If you read this column frequently, you will know that I am a customer service advocate. I cannot stand poor or rude service. But what about the sales process? How should that unfold?
Well, I have spent many years around both sales and service staff in a variety of firms in many industries. It always amazes me that so few salespeople ask enough questions to even know what they should present to the prospective buyer. I have walked away from many sales reps simply because they wanted to talk, usually, I believe, just to hear their own voice. But I don’t want to talk about bad sales reps today, but rather draw a comparison with two individuals that I recently encountered.
My wife and I had been considering buying a new mattress and box springs for a few months. We decided late one afternoon to go “shopping” for one. Now, please understand, we were not going to purchase, just shop. We needed to get data before we invested the money in a major purchase. After all, a person spends at least one-third of their life in a bed.
As we entered the first store, the clerk said, “Hi,” but quickly looked at his watch. Turns out we were there about 30 minutes before closing time. I told him we were just looking, and he smiled.
He asked us one question and started to expound on the merits of his products. After about 10 minutes of rapid disbursement of information, I told him thanks and we left the store.
Initially, we were concerned that it was too late to visit another store but determined we could at least try.
As we entered the second store, the sales rep greeted us very enthusiastically. I apologized that we were there so close to his closing time. He assured us he would be happy to stay as long as we needed him to do so. He began to ask us a variety of questions, most of which we had not even considered to be important in the process.
He invited us to actually test a few of the products that were in the store. We immediately selected a product that seemed to be what we wanted. I was sold and ready to buy. However, he continued to ask questions about our sleeping habits. I was impressed that although I was sending him buying signals, he still was working to properly identify my real needs. He genuinely wanted to solve my problem, not just sell me a product.
With the additional information we now had it was apparent we were pursuing the wrong product. He then offered a different solution and presented the reasons why this product was better. Remember, we were not going to buy that day. However, because this sales rep took the time to learn about us and our expectations for the product, not only did we buy, but we bought some new pillows as well.
Read also:
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- Sleep Country USA Continues Expansion In The Northwest