Retail Selling 101

Deal or No Deal. That's the name of a popular television show, but it's a question that's often on the minds of many dive storeowners and the people who sell with them. The customer may just be browsing; the customer…

This is the seventh installment in a series of articles addressing different aspects of selling or, perhaps better put, different parts of the selling skill. The first installment talked about recognizing and reacting to buying signs. The following issue we…

One of the most difficult aspects of dive retailing is selling. People have vastly different sales abilities and levels of comfort. You may be good at selling but others in your store may not be. Or it might be the…

You've probably heard the old sales adage about selling the sizzle, not the steak. The lesson is the steak is just a product. It has features, to be sure, including the quality of the cut, its fat content, and its…

"Even if people are extroverted doesn't mean they're very good," says Ken Marsh, author of "Fearless Networking." "Extroverts tend to talk more about themselves than they do other people, so they really have to learn how to be more introverted,…

Selling safety has never been easy, and opinions and theories on the pitfalls of selling safety products and services, such as dive insurance, surface signaling devices and dive accident first-aid courses, vary as well. Some believe that exploiting the misfortune…

Robert Burns's well-known poem ends with the wish that we could see ourselves as others see us. What do you think customers would say about your store? Does the quality of your store match the quality of the equipment you're…