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IMAGINE THAT:
THE ROLE OF THE CUSTOMER'S IMAGINATION
IN BUYING DECISIONS |
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A few years ago, a friend of mine had been asked out by a new guy in
her life. After their date, she provided a review of the evening.
"I know it sounds crazy to
say this after only one date," she insisted, "but I could see myself
marrying this guy!"
Being married myself, I believe marriages occur first in the partners'
imaginations, and then-if fate and
practicality cooperate-in reality. At some point during my friend's first
date with this guy, her imagination "software" began running. This software let
her picture herself in a marriage
relationship with her new acquaintance, even though the two had just met.
This "software" is the imagination.
Customers are like that, too. Just as a single woman who wants to be married
keeps her eyes open to possibilities (and yes, men do it, too), prospects keep
their eyes open as they shop around. Prospects explore the possibilities, and
when they do, their imaginations are active and alert, and often intense. When
selling, imaginations are a force to be reckoned with.
Enter the
EEG: Electroencephalography
The EEG is a device that uses
electrodes attached to a subject's scalp to measure electrical activity in the
brain. But what does this have to do with selling? Or with buying?
Let's imagine you are a real
estate agent who is working with a couple who is shopping for their first home.
And let's say your prospects' heads are connected to EEG units which will
provide a way to see their brain activity as they shop.
As the couples' afternoon of house hunting begins...
continue reading...
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More Sales Training Articles
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NEED A KEYNOTE SPEAKER FOR YOUR CONFERENCE?
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Utilize Skip Anderson's B2C sales and management expertise for your event.
Selling to Consumers 651.681.8568
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YOU ARE NOT A CATALOG...
YOU ARE A SALESPERSON
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In a retail store, how a salesperson approaches the shopper can
determine if there is the shopper is engaged, or if the shopper chooses
to be a browser.
Jack Mitchell, author of Hug Your Customers: The Proven Way to Personalize Sales and Achieve Astounding Results, suggests that the best way to approach your customer in a retail setting is to talk about the customer, not about product.
I like Jack's idea. So here are some good and not-so-good examples
of opening lines based upon my interpretation of Jack's concept:
GOOD: "Have you been in our store before?"
NOPE: "Are you looking for a new TV?"
SPLENDID: "You are brave to venture out in this weather this morning!"
UH-UH: "We're having a big sale on our mattresses starting today"
WHOO-HOO: "What brings you into our store today?"
YAWN: "Is there anything I can help you find?"
THUMB'S UP: "It's so nice to see you again!"
GRRRR: "Make sure you check out our new markdowns in the back of the store"
In retail sales, we have just a brief moment to reach out and engage
our prospects. If we don't take advantage of that opportunity, we will
be resigned to having yet another browser shuffle through our store in
much the same manner that a shopper pages through a catalog at home.
I don't know about you, but if I have a choice between being a
catalog or being a professional salesperson that engages prospects and
encourages them to converse with me, I'll choose the latter any day. - - - - - - - - - - Read sales commentary and a boatload of sales tips in the Selling to Consumers Blog
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QUESTION AUTHORITY
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Questions from Readers
"I have seen your writings on the internet about how customer's emotions affect the decision to buy. But some of my customers aren't emotional in the least. They're very serious and down to business. How can you say that emotions decide what to buy?"
-Barb Steen
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Buying motivations of customers is a huge topic, and one I like to write about. I've many fascinating discussions with people online and also in my training seminars about this topic. Although I can't lay out my full manifesto about customer needs here, I'll answer your question in this way:
I classify "customer needs" at three levels:
1. Micro Needs
2. Macro Needs
3. Super-Macro Need
The "Super-Macro" need is an overarching need to feel good. Customers buy to feel good. This is true for so called emotional people as well as so called "down-to-business" people. The desire to feel good isn't just powerful to emotional people. When spending money, feeling good about decisions is important to everybody. "Feeling good" can take many forms: making a wise purchase decision feels good; not overspending feels good; getting something you really want feels good; getting value feels good, etc.
The Macro Needs are needs such as the need to reduce pain, the need to feel pampered, or the need to pursue quality.
The Micro Needs are needs specific to the customer for the specific purchase they are considering, at the specific point in time they are considering the purchase.
Many sales authorities talk about the importance of meeting customer needs to be successful at selling, but I take this one (or two) steps further. Understanding the full scope of customer needs (from the overarching need to feel good right down to the specific needs of the moment) will boost sales results.
If you have a sales question you'd like us to answer in a future edition of this newsletter, please submit it
to www.SellingToConsumers.com/contact. Simply mention newsletter question" in
the message.
We regret that we cannot answer every question submitted.
Please include your first and last name and city. Please let us know if we have your permission to use your name if we publish your question.
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| DO YOU KNOW ANY SALESPEOPLE? |
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Do you know people who sell cars? Fences? Cosmetics? Furniture? Perhaps they could use the information in this newsletter.
Maybe they don't get this newsletter. Be nice and forward it to your friends, family, and colleagues by clicking on the LINK at the bottom of the page...
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| BOOK IT |
What We're Reading
Becoming Beautiful: A Journey of Transformation
by Bonnie Laabs
This is not a sales or business book, but is an inspirational true story about the author who lifted herself up from despair to "become beautiful."
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JUST FOR FUN
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Microsoft has announced that Bill Gates will no longer be involved in day-to-day operations at Microsoft.
This video shows Bill going through the transition, and is worth a watch: Bill Gates Last Full Day at Microsoft
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THE QUOTE CRIB
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"Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions."
Albert Einstein
German Born Physicist
"Nothing happens unless first we dream."
Carl Sandburg
American Poet and Novelist
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