The reason your employer invested the time and money to start a store and hire you is to sell something at a profit to people who need or want it. The process of selling at the retail level is really about helping customers buy. In fact, few independent retail stores use hard-sell techniques to move product. Most use Golden Rule Selling and other sales methods (see Chapter 4). They help customers to identify their needs and make the best purchase decision. No pressure.

What does your customer need? Because you will have many types of customers, each with a variety of needs, this question may seem difficult to answer. It is. In fact, it's not within your power to know what your customer needs until the customer expresses it by a purchase or a question. With experience you will be able to make a good guess at your customer's current needs, but not until they act or ask will you know.

Of course, when a customer comes into your widget store, you know that they probably want a widget. That's obvious. But which widget? For whom? What is their budget? Would they like suggestions? The overall question is: Why did they come into your store today? Your job, as a retail clerk, is to discover — and gratify — your customers' needs.

For some retail products, the decision process is simple: a red widget or a blue one. For others, making a purchasing decision can get more complicated: red, blue, yellow with orange stripes, large, small, portable, under $10, less than $50, and so on. Within your employer's retail store, you probably will have merchandise that requires simple and complex decisions. In addition, you will have customers who are more comfortable with making these decisions on their own while others prefer some help. So let's break the decision process down into three easy steps: need, choice, and commitment.

As an example, a new customer comes into your store and walks to your widget section indicating a perceived need for a widget. There are four types on the shelf and the customer picks each up to examine it and the price tag. Based on the need for a medium-size widget costing about $5, the customer picks one up, walks over to the cashier and makes a commitment by purchasing it. Simple enough. The customer didn't even need your help.

Another customer soon walks in and looks around the store for ten minutes, then stops in front of the widget section and stares at them for a couple of minutes, obviously thinking. You walk by and smile to make yourself available for questions. The customer asks you which widget would be best for a specific task and you offer your knowledge (without explaining the history and various uses of widgets). The customer then makes a decision and hands you the product to ring up the sale.

These are different customers with different needs and methods of making a decision, but the process they followed is the same: need, choice, and commitment. Your job is to help customers define their need, consider the best choices, and make a commitment.