True confession: I used to be one of those sales clerks. I took everything personally, and usually saw customers as a source of frustration and an unwelcome interruption in my day. You know the type. The ones you dread dealing with. Yep. Guilty.
Part of it was my age. I was suffering from a typical case of post-adolescent narcissism. Part of it was lack of training. There aren’t many retail jobs that provide the kind of training that gives you a sense of pride or professionalism. The crap wages didn’t help much, either.
I don’t recall how I landed there, but around the time I started university I got a part-time job at Mark’s Work Wearhouse. That was back in the day when they mostly sold serious work wear, before they went upscale and focused more on fashion. I somehow ended up as product manager for boots and shoes. I was about to become the resident expert on work boots, which also meant I was responsible for ordering thousands of dollars of inventory. I got some basic product information from another staff member and one of the regional managers, and I was off to the races.
I didn’t feel like a generic sales clerk anymore.
Picture, if you will, a 115 pound gal who’s just a little over five feet tall selling a pair of Kaufman Kingtreads to a guy with size 15 feet. Size 15 work boots were hard to find in those days, and Kaufman (based in Kitchener, Ontario, they went into receivership in 2000, after 93 years in business) was one of the only manufacturers who made them. Guys with big feet were glad I knew that.
You might wonder how it was that tough-guy tradesmen took me seriously as a seller of work boots. It was actually remarkably easy. I proved to them I knew what I was doing. I knew how the boots were made, and what kind of boot was suitable for what kind of job.
During my time selling work boots, I learned an unexpected lesson I will be grateful for forever.
Since product knowledge would only take me so far, I had to learn from my customers. I asked them about their jobs to find out more about their footwear needs. I quickly discovered they were proud of their work and happy to tell me about it.
The more I talked to my customers, the more I learned. Like plumbers and electricians wear out the toes of their boots, because they have to spend so much time on their knees (they wear out the knees of their work pants, too—one guy said his wife sewed padded patches on his). Guys on paving crews told me they wanted insulated boots to protect their feet from the hot asphalt, but the heat also wrecked the insulation.
By showing genuine interest in my customers and treating them with respect, I got respect right back. I understood the demands of their jobs, shared whatever tips I learned, and did my best to sell them the boots that got them the best performance and the best value for their hard-earned money. Our store ranked second in the region in boot sales, and yes, I was mighty proud of it.
That was my turnaround time. I’ve never looked at a customer the same way since.
It’s amazing how easy it is to sell to people when you see them as people first. Sure, there are idiots out there, but sometimes someone just got dumped, or they have a pounding headache, or they missed lunch and their blood sugar’s gone in the ditch. (Don’t come near me when I’m hungry. Seriously.) Life is messy for all of us on occasion.
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the idea of being in business, we forget what it’s really about. When we bring it back to a human level, it shifts our perspective. It makes interacting with customers easier, because the whole process is less artificial. It becomes a conversation.
How do you connect with your people? And what kind of boots do you wear?
[...] like it when you show interest in them. Once you create a little rapport, you can steer the conversation back to what you have for [...]