Be Nice! or The Art of Selling

Last year when I was seriously ill and living in bed, my rather lovely hubby said we needed a new mattress…..ok less of the smutter ladies!

The only way to shop when ill is to speed shop, that means be mega organised and only look at anything once. So in less than an hour I think we possibly managed to look at every mattress in Colchester. (The ache later confirmed it!)

And it really reminded me of one of the most important skills for business success – the art of selling.

After a while just like when you are booking a holiday, you can end up with “Blue swimming pool syndrome”; ie the first one you looked at seemed amazing, idyllic and perfect but after 30 ideal destinations they all look the same and you are losing the will to live.

The exact same thing was happening when mattress purchasing. I had a memory like a geriatric cat when I was ill, which was bad enough on a normal day, but when you are choosing a product that you will spend a third of your life in, how did I come to decision of which one to buy?

• All stores had great adverts telling me they would match any price.
• All stores had a mass of different products.
• All stores had interest free credit – so I can keep my money in my pocket for longer!
• All stores had guides on what would be right for me.
• All stores were basically the same.

So how did I buy?

As we drove home I realised of the many stores we visited in that speed hour, I remembered the name of two shop assistants. Patricia and Andy. Now for someone with the mind of a geriatric cat that’s pretty impressive. And the reason?

They listened to me. Even if they were shattered and bored out of their mind, helping me get my purchase right mattered to them. In sense they were really nice.

Not seeing many folks when I was ill, means when I did see someone that isn’t my dog I talked for Britain. These 2 shop assistants smiled and acted interested, and didn’t try and force expensive products on me that I didn’t want. They truly LISTENED TO ME. They found out my needs and helped me get what I wanted.

So a top tip for fabulous marketing skills, is be nice, listen, care and make that customer feel like you live to make them a happy bunny.

See be nice…..just like your mother said!