November 2008 - Feature
Reading Their Minds
Your customers already know you're going to try to sell them something, but that doesn't mean they won't buy. Retail expert explains how understanding your customer can break down barriers.
By Mark Rodgers
There isn’t a business manager out there who wouldn’t want to know what goes on in their customer’s mind. What do they want? What do they know? What are they thinking?
Large corporations spend big bucks on consumer research. What colors do customers prefer? What product names are most likely to elicit interest? What music makes customers want to buy?
Sometimes big companies can’t see the wheel for the spokes. You don’t need a Ph.D. in psychology to figure out customers just want some common sense and awareness of what it’s like to sit on the other side of the desk.
There are two things your customers are thinking when they’re sitting across the desk from you. First, they want to know if you believe in what you’re selling. Second, they’ve probably been advised by personal finance experts to reject your products.
Believing in What You Sell
My wife Amy and I recently bought a television from a local store. Amy looked on encouragingly as a blue-shirted employee and I wrestled the 35-inch box-type monstrosity onto a large industrial cart.
Suddenly we were surrounded by a group of sales professionals who appeared out of nowhere like stealth ninja fighters. Several of them started to tout the benefits of protecting our purchase with an extended service contract.
I treat shopping with the same research intensity as an archeologist on the verge of discovering the Ark of the Covenant. People have suggested I’m more like the retail Marquis de Sade, reveling in others discomfort. Whatever the case, I wasn’t about to let this opportunity go untapped.
“I thought I just selected a fantastic television, why would I need a service plan?” I asked.
The leader of these blue-shirted ninjas stammered something about the television not being a divine creation and that things break.
So I hit the team with another objection, and then another. Finally, I felt bad for them and asked, “Guys, do you know what I do for a living?”
All four post-grunge kids shook their heads “no” in unison.
“I show people how to sell extended service plans,” I said.
The adage that “no man is an island” certainly didn’t apply to this situation. It was as if I flipped on the light switch, the cockroaches scrambled and Amy and I were left to our own devices. We passed on the service plan.
Two days later we were across the street at another electronics store whose name has something to do with urban-based circuitry. We were buying a fairly expensive portable DVD player. After we selected the player, the salesperson suggested we consider the extended service plan.
You could almost hear Amy’s eyes rolling because she knew what was coming. With all of the confidence of David Ortiz approaching a T-ball, I entered the conversation.
“Well I thought we just purchased a great DVD player, why would we need an extended service plan?” I asked.
After hitting him with a few more objections I made my big revelation: “Do you know what I do for a living?”