Shop Talk: Turning Difficult Customers Into Cash Money
ADMIN
- October 13 2009
- 1,546 views
- 16 comments
Shop Talk is the new spot on the Web for core shop employees to share their expertise, get tips, win great prizes, and have a chance to be featured in print. It’s simple, each month we’ll feature a different topic for you to weigh in on. We pick your answer and you win sweet stuff.
This month’s topic: Turning Difficult Customers Into Cash Money
They say the customer is always right, but we all know that’s not the case. However, while that know-it-all mom, that snotty rich kid, and that gaper jock may be annoying as hell, they are all still the customer. We’d like to hear your best story and tip on how you turned a difficult customer into a sale.
If we pick your response, Siege Audio will hook you up with a free set of The Eleven headphones. These suckers retail for $70 and are some of the meanest headphones on the market featuring 57mm drivers, tangle free cords, modular cables, and everything else you need for chilling, riding, or DJ-ing. Grand prize winners will receive The Elevens and also have their tip featured in an upcoming issue of TransWorld Business.
To enter, just register for the site with a valid email and post a comment below. Please include what shop you work for. You must work for a core, action sports retailer in order to be eligible. Winners will be announced on transworldbusiness.com.
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October 13th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
first off as soon as the customer enters your store. make eye contact n bring up some sort of related story to strike up a conversation .get them interested in the fact that your interested in them .show them new product n tell them how awesome the company is n how they stand behind thier product .most people will buy things they don't need becouse your nice to them or thier kids .a sticker placed in the right hands can do wounders ..but most importantly never neglect a customer at any time .stop what your doin n get that sale .you have more then enough time to get online after they leave ..
October 13th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
The days of vibing customers is over! The web gives your customers all the info they need, so its also not an option to be unfamiliar with the product on the floor. The only thing a specialty guy has that the web and big box does not have is passion for the sports and lifestyle the industry is built on. You can't buy it or fake it. If a tough customer comes in all you can do is try and share that passion with them, connect with them on some level, and listen to them. Even the kookiest kook will give you a few clues if you ask the right questions: where are you from, where's you learn to surf, skate, ride? What are you riding now? etc etc…small talk isn't small talk when you're selling. It's called "qualifying questions" … every bit of info gets you that much closer to the sell…asking the right questions and listening is what it's all about!
October 13th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Customers when asked can I help you, will always say no I am just looking, so I use a techniques I call the "Tourist Guide"
First, ask them questions, where, when, how do you surf, they love to talk about themselves, meanwhile I am gathering info to make the sale.
Secondly, I help answer any surf related questions they have, about locations, tides events, locals, etc…
Third, Sell them the board, then upsell the accessories. Bottom line is make them feel special, it works everytime.
October 13th, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Great job, Mike! You should win the headphones!
October 14th, 2009 at 4:17 am
I have noticed that difficult customers often take out their frustrations from other parts of their lives (kids, work, money etc.) on people in service industries/retail. I always do my best to try and glean what is really bothering them and joke around with them about it. Mom's complaining about the closet full of shoes her kid has I joke about how guys are worse then girls these days when it comes to shoes. It usually makes them feel better and lets them know you are here to help and not make things more difficult for them.
October 14th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Biggest thing sales people need to know is when talking to customers ask questions. dshulte is correct. People love talking about themselves. You got to find the hot buttons. There is a reason we were born with 2 ears and 1 mouth-to listen.
October 15th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Most customers aren't difficult, just to be difficult… Sure you occasionally have that person that knows a lot about gear and likes to play stump the salesperson. But for the most part a customer is going to be difficult because they have had a bad experience. That bad experience could be with a product, another shop, a employee of your shop, etc…
The key to fixing any the above is to ask probing questions, get down to the bottom of what is wrong and then finding creative ways to solve the problem. Often times I'll ask a customer, what would you like me to do about this, what will make this right for you? Sure some times they will make ridiculous requests… but it gives you a starting place to work with them and find a solution to the problem that will satisfy both sides.
While I know that the initial question was to give a story about a difficult customer and what you did to alleviate the situation.I think a basic philosophy/strategy is much more effective in the long run for those looking for some tips as every situation is different. What worked in one instance probably isn't going to work for another.
