Business can be a lonely game, but it doesn't have to be.

Welcome to Boutique Chat, where we explore community over competition and how to scale your company with the balance and the happiness that we all seek.

We'll hear from product-based businesses of all types, retailers, e-commerce, and wholesale brands,

along with industry experts shaping the future of our industry.

I'm your host, Ashley Alderson from the boutique hub, and I can't wait to chat.

Have you ever walked into a retail store?

And somebody looked at you and said, is there anything

you're looking for?

Or can I help you find anything today?

I like to think of this as the kiss of death question because every single time someone

asked me this, unless it's a random occasion that I've been very specific in what I'm

looking for, I look at this person.

I say, no, thanks. I'm just looking. No, thanks. I'm just looking. How many times have you heard the same thing in this scenario?

So the kiss of death question, is there anything I can help you find? It's very rare that anyone is going to come back with a very specific answer saying,

yes, I am looking for a chartreuse turtleneck. Do you have any? So instead, what is the process?

What should we be training our staff and ourselves to do in order to close the perfect sale?

Well, I believe that there are five steps in sequence to closing the perfect sale? Well, I believe that there are five steps in sequence to closing

the perfect sale. And I'm going to talk about this today in order of a brick and mortar scenario.

And I'll save another five minute Friday for outlining this process in an online sales scenario.

So brick and mortar sales, let's talk. This first step to closing the

perfect sale is simply relating rather than putting the customer on the spot before she or he

even decides if they like you, if there's anything in this store for them or not, or if they just

...