The decision for the customer of whether to buy or not often comes down to the salesperson. Have a great experience and you not only will come back but will tell everyone you know. Have a poor experience and you quite possibly will never step foot into that establishment again. Unfortunately, last Saturday my wife and I experienced the later. We were enjoying a rare getaway weekend with some friends which included two wine tastings. Although the locations and products consumed were different, the real difference of these two experiences lied in the salesperson that served us. As a salesperson myself, this was a real life reminder of how important the overall experience is to a customers buying process.
What was remarkable about these two experiences was how similar and different they were at the same time. In both of these experiences we were the only customers in the store so the playing field for the salesperson was equal, so to speak. Thus, the service that each salesperson gave us had nothing to do with whether they were busy or not. Another similarity was that we tasted wines at both stores and both had the opportunity to sell us wine, but only one did. This is however where the similarities ended I’m afraid.
In the first store it was if we were interrupting the salesperson by our presence in her store. We felt that she could have cared less whether we had entered her store or not. Now, we all display different levels of passion about our jobs but she truly could have cared less about whether we purchased her product or not. In fact, never once while we tasted the wine did she even try to sell us a single bottle of wine. In addition, the value that was given for the price definitely underwhelmed us. However, in the second store we had a completely different experience. Not only was the salesperson attentive to us but more importantly, took the time to get to know us and was excited to talk about his product. We felt like we were talking with a lifelong friend. The true difference however was in the fact that he over delivered in the value that he gave us for the price of his product. The combination of great service and great value led to not only an enjoyable experience but we both left with Wine and smiles on our faces.
These two experiences were a great reminder to me and should be to all of us in the sales profession: Always be present with your customers and overwhelm them with value!
What was remarkable about these two experiences was how similar and different they were at the same time. In both of these experiences we were the only customers in the store so the playing field for the salesperson was equal, so to speak. Thus, the service that each salesperson gave us had nothing to do with whether they were busy or not. Another similarity was that we tasted wines at both stores and both had the opportunity to sell us wine, but only one did. This is however where the similarities ended I’m afraid.
In the first store it was if we were interrupting the salesperson by our presence in her store. We felt that she could have cared less whether we had entered her store or not. Now, we all display different levels of passion about our jobs but she truly could have cared less about whether we purchased her product or not. In fact, never once while we tasted the wine did she even try to sell us a single bottle of wine. In addition, the value that was given for the price definitely underwhelmed us. However, in the second store we had a completely different experience. Not only was the salesperson attentive to us but more importantly, took the time to get to know us and was excited to talk about his product. We felt like we were talking with a lifelong friend. The true difference however was in the fact that he over delivered in the value that he gave us for the price of his product. The combination of great service and great value led to not only an enjoyable experience but we both left with Wine and smiles on our faces.
These two experiences were a great reminder to me and should be to all of us in the sales profession: Always be present with your customers and overwhelm them with value!
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