“The Biggest Way That Retailers And Small Business Owners Kill Sales”

We were looking at cars a few weeks ago. I asked the “salesman” if he enjoyed selling cars. This is his actual answer;

“No. I hate it. My manager is a drunk, and most customers are liars. The owner keeps cheating me out of my bonus. I hate this place”.

Amazingly, we didn’t buy a car there.

This is an extreme example of what happens every day in most retail stores. Even the owners are guilty sometimes.

I had a girl working for me answering the phones a few years back. People would call in for a Free case of Soda. All they had to do was let us show them our vacuum cleaner (as we clearly stated on the Drawing Form).

Our new Phone person went an entire day without making one appointment.

I asked my wife, Cheryl to call her as though she were a customer. (at the time, Cheryl didn’t work with me.)

The girl told my wife, in whispered tones………

“This is a rip-off. The vacuum cleaners they sell are real expensive. They are trying to get you to buy something”.

Of course, she denied that she said these things...all the way out the door.

This is another extreme example. But here is the lesson;

If a customer asks “How’s Business?”

Never say it’s bad. Never. Why?

Nobody buys out of sympathy for your plight.

If you complain, you telegraph that nobody else is buying from you….and people don’t want to go against the herd.

If you just had a fight with your boss, wife, supplier, etc…...don’t mention it to a customer.

Who wants to deal with someone who gets into fights?

If you talk about your problems to a customer, you are showing that your store is a sinking ship...and nobody wants to get on a sinking ship.

“But Claude, are you asking us to LIE to our customers?”

Let’s call it “Acting””. OK?

Every customer that comes in our store to look at a vacuum cleaner (or any other larger purchase) is told in several ways that “Man, we just can’t keep these in stock”…..

“I hope we have one left, we keep selling out”

“Let me see if we still have one at the sale price”

“We’re having a really good day, I’ll just include a dozen bags for free. OK?”

And if your store is absolutely dead….

“Good timing, we just got a minute to relax. What a day!”

There are two universal laws that we can apply here;

People want what’s hard to get.

People want what everyone else is buying.

Have you ever seen a “tip jar” in a bar or restaurant?

It has money in it, doesn’t it?

That tip jar is “seeded” before the place opens. A $% bill...several $1’s.

The reason that money is already in the jar is simple…..the store owner wants you to know that everyone tips...that it’s normal to tip….that it’s even expected to tip.

So, in your store, you can convey that it’’s normal to buy from you. Everyone does. It’s even Expected.

“Everyone seems to get this model. It’s our most popular vacuum in the store”.

Notice I didn’t say “Everyone seems to want this model”?

“Wanting” is not “Buying”.

I want to paint the picture that everyone is buying…

And they are buying this model….

And they are getting it now, before…

the price increase

The last one is sold

The sale is over...tomorrow (hopefully)

I change my mind.

The main advantage you have over any competition is the experience the customer has in your store. That’’s also the main reason given (in surveys) as to why they buy from you.

Of course, we get customers we don’t like, suppliers that screw up orders, sales that get returned, unreasonable complaints, just like all the rest of us….

But we never tell a customer.