Your company has been successfully working with this wonderful client for years, but today seems a bit different. Do you handle them the same way as in the past? Do you start asking questions to learn what is different or do you simply listen a bit harder and slow down. I vote for the latter, you?
Truth be told, we must always keep in mind that every time a customer visits your showroom, their path on every purchase path is unique. Not only is this meeting unique, but every meeting pertinent to this one purchase will be unique. Your customer still retains the trust, but time moves on and situations change. Who knows what has happened personally or professionally to any of the players since you last spoke?
Your main job is not to expose any issues, but engage them in a way that they know you are there to help, listen and learn. If you start probing and expose issues, you will have to deal with what is exposed. If that happens, the underlying issue is their trust in you. You are the outsider, therefore, the easy scapegoat. Be carful here.
Am I digging too deep on this? Most luxury showrooms,, on average, close roughly 35% of its bids. We can improve that percentage if we improve the way we engage our customers.
Little things matter. One little flub can throw a monkey wrench into hard won trust and confidence of an old or new customer.
I think you will agree that every sale is unique. Understand that each time clients enter your showroom they are on a unique journey. Engage with them to learn all you can.
I suggest taking a few minutes in your net sales team meeting and discuss this. This simple awareness is important for your new budding sales heroes to understand. New salespeople are wrongly looking for repeatable sales processes to follow, and that will not play well in the long run. The best salespeople approach each meeting with an open mind. Their experience has them ready to engage each fresh opportunity and the unique collection of issues that job will drop in their laps.
Image Photo by Ehimetalor Unuabona on Unsplash
A version of this post appeared in the January 10 issue of DPHA Connections
Jeffrey Valles 