Some time ago, I had an eye-opening experience that prompted me to develop a presentation titled “Selling and Buying is Emotional.” Emotions drive our buying behaviors. I have delivered this presentation several times with very good results from the audience. It was meant to be a reminder to seasoned salespeople and sales training for new salespeople. The inspiration for this presentation came from an incident at a travel agency.
I had just dropped my wife off for an appointment in the morning. While waiting, I decided to walk into a fairly large travel agency nearby which supposedly specialized in cruises according to their window posters to inquire about a European River Cruise that we were seriously considering. Upon entering the lobby of this agency, I noticed several people sitting behind a long counter seemingly very engaged on their computers. A chime sounded as I entered which I assumed was to announce a visitor had arrived. I stood still waiting patiently but no one looked up or paid any attention to the chime or to me. Strange, business walks through the door and no one is interested. I continued to wait, asking myself why no one acknowledged my presence.
Did no one care about a new prospect, a potential sale?
Was the computer screen more important than a potential customer?
Successful salespeople work aggressively to find a prospect and sell their product (perhaps one of the most difficult parts of the sales cycle is finding a prospect). They never let an opportunity like this escape. Here, a prospect was delivered without any effort and yet no one seemed interested. These cruises are approximately $5,000 per person, a potential $10,000 deal for the agency. As I continued to wait for some acknowledgment of my presence, I wondered how often this scenario is repeated in other businesses. Perhaps too often.
Alas, the silence and lack of interest frustrated me, and I took the initiative to approach the counter. Ironically, still, no one looked up as if I did not exist. Although my frustration was reaching a crescendo, I maintained my composure and politely with a smile, knocked a few times on the counter to draw some attention. At first, there was no reaction to my knocks and then finally, one staff raised her head, seemingly very unhappy about my disturbance. There was a very unhappy scowl on her face and no greeting or offer to help. I advised her that I was interested in a European River Cruise with Viking Cruises and asked if she could help me with information. Her reaction and response were alarming. With some sense of hostility, she pointed to a side wall and said “There are brochures on the wall rack and you can go to our website.” Then with a huff, she returned to her computer, never saying another word to me. What is wrong with this picture?
I suspect you can guess how this story ends. What do you think was my “emotional” state at that time? I politely thanked her, turned around, and left. This agency could have had a $10,000 sale. Instead, it lost a sale and most definitely a prospect forever. My wife and I ultimately had a fabulous 14-day Rhine River cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest purchased through another agency.
I wonder what the owner of the agency would say if he heard this story.
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