Watch Those Speed Bumps!
\nAvoiding Six Common Furniture Sales Mistakes
\nBy: Paul Cherry<\/p>\n
Not all sales interactions run smoothly; even the best salespeople inevitably hit a bump in the road. Maybe you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve hit that bump because you unwittingly mishandled a situation, or because your customer had conflicted feelings about a sale. Either way, if you want to salvage your hard work and make sure the sale goes through, you must learn to deal with these obstacles to meet your customer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s needs.
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\nHere are the six most common mistakes home furnishings salespeople make and how to overcome them:<\/p>\n
Fearing The Customer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Reaction<\/p>\n
When salespeople are afraid of what a customer might say, they end up losing sales opportunities because they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find out what the customer really wants. For example, you dread hearing customers say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Your price is too high.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s almost a knee-jerk reaction to offer a lower price. Instead, be proactive and try to uncover the unique buying criteria important to the customer so the price objection doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come up in the first place.<\/p>\n
Taking It Personally.<\/p>\n
Sure, in your head you know that a customer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bad attitude doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t reflect on your worth as a human being. But our egos get in the way, and we internalize the customer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s negativity. When your customer brings up a problem, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get defensive and explain the problem away. Not only will the customer probably not be overjoyed with your response, but you will have failed to address the heart of the matter: how to fix your customer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s problem.<\/p>\n
Rushing to Judgment.<\/p>\n
As a salesperson, you should work to focus all of your attention on your customer and her needs. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all too easy to swoop in to present a solution instead of listening to your customer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s complaints and the specifics of her situation. In this rush to cut to the chase, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in danger of coming across as arrogant, and your customer ends up feeling her input is unimportant and unappreciated.<\/p>\n
Embrace any information your prospect gives you, whether you believe it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s valuable or not. Remember, even if you hear the story all the time, it is unique and personal for each customer. Instead of interrupting your customer with your standard solution, let him have the floor and explain his problem. Only then can you proceed with the process of finding a solution for whatever ails him.<\/p>\n
Beating a Dead Horse.<\/p>\n
How do you know when, despite your best efforts, your customer relationship is beyond saving and therefore taking up more time than it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth? When that customer is demanding, even confrontational, yet provides you with little to no business for all the irritation she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s giving you. Sometimes customers like this actually cost you money because you spend so much time trying to please them. You hope that if you keep doing business with them, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll eventually reward you for your loyalty\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face it, there are some customers you just don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want!<\/p>\n
Shifting Blame.<\/p>\n
For the past twenty years, organizations have embraced the concept of teamwork. When things go awry, though, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy to point fingers. Donald Trump\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s TV series, The Apprentice, shows how individuals can turn on each other to protect their own interests. The boardroom meetings with \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the Donald\u00e2\u20ac\u009d show a different side of each contestant\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s character. One individual must be eliminated from the show each week, so one gets singled out for letting the team down.<\/p>\n
When customers come to you with problems, do you know someone on your team who tries to shift blame to another person or department in your company? Pointing fingers only delays resolving customers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 issues. When things go well in your firm, everyone should definitely share the glory\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand when things go wrong, everyone should share the blame, too.<\/p>\n
Treating all Customer Complaints With the Same Approach.<\/p>\n
Some salespeople have a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to dealing with customer objections. They may offer to lower their price or automatically throw in product extras, without listening to the reasons the customer is upset. While you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re being conditioned to respond to objections with concessions, your customers are learning that whenever they complain, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re rewarded, much like giving whiny children toys or treats to quiet them. For example, a customer might ask you to cut your price by 5% to clinch a deal. When you agree to this deal, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re setting up her expectations for the next time you negotiate. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll think all she has to do is raise an objection and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll always give in. Having only one approach to resolving customer issues results in two mistakes:<\/p>\n
You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not addressing your customer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s real problem.
\nYou end up offering more than what your customer really wants.<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s better for both you and your customer if, instead of giving price cuts to close the deal, you really listen to what your customer tells you, then go from there. Slowing down and listening when you reach business relationship speed bumps works better in the long run than always trying to swerve around them.<\/p>\n
About the Author:
\nPaul Cherry is President of the Philadelphia-based sales and leadership firm Performance Based Results and the author of QUESTIONS THAT SELL, published by AMACOM Books. Paul can be reached at 302-478-4443 or e-mailed at cherry@pbresults.com. When you subscribe to our quarterly newsletter at http:\/\/www.pbresults.com, download our free white paper, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153117 Top Questions that Sell,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d based on PBR’s latest research on what salespeople need to ask in order to up-sell, cross-sell and win more customers!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Watch Those Speed Bumps! Avoiding Six Common Furniture Sales Mistakes By: Paul Cherry Not all sales interactions run smoothly; even the best salespeople inevitably hit a bump in the road. Maybe you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve hit that bump because you unwittingly mishandled a situation, or because your customer had conflicted feelings about a sale. Either way, if you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-furniture-indonesia-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4362\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}