Lessons from a Hair Iron Salesman….

I’ve always been fascinated by what makes people tick.

This includes what motivates people to take a certain path or make a certain decision, including buying a product, a making a booking for something such as a workshop or consultation.

I love being sold to. In fact, it’s impossible for me to say an outright ‘no’ to a good sales person. A good salesperson is never ‘pushy’ but knows what it takes to make an intelligent sale.

Take Roberto, my hair iron salesman.

He knew I was a buyer, before I even sat in the chair. I had the unruly badly straightened hair for a start!

But it was more than that…

I was a buyer, BUT, I had a whole range of excuses as to why I could not buy his particular product. These reasons included “nothing is as good as a GHD brand”; “it doesn’t get hot enough to do a good job”; “I don’t want to waste my money on an inferior product”, AND, “I can’t afford it right now!”

Roberto was smarter than that, and within 5 minutes he closed the sale. $200 just like that. Would you like to know how?

He handled my objections before I even made them. We didn’t need heat, because the iron had infrared technology, I wouldn’t waste my money because of the 3 tier warranty where I could take it back to the stall where I purchased it, or if they were no longer there, to another location, and if that didn’t work, to the supplier. He provided the documentation to put my mind at rest.

When it came time to ‘close the deal’ I said I would only buy if there was enough credit available on my card. Guess what? It declined!!

Roberto was ready. He immediately extracted a voucher from behind the counter that gave me $20 off. He retried the credit card, and …….it was approved!!

The purchase was made. $200 easy peasy.

That wasn’t it though. He then gave me a loyalty card entitling me to 14 visits to have my hair styled for free!!!

Consequently, no buyer’s remorse, and a very happy customer. That was in 2011, and it’s still going strong!

The moral to this story for the business owner is: know your customer, understand their possible objections and make sure they are dealt with head on; and always let them feel they have made the right decision.

The video evidence! =>