Cinventure - For the Cincinnati Entrepreneur

A potential customer walks in the door to buy your product but you notice she is holding an ad from one of your competitors.  Does this make you excited?  Or anxious and nervous?

We should all be excited when someone walks in our door to buy from us, especially when we see they are serious about buying.  Nothing screams “I’m serious about buying” like a shopper that has done the necessary homework and is standing at the point of sale waiting to hand over some money.  In fact, it bodes well for us that they are standing at our doorstep with the competitors ad and not vice versa.  (And it’s even better when you consider that’s your competitor’s ad dollars that were spent to get a customer in your door!)

So how do we handle situations where the customer is obviously knowledgeable about the product or savy enough to know how to negotiate and shop around?!

Simple.  We have to know our product or service and we have to know our industry.

If the product is something very unique and hard to reproduce, it’s easy to distinquish your product from the competitions’ and therefore you can focus on that during your sales pitch.  Move the conversation away from price and focus on the characteristics of your product that make people want to buy it.

Ah, but what if you’re in an industry where price sells?  Let’s face it, anyone can sell something so unique and desirable that they have to go through you.  But when you’re in an industry, say car sales, where the customer can easily walk out the door and over to another store there has to be more than just a good product.

Smile.  Being friendly and engaging customers promptly when they arrive shows that you are sincere about helping them.  They will quickly push price to the back of their minds if they perceive that the service is better at your establishment.

Be interested.  Ok, so even with your bright smile they haven’t forgotten about that lower price in the ad they’re holding.  Ask questions and listen intently to what they say and how they say it.  If that price is so good, why are they coming to you?! 

During the conversation, casually repeat some of their important points…  “so you want to find something similar to this (pointing toward the customer’s ad) but in a red or maroon color?” and then once the customer acknowledges your understanding of what they want, immediately follow it up with some comments about what you can do beyond selling the same product to them.  “I think you will find we have the same product as XYZ Company but we also want you to know….(insert your selling point here!)  i.e. we have a great customer loyalty program, we have a more liberal return and exchange policy than XYZ Co., etc.”

Have a plan in place and be ready to ask the customer for a committment.  At some point you will have to ask the customer if they will accept your price and terms.  Do whatever you can to get a sale closed before the customer walks out the door.  You don’t want the customer to have second thoughts and go back to the competition.  Present your best offer and regardless whether the customer accepts the offer or walks out the door say Thank You and be sincere. 

Saying something like “I’m sorry we couldn’t be of service this time, but we hope you will give us another shot in the future” or “Thank you for bringing in that ad, we appreciate knowing what the competition is doing and we certainly value our customers.  We would be happy to honor their price and we appreciate your loyalty.“ 

Ok, some of this can sound rather canned and insincere if not expressed properly, but you have to make your best offer and no matter what the customer’s decision, thank them for coming to you before making a purchase.  Every one of us has been in that customer’s shoes and we all enjoy being told thank you.  Sometimes your politeness and sincerity can even lead to referrals or future business with the customer despite this particuar sale not being closed. 

Why are you still sitting here reading?  Go sell something!

Thomas Goodwin is an Ohio licensed real estate agent (Realtor) and insurance agent.  He is the Founder and CEO of Northern Pine Properties, Inc., a real estate investment, development, and management company in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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