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Nobody is Just Looking!
"No Thanks, I’m just looking." How often do you hear that from a
customer when you approach them? Of course, if you are in the
retail business you’re going to hear it a lot more than if you
are an electrician. But let me tell you a truth here: Nobody is
just looking!
There is only one place that people will come to just look - a
museum. Only there can people go, look at objects and have
absolutely no chance of buying them, and they know that going
in. So, "just looking’ - just doesn’t hold true in any other
situation. If someone comes into your store, or calls you on the
phone to inquire about your line of work or doing a job for
them, then they are interested at some level. Now, to be honest
we all know there are many levels of interest. Some people are
interested because they want to buy very soon, possibly today.
Others are starting to shop for a possible future purchase, but
they are all potential buyers.
According to a study done by the American Retail Institute,
people who started the conversation with, "I’m just looking,"
actually made a purchase about 54% of the time. So, why is it
that people say that when greeted? You might want to look at
your approach to get the answer.
Does your standard greeting sound something like this: "Welcome
to ABC, my name is Pat Miller (as you hold out your hand) and
yours is..." (as you are shaking hands and often still holding
the hand until they answer)? Believe it or not, this technique
was taught as early as 1905 and a number of variations are still
used in many places today. Car dealers and sales people are the
worst offenders of this, and I don’t blame the sales staff for
it. I know they are often watched by higher ups to be sure they
are doing it. There are several real problems with this meet and
greet technique, but they are easily solved.
Personal Space - All currently known rules as they relate to
interpersonal space are immediately violated when this style of
greeting is used. Numerous behavioral studies confirm that a
minimum of three feet of space, that we call our comfort zone,
is necessary to feel secure. When a person violates that, they
have almost immediately sunk their own ship. The only people we
let into our personal zone are spouses, significant others,
kids, pets and close friends. Certainly not a new person -
whose, we know - primary focus at this meeting is to separate us
from our money.
This stressed forced greeting style creates more problems than
it solves. Customers have been frequently known to lie about
their name, which then causes a real problem later when the
customer decides they like the sales person and product and now
wants to buy, and now can not save face.
If
you are in a situation where it involves multiple sales people
or several people to close the sale, and everyone in the place
is using that same greeting, it’s going to start sounding pretty
lame after while. People will realize that it’s rehearsed and
plastic and not coming from a place of genuine interest in them.
And you need to realize, that this greeting didn’t work for the
first salesperson, so it’s probably not going to work for the
second one either.
In
a training session at a Fortune 500 company about five years
ago, I actually heard a speaker say,: "Once you make the
greeting, just start walking and don’t look back. If they are
following you, you have control." That’s ridiculous! The only
thing that turning your back and walking away from someone will
do in create mistrust and disrespect for the person. Don’t do
this.
The one true goal of any meet and greet, whether it is at a
dealership, a retail store or at someone’s front door, is to
find a safe place to communicate - Safe for the customer!
Don’t talk product until your customer is relaxed and feels like
that you are not there to sell them as much as help them to buy.
It is perfectly OK to talk about sports, family, vacation,
weather, anything you pick up from the customer that might be
something they are interested in discussing while they get
accustom to you being in their presence. There is truly only one
rule when it comes to finding a safe place. "Make it Fun."
Take a minute yourself and enjoy learning what this new client
can teach you. We all have our areas of extensive knowledge. Get
them talking about what they know best, and they will loosen up
quickly and begin to show some interest in what you know
best....and that of course is your product or service.
What about control you ask? You already have it. Remember they
came to you. They really were not ‘Just Looking." They had some
level of sincere interest or they wouldn’t have entered your
store or called you. What they need now is to feel that you are
someone who is genuinely interested in helping them, find a
reason to buy today, navigate the financial hurdles, and
schedule a delivery. The way you lose control is by being slick
and pushy and showing them you only care about making this sale
today, no matter what it costs the customer.
Yes, a firm handshake (not a dead fish) is critical to a first
encounter. But then back off, let them breathe. Find an area of
common interest that they show interest in discussing for a
minute or two, then move forward slowly and with a constant eye
on what’s best for your customer. You’ll find this technique
will work wonders. |
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