“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” MAYA ANGELOU

Being a tea entrepreneur is, at the very least, an enthusiasm and often a passion, even a calling to share the love of the leaf with others. And, yet … how can you be a tea SELLER when you, or members of your staff, are inherently shy or reserved?

We have a few ideas to help make the transition from shy and reserved to fully-engaged and effective Tea Sales Makers.

Engagement Begins in the Interview

A personable, educated, engaged staff is the best gift a tea business owner can have. The challenge is hiring, and keeping, people who are engaging with each other and friendly with your customers. During the interview, here’s what to look for:

-Is the candidate curious about you and your shop?

-Do they love tea, and speak enthusiastically about ‘the leaf’?

-If they haven’t had retail experience, why do would they be a good fit?

-Do they speak clearly or mumble?

-Give eye contact or none?

-When you find a possible candidate, provide a mini tea tasting.

-Ask their opinions of why they liked/disliked the teas.

-Ask them to prepare a serving to see their initial comfort or awkwardness in tea preparation. Sometimes, the shyest person can be the most elegant of tea servers, no small talent.

-What questions do they ask about the teas and your chosen method of service? Do they have experience with methods you do not know or use?

Connect, Connect, Connect

You’re in luck; you hired some great candidates, now the training begins! For the Shy Tea Seller, teaching customer-staff engagement is critical.

The most important way to engage a potential customer is to greet them warmly, with a smile; make eye contact, and initiate a conversation. If you don’t have nametags, the Shy Tea Seller can even begin by introducing themselves by saying, “Good afternoon. My name is Theresa. Let me know if I can answer any questions.” The result is the golden mean of selling: building a relationship.

Help them understand that when customers know and trust you, they are much more inclined to make a purchase. The more interest the Shy Tea Seller shows in the customer, the more likely the customer is to buy.

Make Time for Rehearsals/Role Play

Initiating conversations is often stressful for the Shy Tea Seller, so rehearse, rehearse, rehearse! Use a script or ask the staff to develop their own. Use your own favorite questions to ask customers or others, like “What is your favorite tea?” or “What form of tea brewing do you enjoy the most?” or, the most common, “What brings you to our shop today?” By eliminating questions that can be answered yes or no, the Shy Tea Seller learns to be comfortable initiating the engagement process, getting the customer to share information about what their tea needs and wants are.

Rehearsing, role playing, and writing scripts all enable staffers to focus on the customer’s wants and needs. No tool is more important for the Shy Tea Seller than learning to LISTEN! Remind staff they should let customers talk more than they do! That will help them better understand customer likes and dislikes, allow them to make better suggestions to steer customers to teas and tea ware they will want.

Alternatives

Another way to help the Shy Tea Seller is to have them engage with customers by email and on the phone. Writing is often easier than speaking for them, so responding to customer queries or writing about new products and services available is a great way to get the Shy Tea Seller engaged with customers. It’s important to remind them that they are helping the customer, providing information, goods or services, and the customers is often quite eager to respond.

Not every shy person can be successful in learning to engage with others, especially strangers. If such a staff person is, nonetheless, a knowledgeable tea enthusiast and supports your retail goals, consider redirecting them from the sales team to other tasks: window and in-store displays, web site design or updating, accounting, wholesale purchasing, tea blending, advertising copywriting or any other needs you have.