I recently purchased a new house, which put me in the mix of a new neighborhood and the need to purchase furniture and an abundance of other household goods. The experiences shed some light on how people (or at least I), can be “sold” to.
Taking a walk around the block, I met a man who had just put up a For Sale sign on his front lawn. He was hot and sweaty and not looking too happy. As we chatted, he told me he was very frustrated. “I’m doing all this work now for the new owners. If I had done this years ago, I would have been able to enjoy all these improvements myself.”
Lesson One: Tell clients to enjoy their lives now. If not, their heirs will reap the benefits of their hard work, not them. And, if they put off their travel until it’s the “right time,” life is going to happen in between. Their knees might wear out, making it challenging to walk—and let’s not go into the litany of other things that can falter on one’s body as it ages. So yes, Carpe Diem, every day.
A few hours later, I went shopping for a beige couch. Do you know how many beige couches there are in this world and how tiring it gets looking dozens of them in one day? I was in a furniture store with my sister, and we were tired. We sat down to rest and were chatting away when a salesperson came to join us. I related to her. We were both from Long Island, NY, and kind of had the same vibe. She learned a lot about me in just a few minutes. She wasn’t pushy, just friendly and I somehow regaled her with some of the more pertinent details of my life. As we got up to go, she started pointing out some pieces I might like. The next morning, I decided to go back to buy a couch. The funny thing was, I wanted to buy it from HER. I ended up purchasing a room full of furniture. The best part? It turned out she was new and this was her biggest sale so far.
Lesson Two: When speaking to clients, be yourself; don’t just sell. Instead, listen. Speak to customers as if they are normal humans and you are, too. You’ll learn a lot. If you’re new to the industry, you don’t need to broadcast that, especially if you know your stuff. If you’re a funny person, be funny. If someone is in your store, they want to be sold to. And sometimes they just want to pick out a beige couch and move on with their lives and you can be the beneficiary of that.
When the furniture arrived a few days later, I stood out on my front porch, staying out of the way as the delivery guys tried to get said couch through the front door. It was a challenge and it seemed uncertain that they were going to be able to get it in, but they did. As one of the men came outside to get more items out of the truck, he paused and said to me, “It’s a beautiful day out here, isn’t it?” He had caught me in an instant of informal meditation, and I felt very validated to have him enjoy the cool breeze with me. Just one of those lovely moments.
Lesson Three: Share the beauty of what you’re delivering to clients. Sometimes sending yet another client to the ends of the earth might seem like a matter of course. Instead, as you bid them farewell before their departure, share your enthusiasm for the experiences they’re going to have. Breathe in the air they’re breathing and validate for them that they’ve made the right decision and are on their way to a remarkable journey.
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