As Seen in AMEX Open forum, USA Today, The Charlotte Observer, America's Premier Experts, the Daily

As Seen in AMEX Open forum, USA Today, The Charlotte Observer, America's Premier Experts, the Daily

Thursday, January 3, 2013

When to NOT take the sale

Why would you not want to not take a sale?

A little background... my first company manufactured a product of my own invention under the brand name Slip-On Dancers.  The product works great on shoes with lots of tread, but doesn't work well then the person has narrow shoes.  At the Curves Expo Hall in Las Vegas, some people had these narrow kind of shoes.  I flat out told some that our product wasn't designed to help them and would not perform well.

Not only did the customers thank me, but they seemed genuinely impressed with my honesty.  More than once someone said, "Wow, most people would have just taken the sale. Thank you for being honest."
This is the expression I would love to see on both my customers and my non-customers' faces.


I believe that that honesty will pay off in the end.

These people to whom I'm speaking don't live in a vacuum.  Many of them are connectors in their individual markets and could easily help me sell product to others people if they knew who my ideal customer is.  I want them to recommend my product when they see someone who has a more appropriate pair of shoes.    If I sold them something, and it didn't work, they would think that the product was just junk and wouldn't work on anyone's shoes.


In these days of web reviews that are trusted more verbiage on the page, we should all ensure that we have no negative thoughts from my customers.  Sometimes that means not getting a customer, but the truth of the matter is, an unhappy customer will cost way more than the profit you made from that one sale.

In a later post, I'll talk about what to do with all that "non-customer" feedback and how you can turn those non-customers today into a profitable revenue stream tomorrow as well.

How do you weed out non-customers?  Are the potential customers you reject ever surprised that you tell them no?


6 comments:

  1. Hi Katie,

    First time on your site and I love this subject. I too get kinda jittery about taking pennies from people who aren't going to benefit and I believe like you say that you will be rewarded for kindness in time.

    I would definitely recommend a product to someone who needed even if as a customer I had been told not to buy it.

    This funny thing is, sometime when you tell people they can't have something, they just want it more.

    Looking forward to more of your posts,

    Beth :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Beth,
      Thanks for the input! Like you said, the short term "pennies" you might get are totally outweighed by the long term benefits of having customers that trust you to give them the best along with your honest opinion.

      Yes... unfortunately for us humans, we do have to deal with some strange quirks like wanting something JUST because we can't have it.

      Thanks for your comment!
      Katie

      Delete
  2. Katie I believe honesty goes a long way. I had a gentleman try to talk me into selling him a product that would help one of his issues but the other things that the product would do he did not need. I turned him down and referred him to his doctor. I felt like I had helped and that was more important than the money. Great topic!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lydia,
      I feel certain that the gentleman who you turned into a non-customer will have nothing but positive things to say about you and your business practices. No doubt that he will send more people your way over time.

      Katie

      Delete
  3. I totally agree - honesty and integrity will get you much further.

    ReplyDelete