Today’s Guest Blog Post comes from Amy of Trashfinds.com. Amy shares with us the importance of servicing your customers and giving them the attention they deserve when shopping your sales.
It always amazes me how often people will plan to have a yard sale, pick a date, get items together, promote their sale, get up before the birds to set up and then sit & relax in their beach chair, reading a book or chatting with their friends while people are browsing. Your yard sale is YOUR store for the day.
If I’m in a store, need help or if I have to really work at getting a sales associates attention or assistance, it doesn’t exactly put me in a spending mood. I have fifty other yard sales on my list to score stuff from where I will be acknowledged, so don’t lose your window of opportunity to get me as a customer! Selling items at a yard sale or flea market is so much more than just unloading things – especially for the customer. Think of your own finds and the story of the where, who and how much that goes along with them! While it may seem like some work, if you keep things simple and get in the right mindset, you can have fun and make some money from what you no longer want! I have a few rules when it comes to having a yard sale or participating in a flea market:
- No chairs for the help. If you’re sitting, you’re not interacting with the customers or if at a flea market, potential customers.
- Have a tall stool available just in case, that puts you at about eye level with your customers, (you will rarely see me sitting unless I’m about to pass out).
- If your conversation can’t involve the customer, wait until there are no customers or after the sale to converse.
- Politely acknowledge everyone. Even the cranky, in a rush, somewhat pushy collector of one specific type of thing (we’ve all seen that person at a yard sale or flea market… or maybe you are that person!)
- If someone offers you a price for something that, well, in your mind is just insulting, keep it to yourself, be polite in stating no, or in offering a different price.
- Never speak ill or relay stories during the sale of less-than-ideal interactions with customers that you’ve encountered at other yard sales or flea markets.
Just because you paid $10 for a space or permit, doesn’t make you any less of a seller than a brick and mortar store. If you’re set up at a flea market, the amount and depth of the vendors may affect your hustle, but at the very least, be visible and say “Hi!” to anyone that passes your table. I’ve gone to flea markets that were so shabby, I lingered at the tables with new items just to be able to look at something, and due to the vendors’ ability to interact, have left with purchases. At a flea market, unless someone is really in need of one specific item, not everyone is going to stop and look at your stuff based on their quick scan while they walk by. Interact and give them a reason to give your items a second look! Nobody likes to make purchases they don’t feel good about – whether it’s $1 or $100, and there’s nothing more disappointing than hitting a flea market or yard sale without making a find. Shoppers are already out looking for a find – you just have to help lead them to it!
Check out Amy’s website: http://www.trashfinds.com
And Follow Her on Twitter: @Trashfinds
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