October 16th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
The best way I've found to deal w/a difficult customer is to listen, let them blow off steam, complain, etc. Once they can trust you through consistent follow up they will turn to you for what you need.
October 16th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Dealing with difficult customer…Well the most difficult are the know it all's. Guys who have been surfing or snowboarding for awhile. BECAUSE they always know someone who is a REP that will sell to them or are friends with someone who works at a SHOP that is going to hook them up. Or they know a SHAPER who makes boards cheap for them. You have NO chance to sell these guys. FORGET EM.
But if you have a customer who talks about going home to check it out on the web, do what i do, have a computer handy and right there let them surf the web and tell them HEY if you find it cheaper (including shipping/taxes) for the exact item ill match it. You may not make as much money but at least you keep the customer…sometimes for life.
October 16th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
hand them a Rainer Pounder, get them to talk to larry the legend…get spit on, have john from the corner store throw them some free fries and WHAM they'll buy anything overpriced… why? because they are immediately a local and the web may be cool for the world but you ain't no local when unless your physical body shows up.
October 19th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
I find the most difficult customers in store are almost always the same person who has a very strong opinion (regardless of how factual it is) outside the store, and tells everyone they know about it. Giving this customer as much patience and assistance as possible in store generates incredibly good word of mouth outside the store and creates potential customers out of the people he or she brags to about your shop.
This "difficult' customer is typically the loud mouth who tells everyone about your shop at parties and events, so make sure they always have a good experience while they spend time in your shop because people who listen to the loud mouth have ca$h money. They have a choice where they spend it. Make it your shop.
October 26th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Like it or not, you used to be a grom, kook, gaper, chad, whatever you want to call it. Most of the time when someone like this walks into your shop it's not the product they are looking for, but the knowledge and experience. You earned that wisdom, and have the power to change the entire encounter into something positive for the both of you. Think of that first time you walked into a shop and beheld the wondrous new world around you. Great feeling right? Now, do you think you would still be a part of this new world if everyone in it were mean-mugging jerks? Didn't think so. Give the dude a chance, after all, you wouldn't be where you are if it weren't for someone , at some point, extending you the welcome. So roll out the mat, try to turn a bro into a brother. It WILL take some patience and understanding, but if you keep this mind-set when approaching everyone that walks through those doors, you won't worry about the money. It'll just be there.
October 26th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
I agree with Andrew S.. The majority of the diff. customers we deal with have internet smarts, clueless to the real world of surfing. They blither on about this material or that fin system but don't know how to wax a board yet. You can only correct them for so long before you stop wasting your time and send them to another shop. That's the difference between when we walked into the shop as a grom 30 years ago and were stoked to see the selection and absorb as much info as we could and todays–internet smart, argumentative a-holes. Not every person that walks thru the door is looking to buy, though our shop treats them as if they were. Patience is great but sometimes you just have to walk away, time can be better spent with a different customer.
October 27th, 2009 at 5:27 am
The way to handle a difficult customer is the same way you handle every customer… with a great Attitude!!. .. I also feel being a trained salesperson is an important part of making any retail business successful. You can have the best looking shop and the best products but if you don't have sales training you will never make it. I'm not talking about being a fast talker and pressuring customers to buy. I'm talking about taking care of the customers needs and wants. A famous sales trainer Tom Hopkins once said, "Become an expert adviser, not a salesperson."
Great salespeople need to have a positive attitude to handle all customers including the difficult ones. You also need to be highly educated in sales to handle difficult situations. The more prepared you are the better. So get a "can do" attitude, agree with the customer, and get educated about selling, and you will be able to handle any customer, even the difficult ones.
Marc
Marc's Board Shop
http://www.marcsboardshop.com
October 30th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
I keep it very informal. Basically like I just met the customer randomly on the street. "What's up man" normally gets "Not much, just lookin". At that point I see where they head in the store, what they pick up and then mention something cool about what they already have in their hands. They already want it, I'm just confirming it. "That board's sick isn't it? When I rode that thing in Stratton it was one of my favorites. Another awesome deck is this one…blah blah" Other than that, I find hooking them up with a free accessory or board bag or something that we spent $15 on goes a long way. I just get pumped on the shop, the sport, and the product and it normally shows. When people see an excited salesperson that doesn't treat the customer like a customer, they are more likely to buy. Yup.
November 9th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
where's you learn to write?