Some of the biggest shopping days of the year are coming up in the next few weeks, so here are a few tips on how to persuade consumers to purchase your products for holiday gifts and for themselves. From now until the beginning of January, your customers are ready to buy. What are you doing to make sure they are buying from you? I have compiled a few tips that may help.
Tip One: Know what your customers want. Don’t try to sell them what you think is best. Find out what they think is best for them and sell them what they want to buy. If you want to sell them Merlot and they want to buy Chardonnay, let them buy what they want rather than nothing at all.
Tip Two: Deal with objections by asking for more information and considering what they are telling you rather than immediately trying to dispel the objection. Perhaps you have explained the product in a way that does not resonate with them.
Tip Three: Remember that your customers may have come in with their own ideas, so trying to bend them to think the way you want them to think is only going to lose you the sale.
Top Four: Focus on the experience rather than the sale. Give your customers a top- notch experience. Entertain them, give them a couple of interesting facts they can use to impress their friends and let them know that you have enjoyed their company \. Do this and you stand a much better chance of making the sale.
Tip Five: Know your products and be comfortable speaking about them. You want to speak in terms of the benefits of the products to your customers, rather than focusing on features, that they may or may not be interested in.
Tip Six: Know the answers to the questions that you are asked mostly frequently. You might want to have a list of most frequently asked questions. Consumers prefer to deal with sellers who are knowledgeable and can help them make smart decisions.
Happy Thanksgiving and a tip of the glass from me to you
E Column
by Elizabeth “E” Slater, In Short Direct Marketing
A recognized expert in the fields of direct marketing and sales in the wine marketplace. Slater has taught more wineries and winery associations how to create and improve the effectiveness of their direct marketing programs and to make the most of each customer’s potential than anyone in the wine industry today.
Follow E on twitter @esavant and facebook.
