Why You Need To Employ More Good Looking Sales Staff- They Make Customers Buy More

Why You Need To Employ More Good Looking Sales Staff- They Make Customers Buy More

By Anayo M. Nwosu

This article is only for employers of labour and for aspiring entrepreneurs or business owners.

I have seen it work. I have been a victim of the mechanics of this magic and I have employed this philosophy to my greatest gain as a leader of various marketing teams have had to lead.

Given two staff of equal capacity and capabilities, I will engage the more looking one in my marketing team, period! If you are not good looking, you must possess some overriding attributes like high sense of humor, screaming and infectious intelligence and great people’s skills.

Even if the beautiful or handsome applicant does not have capacity, I am prepared to train him or her to the level of skill set I need. My well trained, good looking and courteous marketing team members are a tranquilizer to very difficult customers. They effortlessly get results even from a stone-hearted customer.

It’s normal for some ignorant minds to ascribe the performance of good looking salespersons to corporate prostitution. It’s not always true. It has nothing to do with looks but with the moral architecture of the deviant salesperson.

I can testify from experience that many existing customers buy more from a good looking salesperson while a not-so-good looking has to work harder to achieve same level of results.

Please note that good looks of a sales force does not guarantee sustained sales or performance if the product offering or services are defective or are not value adding but, it helps.

It is also a settled debate that if the products or service offerings are good or generic, the team with the most good looking members sell more, all things being equal.

Also worthy of note is the irrefutable fact that a poorly trained and uncouth team achieves nothing.

Therefore, the quantum of output of a well trained, well mannered, customer service oriented, professional, beautiful or handsome staff is unimaginable when compared to the performance of another team with same characteristics other than good looks.

Perceptive supervisors know that buyers consciously or unconsciously link the salesperson to their products or service offering. Therefore, they insist on ensuring that their salespersons always look good for quality control and for customers’ impression management.

The salesman or woman unarguably is the face of what he or she sells.

My belief is reinforced by the age-long practice of the airlines recruiting their cabin crew and the advertising agencies choices’ of models to showcase products or services they help to sell.

No customer gets offended by an advert with a good looking model.

Even the pictures of Jesus and Mary promoted by the Catholic church are of very handsome and beautiful characters.

One of the most profitable banks in Nigeria had long adopted the policy of having fair-skinned beautiful ladies in their customer service. These staff are moved to marketing after some months. No beautiful lady or handsome guy is kept for so long in the back office. It is a magic spurned by the ignorant.

Like it or hate it, the bank in question has taken over and have dominated for some years now, the sales space of the Nigerian banking industry. Their investment in technology and customer oriented service platforms have made them sustain the marketing efforts of their eagle-eyed sales force.

Nothing is more soothing than the angelic smiles of a beautiful customer service officer who walks gracefully and knows her job. The warm reception alone could make customer subliminally hooked on to a product or service.

Customers also forgive service failures much easier when being placated by a well groomed, good looking and personable salesperson or customer service personnel.

Many a times, some aggrieved clients especially men, end up apologizing to a fine-faced salesperson for being harsh. They would rather slap an ugly staff.

I have also observed that majority of good looking people have good heart, disarming smiles, and infectious disposition. They are also confident when well trained and motivated.

Why carry the burden of creation by loading your market-facing workforce with offensively ugly staff?

Not-so-good looking staff could fit into back office roles like, Internal Control, Risk Management, Internal Audit, Admin, Recovery and IT Dept. In those places, their customers are fellow staff.

The following steps could be followed by an owner of a business in engaging new market-facing staff:

1. From the CVs of applicants which must include full size photograph, select the very best in looks who met set academic and other employment criteria.

2. Invite the selected candidates to physical screening because some people could look different in real life.

3. Subject the shortlisted candidates to written and oral tests and select only the successful ones.

4. Train, drill and infuse the values of the organization into the chosen candidates with clear message on why they are being hired and the rewards for performance.

To ensure a greater success or objectivity, contract or involve an independent recruitment agency or consultant with a clear understanding of the type of staff required.

I have seen and can attest to the fact that a person can be good looking and also intelligent.
Therefore, be on the look out for them- the brain and beauty.

There are many good looking applicants identifiable via an open and competitive interview process.

There is merit in the argument that the not-so-good looking guys could as well do fantastically well in marketing and sales. But, if the same guys are good looking, they will surely sell or perform more.

The magic of good looks is real and contagious.

It makes sense for a leader of a sales force to reconstitute his or her marketing team today and present beautiful faces to the clients.
This is because, fantastic products and services should be sold by people whose looks approximate the beauty of what’s being offered.