Bike trade sales tips #2: Tips on how to ask bike shop customers useful questions

Continuing a series of articles from knowledgeable cycle sales veteran John Styles, ‘Bike Trade Sales Tips’ continues with some tips on leading conversations with customers on the shop floor and the art of asking the right questions…

In my previous article, I suggested setting up your position / body language in a triangle between you the consumer and the product, so that you could focus more on the consumer and less on the product. From this starting point you’re in a better position to get to know your customer by asking questions. And questions can be your best friend.

When you’re just starting out on the shopfloor, selling can feel a little daunting. You’ll see more experienced colleagues talking fluently and knowledgeably about a wide variety of products. You’ll see them warmly and naturally greeting their regular customers, guiding them through sales almost effortlessly. So much so, it doesn’t even look like selling.

It can also feel like there is pressure from a manager or colleagues to compete and perform. Perhaps your confidence has been knocked when the owner or senior staff member “hovers” or swoops in over the top of the conversation you were starting? I’ve lost track of the number of times that store owners have told me “I wish my staff were more confident to sell, but I just feel like I have to do most of it myself”. It can also feel like there is pressure from consumers, to find what they need quickly – and that can lead to quite hurried, functional conversations.

Sales training is few and far between in our industry, A vast amount of time and resource is invested in technical, mechanical and product training, but precious little in personal development, including sales skills. The result:
most new staff pick it up through a combination of observing others, common sense and trial and error.

This often means that those with “natural talent” (often those with an outgoing or confident personality or an instinct of how to get a consumer from A to B) tend to thrive. While those who are more thoughtful or introverted, perhaps shy even, tend to recede. This can foster a false belief that sales skills can’t be learned. It can perpetuate the myth that sales is a dark art only for those who have it already built-in. And that simply isn’t true.

Sales skills, like anything else, can be learned. Whilst a talented person, if they apply themselves, can learn even more and go further still, the challenge for most of us is to be the best salesperson that we can be, competing only with ourselves.

This combination of pressure, and a lack of training can lead to a lack of confidence in many store staff. So they don’t ask enough questions. I observe this as a lost opportunity in many sales conversations. And it boils down to 3 things: (1) Too few questions (2) The wrong type of questions (3) Limited or “safe” subjects – mainly “the bike”.

What do I mean by this?

1. Too few questions
Many interactions I’ve listened to channels the customer very quickly towards a store’s favourite or bestselling product, it goes something like this:

-How can I help you today?
-I’m looking for a pump.

-Is it to go with you, on your bike or leave behind in your garage?
-Well, I’m not quite sure but probably, I might need to take it out with me.

-Well, our bestselling (portable) pump is this one. It’s from brand A, who are really reliable. We like it because it has ABC features and we recommend this one.
-Would you like to take this one today?

I’ve seen similarly short conversations for bike purchases. And yes, some consumers are genuinely in a hurry and just want your first and best recommendation to solve the problem. Others could benefit from a little more help, which comes from a few more questions about their needs.

TIP: Aim for 5 Questions. You could try counting how many questions you ask in a conversation. Try holding one hand out at your side, or behind your back, and count on your fingers when you have asked five questions. That sounds easy. You might be surprised how long it takes to develop this new habit. When you’re managing five consistently, try for 10 on your next bike sale.

2. The wrong type of questions
In the earlier example the salesperson only asks one question, and it’s a closed question. Open questions are better (at the beginning of a conversation). This is because they give the consumer more chance to talk and reveal more information.

3. Limited or “safe” subjects – mainly “the bike”

I wouldn’t be the first industry commentator or sales trainer to suggest that store staff often spend too much time focusing on the product and not enough time focusing on the person (which by the way, is natural and understandable, after all we know a lot more about the product than we do the customer). With that in mind, have a look at the questions in each of the boxes below. Ask yourself honestly, which kinds of questions do I use most often? If you’re staying mostly in Box 1 (see above), you may be missing out on the chance to know
your customer better.

To get a fuller picture of the person, we have to get out of Box 1, through Boxes 2 and 3, aiming for Box 4. To really to get to know their needs, what’s driving their purchase and what’s holding them up. These questions are just
examples, if you remember the 4 boxes, you’ll come up with more of course.

TIP: Maybe keep a copy of this and challenge yourself to expand your questioning, one box at a time?

Again, this is a confidence thing and perhaps for the newest or youngest staff, the life experience needed to ask and interpret some of these questions may be daunting. And that’s why I would say to the newest people on the shopfloor – give it a try. It might not feel comfortable to begin with, but over time you can make this your own.

There are many ways to sell but asking enough questions, in the right way to understand your customer, is common to most of them. And what you may find is that the right type of questions reveals the customer’s worries or hesitations about their purchase. Their “Objections” – that awkward moment you’ve bene dreading – when they say “No”, and you’re not sure quite why, or what to do about it. More about that next time…

About the author

John Styles is a veteran of the cycling industry, having worked with leading distributors and brands across the sector. With a well-rounded perspective on the opportunities and challenges facing the sector, backed by a Bachelors Degree in Economics, John Styles is an expert consultant for the bike trade. Get in touch with John at [email protected].