Is It Love or Is it Selling?
Posted on Tue, Feb 14, 2012
I had an interesting week in Dallas shooting the training videos for the Retail Sales Bible. I have been involved in many photo shoots over the years, coming from a fashion apparel retailing background, but the work was a little more intense than I had done in the past. It first involved writing a screenplay of the book, then deciding on the exercises, role-plays, and exams to use, which was staggering. Then casting the right actors and making sure they delivered their lines the way they were written. This was only the beginning because the editing will take longer than all of the 50 hours of shooting. All of that to get 75 to 90 minutes of crisp, to the point, understandable, easy to grasp concepts that can easily be woven into the fiber of a retailer’s culture.
We worked with 8 performers and all were quite accomplished in their own right. I will not be surprised to see some of them in sitcoms or major roles in the near future. They were quite good.
I mention all this because of one interesting comment made by one of the more experienced actors while we were doing a scene about overcoming objections. We were talking about listening to the customer to make sure we are responding to their true needs and then complimenting the customer wherever possible and appropriate. Michael said that this whole project could be re-worked to be an effective training program for Dating Do’s and Don’ts. The only difference is that you are the product.
It was one of those “Aha” moments. He was absolutely correct. Selling a piece of merchandise is really the same as the courting/dating/falling in love process.
Think about it -- what is the first thing we are selling in a store? OURSELVES! Next we sell the EXPERIENCE then The BUSINESS and finally, The MERCHANDISE.
If we like the person, we are willing to ignore some minor flaws. If we are having a good time, or our experience is positive and fun, we want to be with that person more. The next part is when we get turned off to people that knock the business they work for. We like people who take pride in their community and their environment and we avoid those people who complain about their world. The last thing we sell is the merchandise. In this case, our physical appearance and our attitude is what we are selling.
It’s an interesting experience when we realize that if we like a person, we are having a good time, and they take pride in who they are, then those three things are more important than someone’s physical appearance or attitude. The similarities go even beyond this. In selling, we talk about selling the sizzle and not the steak. Isn’t that what we are doing when we romance someone -- selling the sizzle and not the steak?
In the age old argument, “features tell, benefits sell,” it goes back to the “what’s in it for me?” syndrome. Someone may be really good looking or have nice features, but the person who can do something for someone tends to be the one to make the sale.
We talk about romancing the customer and that really is what we are doing. We want our customers to fall in love with us and we must do everything we can to make that happen. One of the basic elements of selling is making suggestions such as, “Did you see this?” Isn’t that the same thing we want to do when we are having someone fall in love with us when we show them things, hoping they will like some of what we are showing?
Now, I could discuss multiple sales examples but because this article is rated “G”, I won’t go down that path. Michael was 100% correct. The same principles that build interpersonal relationships are the skills we need to make a sale. We are in a people business. Logic makes us shop and emotions make us buy. That is why it is critically important to include likeability, and the skills of likeability, whenever we teach selling skills. Any sales training program that does not teach likeability is doing the store a disservice. Likeability is not only a key element, but is also the core element in making sales and, obviously, in building relationships.
Think about the ways you can become more likeable. Think about the skills of commonality, think about the things we have in common with people. We need to better understand the rule of reciprocity, where the simple act of giving something to someone makes us more likeable. The essence of selling and building a relationship is knowing how to listen and the skill of being able to give a compliment effectively along with the silent compliment when we simply ask someone their opinion.
Yes, Michael, the similarities are scary. Maybe we should take all the time and effort and, instead of making it The Retails Sales Bible, create The Bible of Romance.
Have a great week… go fall in love.