Building relationships

Selling today’s Internet-savvy customer isn’t difficult, it’s different. If you’re planning on selling them, you will have to get on target. It’s not changing, it’s changed!

Do you remember 11 years ago? Eleven years ago, Facebook was still competing with MySpace for traffic. Amazon was known primarily for selling books, and the iPhone was just released. When you think about it, it’s another world; a very old world.

We are all customers, and we’ve all changed. How we shop is completely different. Remember when merchants were insulted because people were talking on their phones and walking through their stores? Now we rarely look twice at them; it’s just the way things are. Although my dermatologist has a sign in the office that reads, “If you need to use your cell phone don’t use it here!” It feels a little harsh, but the office is really quiet.

So what does this mean to those of use that connect with today’s customers? We need to understand the customer’s journey and what tools they have in their toolbox. Salespeople still need to know how to sell, have the determination and a good personal presence. The ability to communicate with the customer is more important than ever. Building rapport has never been a more useful skill. Salespeople they need to understand ‘how they buy’ so they can be part of the customer’s world.

The Internet plays a huge part in today’s purchase so if you’re not connected and still don’t think it’s important; you’re not only behind you are in another world. I have several friends who don’t text, their reasoning, “It’s not warm and fuzzy.” What it really means is they have a ‘flip phone’ and writing text can take you into next year! They ask me why I don’t leave phone messages, and I tell them it’s not very efficient, and I don’t want to spend the day playing phone tag!

Not sure of the customer’s journey, ask the customer how they get information and how they buy. Examine your own journey and incorporate into your sales pitch. Here’s one idea that will get you on the right road; before you waste the customer’s time looking at all of your products, ask them if they’ve been to your website and looked at products. Ask if they’ve seen anything they like and would they like to look at it ‘in person.’ Turn on your computer or iPad and bring up the products they like. You can also ask what other sites they’ve been to and what products they’ve seen.

Want to know more about this topic?

I will be conducting three seminars for Mohawk Industries at the Loews Hotel, 455 N. Park Dr., Chicago, IL on January 16, 17th.

The three seminars are: “How to Sell to today’s Internet Savvy Customer, 10 Ways to Attract and Keep Talented Employees, * Ways to Use Technology to Grow Your Business.” To sign up for these seminars, call your local Mohawk Industries Representative.

Thanks to Usabilla for the image and the Customer Experience Winners.