You hear me talk and talk about connection and how your ‘hello’ is your sale. This is not as simple as saying ‘come into my store and see my gowns’. You are looking for a positive ‘chemical reaction’ of oxytocin in your consumer’s brain acting as a chemical messenger and influencing many human behaviours including, recognition, trust, romantic attachment and other life bonding experiences. As a result, oxytocin has been called the ’love hormone’ or ’cuddle chemical’. Therefore, due to our ’love’ industry, we need our consumer to feel encouraged, supported and guided to the sale or to the right dress by the right person. How you say hello is key to how your client behaves in your store; rapport and trust are key elements to life and to sales!

Why you or your stylists may be falling short:

• A lack of confidence in pressing ’reset’. There may not be the resources in place in your store to allow the reset button to be easily pressed, meaning there is more of a position of negativity to your client rather than the ‘who can I deliver brilliance to, next’ approach.
• Lack of expectancy training. Basic training on a) how we do stuff b) when we do it c) in what order. Here we are talking about managing expectations from the get-go, continuing expectations in a sales team is crucial and critical to their productivity.
• A lack of product knowledge. Product knowledge is key to a store’s success. Sometimes fabulously established stores have trouble understanding their many gowns that sit on their rails. Maybe there are too many similar gowns which offer every bride the same transformation. You know when you have this problem, as your team will sell the same dress over and over with no other options being offered. Instead of having a healthy conversion about the ratio of costs, designers, styles, silhouettes, fabrics and colours, conversions fall short.

Buying tips - consider looking into:

1. How you buy your inventory – maybe it is being done wrong! Buying similar used to be a safety process and is now a hindrance. Listen to your brides’ needs. There is no set trend in the market so we have to be everything to everyone!
2. Whether the wrong people are buying your inventory.
3. Whether you are carrying too many brands, translating into similar gowns on your rails.  

• Stylists being influenced by the bride and her circle of influence. This needs to be the other way around. As a fully trained stylist you should be the influencer which can be very difficult when dealing with some people. Sales are easy, people are not! If you can work out the connection, you can influence and negotiate effectively. This not only allows the bride to make a more refined choice in your store but also helps you both trust each other. Win-win.
• A stylist support network, managed through the management team or lead/head of your store. Regular one to ones, agenda meetings, and performance reviews help to encourage all staff. New staff are crucial to a diverse team; train and coach them well and they may be your future superstars. Experienced staff are your current superstars, do not forget about them. They need to be encouraged, supported, coached and empowered each day.
• Being too scared to ask for the sale. Yes, it is too late to ask for the sale at the end of your appointment. A sale is a transfer of confidence. You create connections to enable rapport and trust at the beginning of each visit. I used to talk about ‘unspoken risks’ when I had my bridal store. An unspoken risk is something not mentioned, something the bride leaves out. You have not allowed her to trust you enough so she simply ‘thanks you for your time’ stating your gowns are lovely and leaves.

Jo’s tips for today’s market:

Value is everything to a client! Ask yourself, what can you do to be more valuable? How can we make your products more acceptable in today’s market? Like the cost of living has gone up, so has everything else in 2022. You need to be the store which helps shape consumer choices. Think about encouraging the physical and emotional experience for your consumer.

• Physical (the gown): transcending shape, luxe fabrics, stitched pearls, embellishments, colours, etc.
• Emotional: the need to feel incredible, a once in a lifetime shopping experience, to feel loved and part of the team.

Mass marketing isn’t enough now, we need a story to influence our consumer to spend money… so what is your story?