Customer walks into store, looks lost, then decides on an area they are going to browse in and continue as such. After several minutes of browsing in specific area, pick up an item which they appear to be very interested in. They stare at said item for another few seconds, studying everything about it, almost smelling it in order to gain every vantage point of the item, taking every little bit of it in. If the garment they are holding could be melted down and bathed in, then at this very point, given the right set of circumstances, I'm pretty sure the customer would do excactly that. Then, out of the blue, through a little change of expression on the customer's face, I sense a shift in their thought pattern. Their look of inquisition on initial examination of the item appears to have changed to a look of slight puzzlement. This is one of the most subtle changes in expression, but is normally a first step in the journey which will take them from a boring, normal person, into a person who has this wonderful ... umm ... whatever they're buying. This is the tiny, but very significant moment where I hope, no, I know I could make the difference in this person's life today. It is a situation I've been through thousands of times at this stage, so recognising my time to step into the breach is one of the easiest parts. I start to move toward the customer, all the while sizing up the type of person I'm dealing with.
My different selling techniques scrolling through my mind as I continue my aproach, deciding which one is best to use is oft times the trickiest part. Some people can be extra inquisitive at this stage, asking you questions that can be both inconsequential at this stage of the process or are counter-intuitive to your selling technique. "Does this come in a different colour?", "Can you put these in the washing machine?", "Is it really warm in here?", "Do you think the European Union will eventually take over the countries that are in it so that the individual identities of countries like Ireland for example will be gone and we will be living in a dictatorship?"; these are some of the questions which can be asked at this stage. One of the best ways to deter these people from asking more questions is to bombard them with all the information that rushes to the front of your brain about their chosen product, or of similar products. This usually stops them talking long enough for them to decide whether they want to buy from you or not. Of course there is times when you don't need to use any technique because people have already decided they will buy or not before you even speak to them. These people are usually called men.
As I approach the customer, I have a clear picture in my head of what I need to do. This one is going to be an easy sale. They have spent so long looking at this item that there must be genuine and uninterrupted interest in buying. They appear to have just one minor concern about something. Must only be a matter of size; a matter I have a full handle on because I know I have the stock to back up any query they may have. This is my bread and butter. I can have made ten of these sales by the time most people have risen from their beds on a Saturday morning. Backed by my immense product knowledge and a fail-safe selling technique, I square off my shoulders and stick out my chest as I swagger through the shop floor. In some ways, I am like a lion who has a poor defenceless animal trapped in a corner with no way out, and I'm about to move in for the kill. The customer looks up and their eyes do nothing to dispell my analogy. They look at me with wide, innocent eyes, so helpless looking that I almost feel a pang of guilt before I begin to sell to them. I close in on the final 2-3 feet between us and open my mouth to speak to the customer:
Me: "Hi, how are you? Can I help?"
Customer: "No, I'm OK."
Upon this they replace the item they had been looking at, and leave the shop.
Peace out,
Mike
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