Marcy Bravo Tang’s Post

Why Selling Shoes is the Best Introduction to Sales (in my opinion) A little background: My first job that wasn't a paper round was at Clark's. When I went to uni, this job followed me. When I finished uni, I worked at a fantastic independent store called Solelution. Then, when I moved to Leeds, I worked at Skechers. It's safe to say I had a shoe-selling career of some kind. But it's this experience that gave me an incredible foundation for ethical, advisory sales that I've taken on through my other positions at Bose, Peloton, and now Glean. Relationship-building 🕺 It may sound odd, but I've been a small part of many people's lives. I used to have repeat customers that requested me to fit their children's shoes or assist them with their wedding shoes because I had assisted them with trainers a few months ago. It may seem insignificant, but buying shoes can be a very personal task for some, and having a friendly face they know makes the experience that much better. Product knowledge 🧠 As you can imagine, not all styles of shoes are created equal. Having in-depth knowledge of your products was essential, and it wasn't just one style; it was hundreds of different styles, leathers, stitching, sole layups, and more. Demonstrating their features and presenting their worth depends on knowing everything. Discovery 🔎 People enter a shoe store for a variety of reasons, ranging from "My doctor suggested I come here" to "I'm just browsing" (a little tip for those who are just browsing... just let them browse). To give them a genuine recommendation that they will trust, you must understand their lives. Shoes take us to most places. How do you get to work? What do you do for exercise? How often do you go out? Understanding the individual informs how you may advise them. Advising 🧐 All of the above allows you as the expert to give them an honest, trusted and genuine recommendation. Because you are there to assist them. If you're wondering if sales are right for you, I'd recommend stopping by your local shoe shop and inquiring about any open positions. Drop a 👟 emoji if you've ever worked in a shoe shop!

I began my sales career on the polished stone floors of the heritage Moss Bros flagship store on London’s bustling Oxford Street, Britain's premier retail venue. As a junior member of the formalwear sales team, I had a trial-by-fire learning experience interacting with discerning clientele accustomed to luxury shopping environments. Over 18 months, I systematically built expertise across 6 fundamental sales domains: 1. Product Knowledge  I rapidly acquired intricate understanding of hundreds of fabrics, cuts, customization options and accents across the Made-to-Measure suiting and Made-to-Order formalwear ranges thanks to intensive daily exposure and self-initiated learning outside work hours. This enabled smooth customer guidance. 2. Problem-Solving Abilities I honed diplomatic tact dealing with last-minute special event wardrobe malfunctions or unsatisfactory fit issues. Assessing needs, calmly brainstorming solutions, liaising with onsite tailors and thoughtfully managing expectations was invaluable. 3. Resilience & Persistence Overcoming walkouts and cold-shouldering were rites of passage. But tirelessly turning repeat store wanderers into paying customers through personalized attention and gently addressing hesitations around investment, style or fit decisions was a hard won skill. 4. Negotiation Skills  From elegantly justifying premium price points based on material sourcing, manufacturing benchmarks and durability to flexing discounts on bundle purchases while upholding brand positioning required nuanced negotiation abilities. 5. Knowledge of Competitors Understanding how Moss Bros is positioned relative to competing brands across dimensions like quality, value-for-money, customization breadth, convenience and after-sales support better equipped me to highlight competitive advantages matched to different customer segment priorities. By mastering versatile sales strategies spanning product, pricing, complex objection resolution and niche market fluency I became an asset for converting opportunistic store walk-ins into loyal customers, one relationship at a time. The original proving ground of Oxford Street instilled universally applicable selling skills.

