Welcome to summer! Or, as we refer to it in the indoor tanning world, off-season.[gap height=”15″]
Maintaining good customer relations is as important during this time of the year as any, if not more so. Indoor tanners are leaving our world in pursuit of vacations on sandy beaches, honeymoons on tropical islands, and lounging poolside with their favorite beverages, and the numbers for indoor salons reflect that. Tanning session numbers have dropped, account freezes or cancellations are up, and product sales are way down. We all know the routine; it happens every year, right? Well, let’s try something different this year to help stem the loss of revenue on the retail side: find your customer’s pain.[gap height=”15″]
Try something different this year to help stem the loss of revenue
on the retail side: find the customer’s pain.[gap height=”15″]
Pain? Yes, pain. It’s a pretty powerful word, isn’t it? And it can mean different things to different people in different circumstances. Here, we’re referring to pain as the situation the customer is in that isn’t meeting their expectations. They aren’t getting enough color. Their color is fading too quickly. Their skin isn’t in the condition they’d like it to be. The more adept indoor tanning professionals are at identifying their customers’ pain and making them aware of it, the more effective they are at eliminating the pain by recommending and selling products to them that will rectify the situation. The truth is out there, and it is this: people buy emotionally and justify their decisions intellectually. How does this make sense? It’s simple. What is one of the most powerful emotions people feel? Pain.[gap height=”15″]
In order to discover the customer’s pain, it is necessary to first find out what’s causing it. This is uncovered by asking questions, but primarily by letting the customer talk more than you do. Your questions should be open-ended to engage the customer and designed to pull information from her. Simple, closed-ended, “yes or no” questions will not go deep enough to discover her pain. One very easy way to ensure that the question being asked is open-ended is to include one of the following words in it: who, what, when, where, why or how. These words force more detailed answers than a simple yes or no, and that information will often lead right to the pain. Some examples of these types of pain-finding questions are: How long has that been a problem? What have you tried to do about that in the past? How do you feel about that? And can you tell me more about that? This probing will open the customer’s willingness to discuss her issue with you, especially if she sees you as a trusted advisor. Once you’ve discovered the pain, you’ve earned the right to offer a solution or solutions to address it. At that point, recommend a product or service that will provide a solution that is a good fit. Remember, when we are in pain, our number one goal is to make the pain go away. Situational pain is no different. [gap height=”15″]
Trust me, the mindset of finding the underlying pain your customer is experiencing isn’t natural for most of us. If you can master the technique, however, and utilize it to emotionally connect not only to the problem the customer is experiencing but also to the solution, she will see it as the path to eliminate the issue (the pain), likely purchase the recommended product (the solution), and justify the purchase as necessary. Remember, people buy emotionally and justify their decisions intellectually. Find the pain. Find the emotion. Find the sale. Find the success.[gap height=”15″]
Happy summer selling! [gap height=”15″]
