Message to Santa, your Elves Need Better Sales Training! Is This What Buyer's Feel LIke in This Market?

I took a detour on the way home from an appointment yesterday to pick up a few Christmas gifts at SouthCenter Mall. (Since the mall is about a 15 mile drive one way, I try to take advantage when in the area). I decided to peruse the Men's fragrance counter at a National chain department store to see if I could find something different to surprise my son with this year. I had barely set foot in the store when I was asked, for the first time, if I could be helped. I politely declined, said I was just browsing, and moved on.

Five feet later, my eyes settled on an Aqua de Gio gift set. But before I could even raise my arm to reach for it, another sales person was telling me what a great deal it was because I "was basically getting the aftershave for free".  

Ok.  I thanked her but told her I had just begun looking and moved on.

Three feet further down the counter, another Salesperson jumped (well, stepped aggressively) into my path to demonstrate Usher's new fragrance set. I think she said it came "complete with soap on a rope".  Yup! Soap on a Rope.

Though my smile was still in place, my guard was going up rapidly. I found a nice quiet corner at the Burberry display and was left in relative peace to sample those fragrances...for about TWO MINUTES until the Bvlgari demonstrator shoved a sample card in front of me and sprayed it.....almost on me! She later came running from one side of the counter to another when she saw me looking at their gift sets but I scooted off before she could get to me....mostly just for fun!  

You get the picture. After 20 minutes I was beginning to feel as if I were under assault!!!   No fewer than 15 different salespeople asked if they could help me (I did the math, that's one query every 1.3 minutes), if they could take my item for me "to hold", if they could introduce me to the latest greatest "you'll-smell-like- George-Clooney if you use it" product. (Ok, I made the last part up, but it was a little like that)

So why was I so irritated? I mean these people were only trying to do their job and be helpful right? Even if they were on commission, I should understand that and be sympathetic....kindred spirits and all that stuff ...?

Nope, it wasn't happening. First of all, I blame the store. They should never have had so many people in such a small space at 1:00 on a Wednesday afternoon and secondly, they should have given their employees better TRAINING.....

I think don't think it's a stretch to say the number of hungry Realtors exceeds the number of ready to buy Home shoppers right now. Is this what Buyer's today are feeling? Like chum in the Shark pool? How can we create a better sales experience for buyers?

By giving them the sales style they want.

Some buyers need to be guided towards a decision but others want to arrive there by themselves. A good Sales person knows the difference. Brian Buffini suggests there are two types of Sales People:

"The Motivator or the Facilitator" 

 The Motivator will be able to nudge someone along towards making a decision.  They will sometimes be perceived as pushy, but some buyers prefer that selling style. Some buyers need that selling style.

 The  Facilitator will be respectful of the customer's desire to make his/her own decision and will be more laid back in allowing that customer to arrive at the decision on his/her own. Sometimes this sales type is perceived as being too passive.

Some buyer's want a Facilitator and some want a Motivator.

Only one of those sales people listened to the clues I was leaving which strongly suggested I wanted a "Facilitator" not a "Motivator". He was respectful, answered my questions when asked and did not try to suggest or sell any other products to me just because I had asked a question about something.  I ended up buying from him and was happily rewarded when he loaded me up w/ samples :-)

I know not every shopper is like me. Some people want to be sold, in fact, need to be sold because they just can't come to a decision themselves. But you must know your customer and the sales style you will need to adopt based on the signals they are giving off. Ask them what type of good and bad sales experiences they've had in the past. This will help tell you what they want from you.

Sales training, scripts, role-playing...it's back to basics stuff that will make you a better Real Estate professional and ultimately give your clients a much better sales experience. After all, we all want to be appreciated Elves don't we?  

Enjoy the Ride!

Colleen "Fish"

www.ColleenFish.com   www.MapleValleyRealEstate.com

Serving Seattle and South King County for 18 years!