How to generate a 97pc success rate

high-emotion, positive response to your product.
Not just a “that is nice” but a “wow that is totally amazing I want it now” response to your offering.
Not just one or two of your clients, but nearly every single one.
That would be a pretty impressive track record.
Impossible I hear you say. There is the first problem. You think it is impossible.
Realism is well and good, but a lot of our excuses not to do something are not based on realism.
They are based on false assumptions about the way things are done and erroneous perceptions about how people will react. Until you have tested and tried it, do not tell me that it cannot be done. Time and time again, I have been shocked at how successful, an idea that I thought would fail, has actually been.
So aiming for that sort of target is the first step. Start with the basics. Walk into any shop in Harare and watch the response time of the staff.
It is a fun experiment to do if you have a spare 30 minutes. Walk into a shop, start browsing, and wait for assistance. Worst case scenario is that you are not served at all. The rude sales person keeps sticking their finger up their nose while watching to see if you will discover the thing you are looking for.
Best case option will be a “Can I help you sir?” The problem with that question is that it narrows your options down to two responses, yes and no.
If the answer is yes then you may score a sale. If the answer is no well you probably will not.
There has to be a reason that the person has walked into your establishment in the first place.
Even the response “I am just looking” begs to be shown something worth looking at.
They came in for a reason-find it, fill it and bag a sale. Be creative with your sales pitch.
Experiment with it till you find a flow that works and translates into sales. If as a store owner you have employed sales persons but you have no idea what they are telling your potential clients then you have a problem.
It is worth your while working on the floor once in a while to see what really happens, how your clients really behave. You have to care. Give your girlfriend a mixtape of songs that mean nothing to her and it will score you nothing. In the same way, show your clients that you care for them and not just their money.
That means that your checkout queues, you need to be client friendly, and not squash things together because you wanted to fit another two revenue points in the store.
Investigate why people leave without purchasing anything. Investigate why people purchase what they do.
If you have never run a business before, invest in time learning how to sell a product or set up a store flow, then test to see if it works in this country and tweak it according to your needs. Show people how your product will change their lives.
Throw in a genuine plus one. Offering a six piece cutlery set that includes the stand as the sixth piece is not a plus one (saw this on a Russian manufactured item this week which sadly did nothing to dispel the stereotypes that I have of that country).
Offering a five piece set with a free stand works much better. Do you know why when you order a cappuccino that you get a little biscuit with it?
It was because someone first thought of offering a little extra value with your coffee, and that if you like this little biscuit you may buy the bigger version of it.
The idea caught on and everyone did it.
Heaven help you if you fail to give me my little biscuit now, it has become expected as part of the service.
Notice I said a genuine plus one. The attitude needs to be right. People can spot a gimmick a mile off, but offer them something that appears genuine and you win them over. Adding value till it is too good to be true has been a sales trick for years.
The old “if you buy this shampoo we will throw in a free sponge, and a free conditioner, and wait not only that but it comes with this nifty little dispenser”, still works although it has to be managed carefully.
True sceptics know that you are not losing money with the freebies, but make it magical, make it care and people will buy it.
Just as a romantic relationship takes time and effort to make it work (if you think it does not then you missing something in your love life) so does winning the hearts of your customers.
Unless you sell quality chocolate of course, with quality chocolate you will bowl me over before I even walked in the store.