Sell!

After discovering a dinner recipe that involved chicken breasts, avocados on the internet, I headed to the store to get these items for dinner. On asking to buy chicken breasts, the vendor said it wasn’t available but quickly chipped in that she had Chicken thighs and other parts. Sadly, I walked away as I was in no mood to move around the market. After taking a few steps, I realized that the recipe could be achieved with chicken thighs so I went back to get it.
You are probably wondering why we are discussing chicken parts today…patience. On getting home, it dawned on me that the lady made sales even when she didn’t have my exact need. All she did was suggest other options and yours truly fell for it. How quick are you to send that customer packing? Why are you lazy at marketing? You find it difficult to apologize for non-availability of products/services and even find it difficult or forget to suggest available alternatives. But why??? Let’s check out the two scenarios below quickly.

Scenario 1:

Customer- Do you have this flower vase in red? Vendor: No Ma’am (Customer leaves)

Scenario 2:

Customer- Do you have this flower vase in red?  Vendor: Not at the moment Ma’am but it’ll be available in that color and other colors in various sizes by Tuesday. However, the black is beautiful as well, not selective and the perfect gift if you don’t want it for yourself. The customer begins to think okay…I’d have more options by Tuesday…I can wait…he’s right about the black too
It must be stated here how important it is to be knowledgeable about your products/services. You will be unable to sell if you can’t give convincing reasons to the customer especially when you are pitching an alternative to them. In other words, marketing will be a lot easier and more productive when you are armed with relevant and honest information.
It’s also of utmost importance to state that it is wrong to force a customer to buy a product or subscribe to a service especially when they are insistent on a particular one. Here are the important things, do not be lazy at marketing, subtly suggest available and similar options, be strategic and absolutely honest during sales. So, the customer did not buy today but he/she will return which is dependent on their first sales experience with you. In summary, get up, get moving, sell!