I recently needed a new TV. Which happened to coincide with black Friday sales, sooooo… off I went to the local branch of a national electronics store (Best Buy).
I wanted to make this purchase live because the technology among the various choices is confusing. And ever changing.
I needed to talk to an expert. Which is someone who knows more than me.
What I Needed
I needed to walk out with a reliable, easy-to-operate, mid-range TV that would create an enjoyable viewing experience.
The store had dozens of options… I’m sure I looked very confused standing in front of all the gyrating screens. You’ve been there, right?
Fortunately, a knowledgeable sales rep quickly approached me and asked if I needed help. I’m sure the look of relief on my face was very clear.
He asked me some great questions to find out what was important to me. Then he walked me through all the option’s features and related benefits, listened to my reactions, and we zeroed in on my preferred option.
Awesome experience so far! Too good to be true, of course.
Expectations Met?
Next step was checking stock levels…
And the system said they had three on the shelf! Hooray!
Out comes my credit card and……. the system was wrong. When they went to find my TV (yup, I had already taken possession in my mind), they had none.
Ug. Now what?
My rep stepped up, and we agreed to move me up a notch to a slightly better version. More than I wanted, but they gave me a discount that resulted in a similar price. So no bait and switch was going on.
Waiting can be Brutal
At the front counter, trying to pay, they took a very long time to bring up my TV. Something was wrong, I could just sense it. A little anxiety set in. I started to make a mental list of the UX (user experience) improvements that they needed to make. And then I started googling other electronics stores…
Turns out they had poorly communicated with their stock-picker. Which made me wait much longer than I should have.
They eventually realized this, and rushed to bring my TV out. And gave me a discount on an extended warranty to compensate me for the wait. And apologized profusely, and genuinely.
I quickly forgave them.
Ending up with a Good Experience
I was happy with my purchase, but more importantly, I ended up being happy with my experience.
Why?
- The first sales tech addressed MY needs and satisfied them really well
- A manager was immediately brought in to deal with the mess-up with the inventory, and authorized the discount on the better unit. Without haggling.
- My salesperson stayed with me the whole time, offered apologies, and empathized with me with respect to the long wait, and possibly spending more than I wanted to.
- All staff were genuine, showed hustle, and completely owned up to their company problems. And then really worked hard to get me set up right.
I realize that not everyone would have reacted like me.
The Key Ingredients
But most customers will enjoy what could be a negative experience if you:
- show empathy,
- own up to company issues,
- are genuine, and
- really hustle to make things right.
I think that’s a good lesson for any salesperson, because you know what? S#*t happens… deal with it in the right way, and you can continue to grow your client relationships.
I’ve used the same technique to build sales and get back customers for a company in a poor-service-clients-leaving-in-droves situation. The method above works. Remember that you can differentiate from your competition with YOUR interactions with prospects and clients (the “selling process”).
Interested in more tips and tricks to increasing sales? Check out my other articles and newsletters.