Very powerful lesson in here that I will fully take onboard and so should you ! A very very small percentage of people like to be sold to (3%). A much larger percentage however (30%) is happy to be educated. If you are trying to sell your product, where should you be spending more time and effort on ? I think the above is the answer! My goal with posting on LinkedIn is #education. I am not trying to sell. I am educating business owners about the benefits of good bookkeeping in general and the pitfalls of bad #bookkeeping . My main point is usually about it not being worth it skimping too much on this function, as in most cases will just end up costing you more money than what you are trying to save ! Bad bookkeeping will cost you money due to mistakes in financial records which will cause you, just to mention a few examples, 1. Not collecting the moneys that your customers owe. 2. Over paying suppliers. 3. Under claiming vat 4. Over paying VAT. 5. Late payments of vat , paye, ct, causing penalties. 6. Bad credit ratings due to CCJ against you due to non payment of ....... triggered by lack of cash flow, caused by lack of financial planning. So what is your main marketing focus on ? #TheAccountingLifesaver ‐------------------------------------------ 🙂 My name is Mendy Jacobs ⛑️ The Accounting Lifesaver 🚑 I am a volunteer Ambulance Emergency First Responder 🩺 My aim is to keep you healthy by taking away your accounting worries. 🏦 With you being able to sing all your way to the bank !

When I was 18, I accidentally landed a job in sales. Except, I didn’t really know it was a sales job at the time. I was studying in Bristol, and took a job in the posh part of town, working in a shop that sold made-to-measure sofas to the wealthier half of society. I remember the area manager asking me if I was experienced in sales, and replying that I’d worked in Tesco. 🫣 Cringe. The job had a high element of commission, and I actually did really well – but do you know why? It’s because I wasn’t really trying to sell. I made the job all about imparting my knowledge of the products. People were obviously there because they were in the market to buy something, but I was the one who could give them the tools they needed to make a decision. • What type of cushions did they find more comfortable? • What styles of fabrics did they prefer? • What made the top grain of leather more durable? • What should they choose for a tidy look? Or a lived-in look? Some questions were pretty unique. I remember being asked why there weren’t any ‘natural looking’ pink leather swatches to choose from. My manager chimed in with “have you ever seen a pink cow?” 🐮 Slowly my knowledge increased and I could answer most of the questions myself. I became an expert in my field, if you like. Any time someone wasn’t sure or had a query, I’d give them the options or information that they needed. And then…. I’d back away. Give people space and time. And I sold loads. I think looking back, people appreciated not having the hard sell thrown at them. I know I’m certainly repelled by people coming straight at me with a hard sell – I like time and lots and lots of information before I make a decision. It’s just the way I am. So when it comes to the present day, and running my graphic design business, I don’t treat my customers any different to how I did back then. There’s no hard sell, no time pressures. Just the information that’s asked for and a responsive attitude. Just like that early job, I’ve built up lots of experience as to what works and what doesn’t, recommended formats and finishes, and importantly, what to do when something needs fixing or troubleshooting. Turns out, I’ve never been ‘bad’ at sales… it’s just that I’ve been using a different technique all along. #emmajaynecreative #graphicdesigner #nohardsell

APPEARANCE MATTERS IN SALES “When we think of a ‘Salesperson’; we make the picture of a well-dressed and polished person.” 1. The outward appearance makes a good first impression on the customers. 2. They quickly make assumptions based on your personal appearance, the clothes you wear, how well-groomed you are and your body language. 3. As a salesperson, your appearance should be clean, dignified and professional. The dress should be sober, pressed and business-like. 4. When you have a good appearance, you feel more comfortable, confident, capable, cooperative and productive. 5. Your appearance enhances what you say. Your Thoughts!

