Is it just me, or is it getting tougher to buy things?

I may just be noticing it more because it’s the Christmas season, but it seems like it’s getting harder to shop for items.  By “shop,” i mean the process of picking out products, walking up to the counter, paying, and leaving.  Before I expand on my meaning, there are a couple of things you should know about me:

First, I don’t mind shopping – but I do tend to have a restricted time frame in which to do it.

Second, I prefer to have my personal information in as few “systems” as possible.  As I’m writing this, it’s only been a few days since Target released that 40 million people may have had their information compromised.  If my information isn’t in their system, it can’t be hacked.

Unfortunately, both of these characteristics can be problems when it comes to shopping.  I went to a mall today and made three stops.

At the bookstore, I selected some magazines and made my way to the counter, and went through this conversation.  Am I a member of their discount program?  No.  Do I know about it?  Yes.  Am I sure I don’t want to purchase their card?  YES.  Do I want to donate for something or other?  No.  Finally, after undergoing this dialogue, I was allowed to purchase my magazines.

Next, I stopped at the greeting card store.  After picking out my cards, I went to the counter.  Do I have their discount card?  No.  Do I want it?  No.  Am I interested in hearing about the extra products they’re promoting?  No.  Do I want to donate to something or other?  NO.  Again, finally, I purchased.

Finally, I visited the jewelry store, and this crowned the day.  After making my selections, I was asked if I was in their system.  No.  The girl began asking for my information, and I asked her if that was necessary; I really just wanted to pay and go.  I should point out that I was very polite, as I had been to everyone.  She acted as if I’d violated some cardinal retail rule, and gave me what I’m certain is the “difficult customer that I can’t wait to get rid of” treatment – but she allowed me to just pay and go.

At this point, I felt like the comedian that I once saw who described going to the grocery store, and being asked if he had their card.  He responded, “NO!  I have MONEY.  I give you my money, you give me my stuff!  That’s how it works!”

Look, I’m as interested in the upsell as the next guy – but there comes a point where it’s just too much. If you’re in retail, my advice to you is to limit your upsell attempts to ONE.  Want to promote a product?  Great; then don’t ask for a donation or a card.  And when customers refuse, remember that they have the right to do so

One of the most common questions I am asked is if salespeople should ask if it’s a good or bad time to talk on a prospecting call.  In this video, I answer that question.

Not all business cards are created equal. This video will give you a few quick tips on producing one that works!

This is one of the most vexing situations in sales – but Troy tells you how to handle it in this video.

What does it mean to be “Accountable to your customers?”

Yesterday, I was eating lunch when one of my pet peeves occurred. I was having lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, and I ordered chicken strips with barbecue sauce for dipping.  When the food came, it was brought by someone other than my waiter – who did the “drop and run” maneuver, putting my food in front of me and getting the heck out of there before I noticed that – you got it – there was no barbecue sauce.

Ordinarily this wouldn’t be a big deal; I would have simply asked my waiter for the sauce.  Except that my waiter wasn’t the one who brought the food, and by the time I noticed, there was no one to ask.  Finally I had to run down my waiter, and he got the sauce.  It was more an annoyance than anything, but it reminded me of something that too many companies do – they manage to remove the accountability from anyone who is dealing with customers.

This happens a lot in companies where one set of people sells the new account, and another group services it, and the initial salespeople drop out of communication with the customer.  On the face of it, this looks like an efficient use of time and resources on the part of the company; after all, the people who are best at doing the selling maximize their time doing the selling.  HOWEVER – what happens is that you lose a lot of the accountability to the customer.  This happens because the servicing salespeople don’t necessarily feel bound by the promises made by the account acquisition salespeople – and the acquisition salespeople aren’t that interested in a successful service experience, because they’re only compensated for bringing the account on.

In this case, the waiter that dropped my food off was perfectly OK with executing the drop-and-run, because whatever tip I left wasn’t going to him.  My primary waiter, on the other hand, assumed that the food came out correctly – and if there was a problem, there was no one who was immediately there to solve it.

In today’s market, we are more and more accountable to our customers, and that means that sales and service must constantly stay in contact with our customers and work together to maintain and manage the relationship.  If you don’t, the consequences could be more severe than some missing barbecue sauce.

How you handle a customer complaint is critical.  This video shows you a quick 5-step process for doing it right.

If there are any three words that almost always signal that a bad hire is about to happen, it’s these three – “Industry Experience Required.”  In this video, I explain why – and tell you what you should be looking for instead.

If you would like to be a GREAT sales manager, you need this course!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSi_VsiRa84

The most important sale you can make is….yourself.  In this video, I explain what you have to sell yourself on.

What is the most important trait for today’s salesperson?  It’s intellectual curiosity – and I explain why in this video.