Don’t Fear the Shop Tape!

Does your company regularly hire out “secret shoppers” to evaluate your sales presentation? You know those guys – the ones who look like real prospects but are actually posing as buyers while they videotape your presentation. Got any experience with that?

Some salespeople love the shopping experience and some loathe it. But here’s my advice to you: get over your emotion and start looking for the significant learning opportunities. You may have tallied a low score, but that means there is plenty to learn and correct for immediate improvement. You may have registered a high score, but I’ve never seen a shop that didn’t have provide some opportunity to hone the skill.

Terri Rouse, VP of Sales at Impact Marketing – a nationwide shopping company – puts it this way. “Our task is to shine the light on the opportunities that salespeople have to improve their performance. The sales professional needs to this as an opportunity to really improve their skills. Those salespeople who see the shop as a valuable asset in performance improvement get the most out of it.”

My suggestion to you: disregard the score – good or bad – and look for the lessons that will make you better for the next customer to come through the door. You may love the shops or hate them, but that’s not really the point. The point is that as a professional you are always looking for the chance to take your game to a new level. Look at your last shop with fresh eyes and see if you can’t find the low-hanging fruit that will get you more sales!