The following is our response to a request for help made to the Sounding Board. It is outside our field of focus however, we were able to offer the following:

Thanks for using our service.

We focus on B2B rather than B2C so I am not sure how much help we can offer.

We teach sales people to set about developing trust because you can't have any influence (other than threats) if the customer doesn't first value your opinion.

It is possible to develop a trusted status very quickly if you study and practise non verbal matching and mirroring skills. People feel more comfortable around others like themselves. We pick up subtle signals and process them unconsciously.

Wooing customers in a fashion store is all about developing rapport, fast, I imagine.

The trick is to make customers feel good in your store. If you have control over signs, I would put up something that offered 'free fashion advice - no obligation'. Cast your team as experts who can advise visitors how to look their best - what clothes suit what shapes and what colours suite what complexions etc. This may help them become more accepted. If your budget allows, you could set up some training so that your team have some structure and knowledge to base their advice on, rather than just intuition. A search on Google aught to turn up some material or even local experts who could host a training session.

If they set about doing the best they can by the customer, including discouraging them from buying unflattering items - the customers will spread the word.

It is always good to agree with the intent of an objection rather than compete with it. If someone is objecting to the price, the response could be, "I understand how important it is that you feel this is good value" or "I agree, it's important not to spend more than you can afford". Sometimes people want you to give them a reason. If you sense this you can say, "It's a shame, I can tell that you feel really good in it".

There are thousands of books available on selling. You can have the wisdom of the world for a few dollars.

Searching Amazon with the term 'Fashion Sales' I found 37 titles, mostly about marketing fashion. Reversing the words, I found 15 titles, mostly about selling clothes. Searching with the word 'rapport' I found 1800 titles, the first half dozen looked relevant.

Let me know how you get on.