Anju Gattani's Blog - Posts Tagged "technique"
Tale of a Sale
Hi,
It's been a while since I blogged and I have a valid reason. Just hope you'll be convinced :)
We've been looking for a new sofa set for the TV room and our search took us to several furniture stores where we met a variety of sofas, chaises, etc... and a variety of salesmen.
Each salesman had the latest sofas to offer and the most remarkable sales technique.
One gentleman welcomed us to the store and left us to wander around at ease.
Salesman 2, in another store, introduced himself, explained that all his furniture was customized (made to order) from the samples on the floor and the remainder that were stored in catalogs on his desk.
Salesman 3, in the third store, explained how proficient he was in sofa fabrics, leather, etc... and that he could give a 3 day seminar on leather tanning. As a side note - we didn't want a seminar and so we didn't ask for one) Every time we had a question he had a lengthy explanation for the sofa's leather.
Salesman 4, in the 4th store (surprise, surprise!!) asked us what we were looking for, walked around with us, answered any questions we had and tried hard to understand the structure of our room and TV viewing habits (100+ channels but no time to really watch them. And yes, all of us are big movie buffs!!) He wanted to know what we currently had, what we were looking to change, fit in, and more. He also tried to brush up on a little Hindi he remembered from his time in Africa.
After a day of thinking and measuring the room again, and going over the research we've been doing for months now, we returned to store no. 4 and made the purchase.
On hindsight I look back and realize we not only found the sofa we wanted in Store no. 4... the salesman's ability to connect with us is what made it all click.
He didn't try and show off his expertise in leather or fabric. He didn't leave us to wander by ourselves for too long (as a side note, he didn't stalk us either). He didn't dump us in a pile of catalogs.
He bothered to spend the time to understand precisely what we were looking for and made a sale.
It's a simple technique perhaps and nothing more. A salesman selling some furniture in a store. But he sold us the product we wanted in 24 hours. He expressed empathy, understanding and humility. He connected with us on an emotional level.
That's what every author should aim to do with their readers - to make that simple sale.
It's been a while since I blogged and I have a valid reason. Just hope you'll be convinced :)
We've been looking for a new sofa set for the TV room and our search took us to several furniture stores where we met a variety of sofas, chaises, etc... and a variety of salesmen.
Each salesman had the latest sofas to offer and the most remarkable sales technique.
One gentleman welcomed us to the store and left us to wander around at ease.
Salesman 2, in another store, introduced himself, explained that all his furniture was customized (made to order) from the samples on the floor and the remainder that were stored in catalogs on his desk.
Salesman 3, in the third store, explained how proficient he was in sofa fabrics, leather, etc... and that he could give a 3 day seminar on leather tanning. As a side note - we didn't want a seminar and so we didn't ask for one) Every time we had a question he had a lengthy explanation for the sofa's leather.
Salesman 4, in the 4th store (surprise, surprise!!) asked us what we were looking for, walked around with us, answered any questions we had and tried hard to understand the structure of our room and TV viewing habits (100+ channels but no time to really watch them. And yes, all of us are big movie buffs!!) He wanted to know what we currently had, what we were looking to change, fit in, and more. He also tried to brush up on a little Hindi he remembered from his time in Africa.
After a day of thinking and measuring the room again, and going over the research we've been doing for months now, we returned to store no. 4 and made the purchase.
On hindsight I look back and realize we not only found the sofa we wanted in Store no. 4... the salesman's ability to connect with us is what made it all click.
He didn't try and show off his expertise in leather or fabric. He didn't leave us to wander by ourselves for too long (as a side note, he didn't stalk us either). He didn't dump us in a pile of catalogs.
He bothered to spend the time to understand precisely what we were looking for and made a sale.
It's a simple technique perhaps and nothing more. A salesman selling some furniture in a store. But he sold us the product we wanted in 24 hours. He expressed empathy, understanding and humility. He connected with us on an emotional level.
That's what every author should aim to do with their readers - to make that simple sale.
