Guest Blog: How the Transaction Went From Sale to Sabotage in 7 Words
This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post, my colleague Ricky Nowak writes about the importance of reading your customers and carefully choosing the words you use to communicate with them. – Shep Hyken
Take a walk through any department store these days, and chances are one of two things will happen. Either there’s no service or you’ll have a number of people scurrying around promising to grant your every wish.
So when a bright young cosmetic consultant approached me in one of Australia’s most popular department stores recently and gave me her undivided attention, I thought it was my lucky day. But it didn’t take me long to realise that she was merely going through the polite motions and trying to upsell me, while I was on a tight deadline and price line.
I figured I had about one minute to select a new product from the skin care range, go to the counter, pay, and exit the store before a parking inspector would be ready to slam a yellow parking ticket on my car outside the store. Now I had another reason to make haste!
Glancing quickly at her name badge, I politely said “Tina, so pleased you’re here to help as I’m in such a hurry… but all I’m looking for is a day moisturiser that is light weight and easy to travel with, non-allergenic and well-priced. That’s it – nothing more.”
And thinking she would say “Sure, have I got a product for you” – the next seven words took my breath away!
“Certainly, madam. And of course, anti-aging!”
Now, as my eyes flashed dark thunder, my brain was screaming, “Do I look like someone who needs “anti-aging cream?” (That’s rhetorical by the way….)
Did I fail to make myself clear in outlining exactly what I wanted? Doh! I don’t think so.
Didn’t she know she was talking to a menopausal woman in a middle of a hot flush? Dangerous if you’re asking me.
While this could have led to an ugly scene, it actually led me away from her counter without my magic potion or a sale on her end, and most likely a parking fine.
Tina sabotaged a potential sale by not sticking to what the customer wanted. And by trying to upsell me on a product that I had not I asked for, Tina didn’t make a sale at all. If she had said, “Yes – we have a product that matches your description and makes the skin glow, let me give you some to try,” what do you think I would have said?
“Sure, give me two!”
Words are important. Reading your customer is important. Everything is important when it comes to your customer.
I went on to tell this story a couple of days later to a client of mine who runs a successful architecture agency. We talked about how he uses words to convey an idea or concept to his clients and how important it is for him to understand their sensitivities and perceptions, too. He gave me an example of how he proposed putting in a lift/elevator in the new home of a client, especially since they were a little more senior.
You see, he knows that many people feel they will never need a wheelchair, disability access, or have to worry about carrying heavy items like suitcases up or down stairs. That is, right now. But things change.
He puts it another way – “By putting a lift in the home at this stage of your build, your overall costs will be lower, and one day if you decide to sell this home the likely return will be double what you paid for it.” BINGO! The decision was made.
Nothing about the aging process in that spiel, but instead a focus on the positive outcomes.
Words are important. Reading your customer is important. Everything is important when it comes to your customer.
Not hard, just good customer service.
Ricky Nowak CSP is an Australian Speaker, Author and Leadership Facilitator who helps leaders connect and communicate to their people so their staff are hugely productive, happy and resourceful.
For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com. Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article:
What Does The Chief Customer Officer Really Do?
The post Guest Blog: How the Transaction Went From Sale to Sabotage in 7 Words appeared first on Shep Hyken.
