Sales Increase
I’m no expert on selling, however I have worked my fair share of sales jobs. And really no matter what industry you are in, you’re more than likely trying to sell some product or service to an end user. You and your company are battling against others to try and convince consumers why your “whatever” is better than the next guys. But it’s not that simple. You must do more than just sell a great product (there obviously are a few exceptions). The following paragraphs will seek to highlight a few of the things that great companies do to increase and keep customers.
Sell an Experience
Like I said earlier, few companies have products that are so good that they sell themselves. Most of the time a company must sell itself to consumers in order to sell its actual product. When a customer is contemplating where to purchase a particular item, and price is the only difference, they will most often select the store with the lower price (as one of our bloggers Zach did when purchasing his new Flip camera – read his post here). If a company wants to make any sort of profit, they probably will not do so by trying to compete for the lowest price (unless they are the mega store Wal-Mart). So what must they do to make their more expensive product worth while? Sell an experience.
How?
Selling an experience isn’t easy, but when done correctly can be great for both the company and the customer. Many times when I go to a store to buy a product, I want to talk to someone who is an expert on the product and can reassure me that it is a good purchase decision. I want to be greeted at the door, remembered from my previous visit, be offered add-ons that I might actually need, and have some type of frequent shopper bonus. This would be a great “experience” for me as a shopper. One of the biggest elements I just mentioned (from an employee standpoint) is customer recall. A friend of mine told me recently that every time he goes into Starbucks, the barista on duty greets him by name and asks him “hot or cold?” That’s amazing to me. Starbucks has done such a great job at this element that of all the customers seen each day of the week, the barista can still remember a single customer’s order. Amazing.
Nice SHUs
No not shoes, SHUs (Super Heavy Users). A super heavy user is pretty self explanatory; it’s someone who uses a certain product or service often. McDonald’s definition is someone who eats at their restaurant at least SEVEN times a week. I would consider myself a super heavy user of electronics. I use them all the time, never get tired of them, love talking about them, and love buying them. So i would be perfect for a store that sales electronics. What I’m trying to say is basically that companies should hire super heavy users of their products to be employees. Who else better to talk to a customer about a product they love than someone who uses it every day. Some examples of companies who do this are Best Buy (look at all the geeks who have worked there, myself included), various clothing stores (where the employees are only allowed to wear that specific company’s clothes), Nike (who many times hires athletes to sell and develop its products), and many more. Having an employee who loves what he is selling and has actually used it before, compared to an employee who only has book knowledge of the product, makes such a big difference.
So What?
If you want to sell a premium product (or any product for that manner) and not be competitive with price alone, you must do something better – offer something more appealing that competitors are not (an experience). And have the people that are selling the product actually be interested in the product and willing to tell the world how much they love it. I believe these few simple changes could make any company that much better.
