Situational Salesmanship
Planning responses for different customer personalities in advance can boost a salesperson’s confidence during the sales process.
RV salespeople deal with varying personalities and customer types every day, and if they are not thoroughly prepared in advance, they’ll soon discover that a one-size-fits-all selling approach will not prepare them to be flexible enough to adapt to different types of customers.
Customers from different generations have distinct mindsets, priorities and goals in shopping situations. Customers from the baby boomer generation have distinct philosophies and values compared to Gen X customers. There is some crossover, but for the most part, each generation thinks and acts differently from the generation before it. The salesperson who approaches each customer in the same way might get lucky once in a while, but unless they adapt their presentation to a way that prospective customers find acceptable to their generation, it will be like trying to put a square peg in a round hole.
Many customers have different personality types as well. The expressive customer needs a fun, exciting shopping and demonstration process with laughter that’s not too serious or overly dependent on details. They need to have fun while shopping, and being able to decide to purchase something will be difficult for them. The analytical shopper prefers a detailed presentation that includes supporting information with facts and documentation backing up the demonstration. They’re all business and care very little about having a fun time shopping, as their decision to buy will be based strictly on the information and data being presented to them.
All this requires salespeople to have a chameleonlike ability to adjust to the customer on short notice. That is one of the reasons why it takes a new salesperson two to three years to get their legs under them and start to consistently get customers to say yes to buying. They don’t have the experience with multiple types of customers yet, so they rely totally on the selling system they were taught in the initial training — whether it fits the customer standing in front of them or not.
Even though there are different types of customers out in the market, there is some consistency in the objections customers might use, which can be predicted in advance. Identifying these and developing basic responses a salesperson could use would be helpful to prevent getting caught off guard when they’re thrown at you.
Developing a library of these situational salesmanship opportunities can help you handle these with effective, well-thought-out responses, memorized in advance, and increase a salesperson’s confidence to handle them when a customer tries to take a sales process off track.
Listed below are some of the statements customers typically use in trying to sidetrack a salesperson’s efforts to move them through the selling process, along with some suggested responses to consider. Use them as a starting point to develop your own.
“I’m / We’re just looking.”
How many times have you heard that from a customer when approaching them just after walking in the front door? Hundreds or maybe thousands.
Possible responses:
“Well, you’re in the right place to look. What is it that you’re here to see today?”
“I understand that you’re shopping around. We have a great selection to choose from. Let’s talk about exactly what you’re interested in, so I can show you right where that is.”
“I’m happy to assist you today. Where would you like to get started?”
“This is the first place we’ve stopped.”
Possible responses:
“Have you looked at our website? Did anything catch your eye?”
“I’m happy that you’ve chosen us. I’m sure you’ll be happy that you did.”
“That’s great! Most people make us the last stop because they are very happy with how we treat them here.”
“That’s great! You’re my guest here, so let me show you around.”
“Our marketing department tells us that most customers have looked online before stopping in. Did you find anything on our website that caught your eye?”
“I have no idea what I want … I just started looking.”
Possible responses:
“That’s fine. Let’s spend a few minutes together and find out what’s the best fit for your needs.”
“Here is a great place to start … Let’s sit for just a minute to get some more information, and we’ll get started.”
“I understand. Deciding is a process, but I can help. Let’s get started!”
“Great — you don’t have to decide right now. Let’s talk about what’s important to you, and I’ll take you right to that product.”
“Great! Have you done any research online that can help us get started?”
The customer who won’t give you a budget
Possible responses:
“We’ve got ____ of those here. Did you want to start with the lowest priced model first or the highest priced?”
“I’d like to be respectful of your budget, so what price range did you want me to focus on today?”
“Since I will be very respectful of your budget, what is an amount that you don’t want to exceed today?”
“If we started in a price range of $150/month, does that work for you?”
“I’ve / We’ve only got 10 minutes.”
Possible responses:
“When you say 10 minutes, does that mean that you actually have to leave in 10 minutes?”
“That’s not much time, what would be your expectations during those 10 minutes?”
“OK, sounds good. What would be your goal for those 10 minutes?”
“That should be just enough time to talk and help me know what to show you when you come back in. Does that sound good?”
“That’s not something that you can realistically do in 10 minutes. Let’s set an appointment for you to come back when you have more time.”
“I know what I want, I found it online and I just want your best price for it.”
Possible responses:
“So, if I give you our best price, you’d be willing to buy it right now?”
“I know price is important to you, but let’s take a minute to make sure that it’s the right product for you, OK?”
“So price is important to you, is that what’s most important to you in this purchase?”
“Sure, but how about we take a quick look at it to make sure it’s the right fit for you?”
“Great that you found something that you like. If I can get some quick information from you, I might be able to find you something better for less money, sound good?”
“I don’t need a salesperson; I just want to go out and look at what you have.”
Possible responses:
“We like to help our customers find the perfect _______ for you that’s in your budget. How’s that sound?”
“It’s important to me that you don’t waste your time looking at something that’s over your budget. Let’s talk for a minute, and I’ll save you some time.”
“I don’t like working with a salesperson either, but I will be a trusted partner for you to help find something nice in your budget. Does that sound good to you?”
“You can certainly go out and look, but some features that you don’t necessarily need could inflate the price.”
“The price is too high.”
Possible responses:
“Our price is too high? What makes you think that?”
“I see that you have spent quite a bit of time researching the pricing at our competition. Have you also researched the company’s integrity, service reputation and commitment to customers?”
“We know that we are in the ballpark with our competition on pricing, but we would suggest that you look closely at how we stack up in service reputation and our warranty.”
“We rarely miss a proposal by much, so let’s give the sales manager an offer they would consider. Sound good?”
“I want to go home and think about it.”
Possible responses
“I can appreciate that you want to go home and think about it, but I would like to ask: What is it that you would like to go home and think about?”
“Other than price, what else are you considering as part of your decision-making process?”
“It’s been my experience that when a customer says that they want to go home and think about it, it’s because they aren’t really interested. Is that it for you?”
“You would like to think it over. Would you care to expand on that, please?”
“OK, fine, what did you plan on thinking about? Product? Price? Something else?”
Let’s use these as a starting point and act now to identify all the things customers have said in the past that have thrown you off course and develop responses you’re comfortable with to keep your sales process moving in the right direction. Other benefits include:
- Increasing customer confidence.
- Being perceived as a problem-solver, which will help relax your customer.
- Building on the trust you have already established.
- Preventing additional objections from arising later in the process.
Get out your pen and paper and get to work on solving this ongoing problem, so customers will no longer get you off track.
