3 Shades of Sales: Things I learned at a makeup table
Beautiful eyes and rosy cheeks, the magic on that makeup table made me realize some basic concepts used in sales. I was not the one getting those services, the lucky lady was my fiancée. I was useful at the end of the whole process, you guessed it right, BILL PAYMENT!
During that session, I realized some important points which the makeup girl followed, which made me swipe the card, for a very high amount.
I would like to share those 3 points which I think made all the difference:
Patience: From the start she was patient. In case my fiancée was not satisfied with any color or any suggestion, she made sure she heard her completely and suggested options B, C or D.
She made sure to tell us some interesting fact that got us to stay an extra 5 minutes and try different products.
Always keep the customer engrossed. The effort needs to be sincere though, be fake and you will loose the sale instantly.
Consulting: Effective sales people don’t just listen, they consult the client. Consulting is often misunderstood with mere suggesting or giving an opinion. I believe that consulting is far beyond that. You need to gather the evidences and consider different points before you can provide your consultation.
Consulting needs to be accurate, effective and implementable.
For every problem or issue, she consulted my fiancée, and sometimes went beyond the product offering at her store. This made the entire process more fun and also made us trust that girl a lot more.
Closing: A great introduction, an engrossing pitch but… No Closure is a state where a lot of sales people get stuck. There is a lot of text on effective closing techniques. The most effective one that I have implemented and experienced in this case is to “make that sale a necessity”.
The client must think that if he does not buy this X product from you then he would be missing on something crucial. It’s this sense of urgency which will bring you that closure.
Since she was ever patient with us and consulted us about the good, bad and the ugly part of the products, we thought of purchasing some products (rather a hell lot more) and she closed it like a boss.
Recapturing the necessity of every product we had on that table and then (without wasting any time) went ahead to get the fresh pieces of everything (sense of urgency).
Now, what happened after that was obviously I cleared the bill (I think I got a mini stroke there but got distracted by the shiny new box that they gave for FREE, if only it was free) & by that time, my card was swiped, damage was done.
Anyway, for the smile on her face it was a small amount to pay but I did realize that sales is not rocket science. It’s about people, understand them, listen to them and solve their problems or fill that gap or make them happy about the product you want them to buy and they will buy.
There will be much more helpful material that might guide you on how to be a better sales guy/girl but they are merely different ways to grip a glass what matters is that you don’t drop it.
