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> Living on the Top Line - The Book > Joe's Blog > Try Something New
Try Something New If you're a retail salesperson, try to think of your agenda with customers in a different way than you have in the past. Instead of having a "selling" agenda, make you first agenda upon greeting a new prospective customer as being "to understand" rather tahn to sell.
In his great book from the 1990's, Steven Covey told us that one of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is that they seek first to understand, then to be understood. This is, of course, a way of saying - make the engagement about your customer first, and not about your products - your "stuff". Don't be in too much of a hurry to begin showing people your furniture, because there is one very big thing youprobably don't know much about; the room the furniture is going into.
Your customer however knows everything about the room placing you at a distinct disadvantage wehn suggesting products to go into it. I believe, and research shows, that this is the number on reason that customers don't buy. It's not because of your products or prices or delivery or anythign to do with you or your company. It's because of their uncertainty about how to make a selection and about what the consequences will be on the fashion side of the issue around the room as a whole.
If you "seek first to understand", and you realize it's the room that's the issue, not the furniture you show, the whole greeting agenda changes. Ask more room related questions. Give up on the idea a "qualifying" your customer - that's ridiculous! Qualifying her for what? Think of simply understanding better, ask all the right questions and become a problem-solver instead of a salesperson. You'll sell far more in the end.
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