Last month we talked about selling yourself and the company. This month I want to go a little deeper into getting your customer to trust you. As I mentioned last time, in today’s retail environment it is all about the story you tell that creates the excitement in the customer’s mind that will cause them to buy from you. Every company has a story that is unique to only that company. Usually the advertising does a great job of telling the story – The question is, do the salespeople convey the same message that is displayed in the advertising?
Great salespeople are also great listeners. Great listeners are able to create an enormous amount of trust within their customers. Simply because great salespeople realize that the human being is making the decision not the merchandise. Listening allows you to focus on the human and not just the merchandise that the human being is considering.
It is the extra information that will allow you to focus on the emotional side of the purchase, thus increasing the customer’s level of trust in buying from you and your store!
The professional will ask the questions, get the answers, respond to the answers, and develop the type of relationship that will get their clients to trust them. Additionally, a professional will not only respond to the answers to the questions, but will respond to the extra information that they receive through the process of the needs assessment.
This is where the trust is developed. Trust is essential in order to sell your customer on dealing with you.
Trust is established and relationships are developed in conversing about the emotional side of the purchase and/or in the Customer’s Story.
Let’s say a customer is celebrating the graduation of their son and looking to purchase a timepiece. Through asking questions, we find out that their son is graduating from medical school and they are having family and friends fly in from all over the country to attend the graduation party. The party is going to be held at their home and some of the relatives are staying at the home as well.
In this situation, I would certainly spend an enormous amount of time talking about the party, the family, and friends, where they are coming from, what college the son graduated from, what his plans are for the future etc., etc. In other words, spend an enormous amount of time on the emotional reason why the customer is buying jewelry and this is where the customer will feel that they have had the experience of a lifetime in purchasing jewelry from you.
Anybody can show and sell jewelry. The professional develops relationships with their customers through sharing in life’s special moments and on the emotional excitement, the customer has in making the purchase.
I would be willing to bet that 90% of all jewelry purchases are made based on some emotional reason “WHY” the customer is buying!
Think about your very best customer. Think about everything that you know about that person. You probably know their name, spouse’s name, where they live, where they work, their children’s names, what schools they attend, the kids’ ages, what kind of car the family has, the family pet and so on. Then think about the customer that you did not sell the other day and ask yourself what do you know about that person? The answer is probably not much.
In other words, the difference between your very best customer and the one that did not buy from you really comes down to your ability to befriend another human being. Befriending comes from your ability to get a person to open up and talk to you about the emotional reason behind the purchase followed by the emotional reaction that you give them. In other words, you are sharing and caring about the emotional reason behind the purchase and sharing in the excitement of the event.
Author, trainer, consultant, and speaker Brad Huisken is President of IAS Training. Mr. Huisken has authored several books and training manuals on sales and produces a Weekly Sales Training Meeting video series along with Aptitude Tests and Proficiency Exams for new hires, current sales staff and sales managers. In addition, he publishes a free weekly newsletter called “Sales Insight” For a free subscription or more information contact IAS Training at 800-248-7703, info@iastraining.com visit his website at www.iastraining.com.
