For most retailers, just getting potential customers in the door is a very big deal. Well, what if your sales staff enjoyed an 80 percent closing rate on that traffic? What if your top salesperson had a 99 percent closing rate? Believe it or not, that’s the success rate of Adriaan Van Papeveld, vice president of Operations at Fireplaces by Weiss-Johnson, a hearth and barbecue retailer in Edmonton, Alberta.

Van Papeveld backs up his seemingly extravagant claims with strong numbers. Fireplaces by Weiss-Johnson, the fireplace division of large HVAC distributor Weiss-Johnson, opened its doors in April of 2013. Now, in only its second year, the division will do $3 million in sales with only one 4,500 sq. ft. showroom and 10 employees selling 95 percent hearth products and some grills.

“I truly and strongly believe you don’t need to sell anything, any product,” says Van Papeveld, who says his personal closure rate is 99 percent. “You want to build a relationship with the customer immediately, even before you start discussing product. Listen to them. What are they looking for? What do they want? With the information they give you, you can help them and get them on the right track to making the purchase.”

Van Papeveld says that the showroom sets the stage for the sale. “Our showroom is designed and set up to give the customer a very warm feeling with a ‘wow’ factor,” he says. “It’s very open, with warm colors that create the atmosphere of a family setting. When they walk in, they feel right at home.”

The company’s philosophy is on a sign above the door:

“Enter as a stranger and leave as a friend.”

“When people come in,” he says, “they get that comfort factor right away that they are in the right place, and their confidence in you builds.” He emphasizes that while not rushing customers, you need to know and meet their wants, needs and desires.

“We let people know that we are not the cheapest, but we are the best,” says Van Papeveld. “It has to be demonstrated by our sales staff that we have the confidence in knowing and understanding the products and listening to what the customer is looking for so we can meet their need and desire. It doesn’t matter what the product is. It’s how you make the presentation.

“Make sure your showroom is professionally and tastefully done. Yes, it will come with a price tag, but that will come back to you tenfold. Color schemes are very important. They control peoples’ minds and emotions and push their hot buttons. Don’t over-crowd your showroom. You can’t just have stuff lying around. Keep it clean and looking crisp. We clean our showroom weekly, and even during the week when store traffic gives us a break.

 “Everyone says you have to think outside the box, but my philosophy is that you just need to make your box bigger. You have to come up with things that appeal to people. You have to draw their attention with different promotional ideas, but promotions that create awareness of your operation. You need to create consumer awareness for the future, not for the present.”

Van Papeveld didn’t set out to be a sales guru. Starting in the hotel business while he was still in high school, he became a hotel assistant manager at 17. Then he was in public relations before spending 26 years in the glass business, first with a large corporation and then with his own company. “I learned to work with people, and I learned to realize the uniqueness of every individual.”

Van Papeveld conducts sales seminars for many companies and is writing a book on his success entitled, “Can Your Salesperson – No One Needs One.” He says that one of his salesmen has been selling in the hearth industry for 35 years but is now having his best sales year ever under Van Papeveld’s tutoring.

“He was a salesman, and he had to be retrained not to be a salesman,” he says. Van Papeveld says he recently conducted a seminar for a large homebuilder, and the company’s sales closing rate went up the very next day. He has other secrets to his success, but is reluctant to give away too many of his ideas because of his seminars, his upcoming book and to keep from divulging those secrets to his competition.