Like me, you probably didn’t attend a 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫 before being thrown into the lion’s den of selling. Here's my story. What's yours? Many, many years ago, I moved to Hattiesburg, MS where my girlfriend, now wife, was attending college. I applied for a job at a department store from an ad in the newspaper. They hired me to work in the Men's Suit and Accessories Department. I had zero sales skills, no suit, and one pair of $12.99 Payless dress shoes (tan). I'm still not sure why they hired me, but 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞, so I accepted the job and reported for training wearing a thrift store sport coat, cheap wrinkled chinos, and those Payless dress shoes (which hurt my feet but I continued wearing them for 6 months regardless of the color of my pants, shirt, or coat). Two days later after showing me how to use the register and indoctrinating me on the company’s history and values, I was on the sales floor pretending I knew how to match a tie with a shirt and suit (Hint: I didn’t). I'd love to tell you I was a natural salesman, but I wasn't. However, I was hungry, and they paid me a small commission on every sale in addition to my hourly wage. More than anything (after eating and paying the rent), I wanted the job to be meaningful, so I gave it my best effort. Here are 𝟖 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 I learned from that experience -- mostly through trial and error and from customers who were unbelievably kind, generous, and trusting. 1. Be nice, listen, and ask questions. 2. Don't judge. Don't assume. 3. Be tactful about quality, design, and prices. 4. Recognize that everyone defines "value" differently. 5. Get to know each customer as an individual, if possible. 6. Smile and thank them whether they bought something or not. 7. Try to learn something from each interaction. 8. Mistakes happen. Acknowledge them and move on. What’s your Lion’s Den #sales experience? 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. p.s. If you were my customer during my first 30 days, I'm really, really sorry. I honestly thought the pink stripe tie would look great with the plaid sport coat. And to the women in the Alterations Department, thank you for saving my butt more times than I can count. Those inseam measurements are tricky... 😉 Classic Exhibits Inc. | Exhibits ~ Rentals ~ Environments

Sales Scenario My wife walks into a store for the first time and she really likes several things they have. Especially a jacket. Its a small mom and pop type clothing shop. The owners daughter is running the counter and nobody else is in the store. They have a 12 days of Christmas sale going. Each day a new deal. The sale that day is 30% off jackets. They tell my wife what she likes is not technically a jacket as its a pullover. "oh it will be on sale Saturday though as the whole store is 30% off that day." So people of LI. Wrong call? Right call? Are we allowing our business and revenue today to be hurt because of something else? I have a feeling Jen Allen-Knuth would have an opinion on this, but mine is that you should give the client a good experience and sell them the item today at the price you know it will be on Saturday. Build the trust, build the revenue and don't force people through a hard cycle because that is how you want them to buy.

One of my early post-university jobs was in sales for the fashion industry. I got hired to sell a variety of Turkish fabrics to Polish clothing producers. I knew very little about fashion and trends at that time. It wasn’t my interest at all 😊.   At the time, Poland was going through hard economic times trying to fix the disaster the Communist Regime created. The unemployment was 25%. People were cautious about their spending, to say the least.   I came into an established team of salespeople. People who already had contacts in the industry. Have done the job for a while. Were better salespeople than me. And there was me. Introverted, not too fashionable, twenty-something determined to figure it out.   And I did. Within a year, I became one of the best with the highest sales. So, when I announced to my boss (a former Turkish NATO Officer with no BS approach) that I was leaving the job to immigrate to Canada, he got quite emotional. He and his wife gifted me a beautiful pearl necklace as a parting gift that I wear to this day.   How did I do it? Strategy and relationship building.   The strategy allowed me to figure out which potential clients I could reach out to, and how to break the ice and set up a meeting. Listening and learning who my clients were as designers, business owners, and clothing producers, what was important to them, and what they were looking for, allowed me to know what fabrics to present to them each season. During the meetings, they’d buy something and trust me more. And at every subsequent meeting, they’d buy a bit more.   As a small business, you can always get more clients if you have a valuable offer they want and need. No matter the economy. No matter how “slow” the industry is or how new you are. But it’s your job (not your clients’) to figure out how to get in front of them and communicate that value so they choose your offer over someone else’s.   With my T.O.P. CEO Winning Strategy and Owner-First approach, I help my clients do just that. Figure out how to sign more and more clients effectively and consistently so they can double their business without adding more work to their schedule.   When you coach with me one-on-one, I help you create the Winning Strategy and successfully implement it step-by-step in a simple way. We prioritize and eliminate time-sucking tasks that don’t make you any money to replace them with money-making activities. So that your income grows, but the daily busyness and chaos disappear.   Book a sales call with me via link in the comments and talk more about it. #smallbusinessadvice #smallbusinessgrowth #ceomindset #businesscoaching #growthstrategy