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 SAVVY
SELLING - FEBRUARY
15, 2007
Great
(Sales) Expectations
by Michelle Nichols
EXECUTIVE
OVERVIEW
What
a seller intends to deliver
and what a buyer anticipates
to receive can vary widely.
Here's how to head off potential
problems
When I asked a clerk at a
home improvement store for a
gallon of blue paint the other
day, he just laughed at me.
Then he pointed to a wall of
color chips, with dozens of
shades of blue, and I got his
point. They had exotic-sounding
names like cerulean, cornflower,
and cobalt—and that was
just the Cs. To make matters
worse, once I decided on a shade,
took the paint home and spread
it on my walls, it looked more
purple than blue.
The experience got me thinking:
How often do expectations not
match up with reality and result
in unhappy customers? Despite
the thousands of ways to describe
a product or service, experiences
like mine happen all too frequently.
When we sell, we don't need
to overexplain, we need to ask
the right questions to determine
what a prospect wants. We also
need to be aware how easy it
is for a prospect to arrive
at a different conclusion than
we intended.
All About Images
Scientists tell us that we think
in pictures, not words. When
you say "computer"
or "yacht," you mentally
see those items. The trouble
begins when our words create
different pictures in our customers'
minds than what we envision.
Problems can also occur when
we describe characteristics
of our products and services.
For example, if you declare
your product is "rugged"
or "well designed,"
the picture in your customer's
mind may be completely different
from what you mean. There can
also be a mismatch between you
and your customer regarding
the expected buying and ownership
experience.
This disconnect in expectations
is the source of many sales
and customer-service problems.
Here are three areas worth addressing
and four simple solutions.
1. Products and Services.
Let's say you sell cars. If
a customer says they want to
buy a cool car, you may show
them a bunch of sexy sports
cars, while they were envisioning
a spacious, black, full-size
sedan. As a result, you waste
their time, and maybe even their
patience and goodwill.
It's just as much a problem
if you sell services. For example,
if you sell interior decorating
services, and your customer
asks you for a "Tuscan"
or "English cottage"
style, such phrases can conjure
different images for the two
parties involved. If you start
raving about how great certain
features associated with these
styles would look in their space,
and that's not what they meant,
you lose credibility.
2. Buying Experience.
If your advertising promises
a quick buying experience, customers
could envision parking close
to your front door, getting
inside quickly and easily, finding
the right department they need
without difficulty, checking
out swiftly because you have
plenty of open registers, and
breezing to their cars since
you have plenty of help to carry
out their purchases. Was that
what you meant?
3. Ownership Experience.
The difference in expectations
also affects your customer's
post-sales experience. For example,
what you may call great delivery
service for a big-screen television,
they may call mediocre. Maybe
your customers are expecting
a well-groomed, knowledgeable
team of delivery folks in clean,
snappy uniforms who called ahead
to confirm what time they would
arrive. Imagine if they get
a slob who mumbles, shows up
long after the agreed-upon delivery
window, and then drops the new
TV in the driveway.
Don't worry. Here are a few
strategies to increase your
chances that your customers
will be happy with their purchase
from you.
1. Use pictures early
in the sales process.
I was consulting for a group
of decorators recently and most
said they reached for books
of pictures very early in the
selling conversation to make
sure they understood the general
look the customer desired. Don't
forget, customers can tell you
a lot when they show you pictures
or designs that they don't like,
too.
Pictures are used in many industries
to help clarify the product.
Denny's restaurants are famous
for their picture-laden menus.
I bet they get fewer returns
to the kitchen because their
customers have agreed up front
to buy what was pictured.
2. Use analogies.
My grandfather used to ask me
if something was "bigger
than a breadbox." You can
also say your offering is "like
an X only with a Y."
3. Use metaphors carefully.
Years ago, when I recorded my
first CD, the recording engineer
asked me if I'd like music between
each of the six segments. I
hadn't considered music, but
agreed to have him create and
insert the music. He asked me
how I wanted the words and music
ordered on the CD, and I told
him, "like a quilt."
I've made patchwork quilts,
so I could picture the blocks
of recording being linked by
clips of the same piece of music.
What I'd forgotten to consider
was this man had probably never
made a quilt, let alone a patchwork
quilt. He was too polite to
ask me to explain what I meant,
and I saw the analogy so clearly
in my mind that I forgot to
make sure he understood me.
In the end, it worked out, but
I had risked ruining my first
CD.
4. Clarify. At
the end of a long conversation
with a prospective buyer, I
will often say something like,
"I just want to be sure
the picture in my head looks
like the picture in yours."
This lets us iron out areas
of potential dissatisfaction
before any time, money, or resources
are wasted.
Maybe someday you'll be able
to "mind-meld" like
Star Trek's Mr. Spock, but for
now, make sure expectations
are clear on both sides of the
table. You'll close faster and
have happier customers. Happy
selling!
Michelle Nichols is a
professional sales speaker and
consultant based in Reno, Nevada.
She is also the Savvy
Selling podcast host for
BusinessWeek. She welcomes your
questions and comments. You
can visit her web site at www.savvyselling.com
or contact her at michelle.nichols@savvyselling.com.
Her toll-free number is (877)
352-9684 and direct line is
(775) 303-8201.
Copyright 2007. All rights
reserved.
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