, it is overwhelmingly in a store workers best interests to steer people away from what they do not need, or can not effectively use. This is because: 1) many people will simply expect free tech support or training on items that they do not know how to use 2) many people will expect refunds (though we do not offer them) if they can't use something. Additionally, as a store worker, you represent Free Geeks public face. A customer may be future donor or volunteer, so its not in the organizations best interests to maximize sales at the expense of good will. That said, we live in a country where some people have come to expect service on anything, even a $1 as-is item. Helping these individuals is almost never in the best interests of the organization as it sets an expectation on everyone at Free Geek that is not reasonable. Do not deliver a level of service/helpfulness that you would not expect to do every single day and that you would not expect every other person working here to do every single day.

General Sales Techniques

• Talking to people. Whenever possible, be nice. Remember to pay attention (and turn the stereo down!) when speaking to an elderly person to see if they can actually hear you. Nod and quietly walk away from time vampires, people who are just there to talk geek. Use this clarifying question often with deer-in-headlights noobs: "What are you not able to do right now that you would like to do?" [this works much better than asking "what do you want to do?" many people can not articulate this]. Greet people when they come in (can be as simple as "hello"). Let someone know if you will not be able to answer a question for a little while. Thank people every. single. time. they hand you money. Thank people who do not find what they need for coming in. Remember that some cultures will ask for lower prices every time no matter what. Remeber that some asian coutries consider direct eye contact rude and have larger comfort distances than Americans.
• Giving a person space. Whenever a person is considering something more expensive (especially a computer), give them space to look at it. Psychologically, a person needs to be in their own head to start envisioning an object in their home (see next related point). DO NOT follow a person around a room. DO NOT stand as close to someone as you would a close friend. Everyone seems to want to do this; it makes people very uncomfortable.
• Putting an item in a persons hand Not always possible, but when it is, its just a simple as that. In sales they call it "establishing a sense of ownership," but really, its just giving a person an opportunity to envision the item in their home or wherever.
• Seem active Years of waiting tables, bartending, and cocktailing has taught me this: People always feel more comfortable giving money so someone who they do not deem as lazy.
• Overcoming objections I will treat computers separately for this. The most general objection you will get at our store involves the fact that we do not offer refunds. On items that we exchange, you can politely point out that we do exchange tested items for seven days.

Selling Computers

• The key questions
• What we do not do
• Common mistakes
  • Too much information
  • Crowding
  • Rushing
  • Not providing critical information

Selling Computer Hardware

• Memory
• Hard Drives
• Laptop AC adaptors

just a first-pass skeletonLuiz 20:50, 14 November 2008 (UTC)