Question: I'm currently having my salespeople track their own conversion rate, and frankly, I'm sure I'm not getting accurate figures. They keep a record of all of the people they talk to each day and how many sales they make. Yet I know they are not recording all of the walks that occur. How do I keep my employees honest when tracking their own conversion rates?

Answer: The conversion rate data is a measure of your effectiveness in each customer contact. On the most fundamental level, this information will give you a record of how many of your customers actually purchased merchandise in relation to the number of customers to which you made a presentation.

Although the conversion rate statistic (percentage of sales to customer contacts) is the most important statistic managers can have at their disposal, it is also the most difficult to obtain accurately. There are three different steps you should take toward solving the problem of fudging on conversion rate.

1) Instead of having each salesperson track all of the information on his/her own record, begin using an rotation sheet as a group. Simply put a sheet of paper in a central location. Each salesperson's name will be listed at the beginning of the day in a column. The name at the top of the list is the person who helps the first customer. Then the second person on the list crosses out the top name, and he or she gets the next customer. The process continues with each person being responsible for crossing out the name of the person above them on the list as each gets a customer. When each salesperson finishes with each customer, they return to the list and writes their name at the bottom. This makes it an ongoing process. Now the burden of honesty is put on the salespeople as a group. No one will get a customer unless their name is on the rotation sheet.

2) Spot check for honesty at the rotation system once each week or month, whatever is reasonable for you. This may mean camping out in the store or doing your office paperwork right by the rotation sheet instead of in the back room. The salespeople don't have to know your intentions. Simply watch to make sure that everyone is playing the game.

3) The idea of tracking conversion rate intimidates salespeople. You are holding them highly accountable for their sales performance, and conversion rate is the easy way for them to look better on paper if they fudge a little. This is the manager's fault to a large degree. The conversion rate statistic is not tracked so you can fire salespeople who don't cut the mustard. On the contrary, it enables you to determine specifically which salespeople are weak in this particular area and need help to improve. Managers are there to give help, not hell. Perhaps it's time to have a heart-to-heart talk with the group and make them understand that you need the information to help them. When they cheat, they are only cheating themselves out of improving and, consequently, earning more money.

Question: I am familiar with your strategies for opening the sale more effectively. They make sense to me, and I've tried to follow the guidelines you've set forth. After six months of practicing though, I'm still having difficulty. My opening lines are beginning to sound more and more canned. I have trouble conversing naturally with customers who are strangers to me. One of the other salespeople here talks with such ease to customers that I'm in awe of her. You've said before that there are no born salespeople; great salespeople have great techniques and strategies. Well, I've got the techniques and strategies, and my sales improved for a while, but they aren't improving anymore. Any suggestions?

Answer: It sounds very much as if your progress has reached a plateau. You may be ready for more advanced or subtle selling techniques. If so, I recommend that you get a variety of books on selling to give you some new ideas. In addition, gathering information through reading and/or attending courses on the subjects of people and communication would be invaluable. Some people have a gift of gab and others don't. If you don't, then you'll have to work at it. Chances are, you won't improve unless you are working with some additional information to what you know now.

It's not just a question of learning how to communicate better, either. Often it's what you do in your personal life to help make you a well-rounded individual who can relate to all kinds of people well. Think about it. What kinds of stories or experiences can you share? One of the things that makes me a very successful salesperson is my ability to relate to all kinds of people. I can do this because my talents and interests lie in so many different areas. This is something I've carefully orchestrated.

Learning about sports (even if they don't interest you), all kinds of music and artists, current affairs and even the newest trends in kid's characters and stories are a big help to a salesperson's career. You can take pride in the fact that you are a conversationalist, and after all, isn't that really what a salesperson is?

Making conversation is much easier for any human being if they know something about a subject the other human being is interested in or talking about. You don't have to be the expert on every subject, but you do need to know at least a little about a lot of things. I truly believe that closing sales and becoming a top performer on the floor requires not only doing specific techniques well but being a special person too. It's your move, and it's never to late to start.