Now, if you work in the
retail industry then this tip is just for you!
No doubt, if you have
worked on the shop floor, hearing those three dreaded words
“I’m Just Looking” have annoyed you, aggravated you and
made you damn right angry at times.
Well, many customers will say this as a stimulus
response to get you off their back and to give them a
“breather” whether they are actually buying or not. Some
customers will say it because your greeting is the 12th one
they have heard that day and they are fed up with being
approached by sales people.
No matter what their reasons are for saying it, just
appreciated that it is an automatic response.
So how can you overcome the “I’m just looking”
response?
Well, Here are two tips to help you.
TIP NUMBER 1 – THE GREETING YOU USE IS
KEY
Think about the most common greetings you say to your
customers on a regular basis.
You might even find out that you use same greeting every
time.
Well, if you are using common openings like “How may I
help you?” or “Do you need any help?” you are leaving
yourself wide open for a “I’m just looking” response
Now that’s not to say that you shouldn’t use those
openings but you should vary them throughout the day
depending upon the circumstances and the customer.
You really do need to make yourself different to the
rest.
Just think about it – your customer may have been in 7
different shops before yours and has received the same
opening from every sales person! They will be really
wracked off if they hear “How can I help?” one more
time!
Make yourself different from your competition. Make the
customer say to themselves “That was different” or “That
was not the norm”.
So what sort of greetings can you
use?
Well, look at the circumstances in your shop and then
tailor your approach.
For example, you are selling mobile phones and someone
is looking at a top of the range brand new model - you
could say something like “They make them more smaller and
more stylish all of the time don’t they?” or “That’s a real
stylish design isn’t it?”
If the customer is young, looks hip and trendy you could
say something like “That’s a real cool design isn’t it?”.
If the customer is wearing an expensive suit, looks
business like and formal you could try “XYZ supplier keep
on pushing the boundaries with their models – it looks
amazing doesn’t it?”
Think about what you currently use today and then write
down some openings that you could use in the future for
different types of people and then use the circumstances in
the shop to tailor them and adapt them accordingly
TIP NUMBER 2 – INJECT SOME HUMOUR INTO YOUR
OPENING
People buy from people that they know, like and
trust.
By creating an opening based on humour you will break
down some of the buying barriers that may already exist
with your customer. It is also a great way to build up some
rapport right from the word go.
It will also be something that your competitors will
most likely not have done so it will put you at a distinct
advantage over them.
So how can you inject humour into your opening?
Well, there is a great opportunity to use humour when
you get the “I’m just looking” response so you could
actually set that up if you wanted to.
“Hi, can I help you with anything?”
“Oh, I’m just looking”
“That's no problem, please feel free as it’s the only
thing that the Prime Minister has not managed to tax
yet”
or
“Hi, how may I help you?”
“I’m just looking thanks”
“No problem, It’s a lot warmer in here than it is out
there! When you see something that you like, look for me
and I’ll let you know whether it qualifies for the special
offers that we have go on today. Was there anything that
you were looking for in particular?”
Creating an effective opening can make or break a sale
and we practice what we preach here at MTD for when we are
exhibiting at a conference or at a show we challenge
ourselves never to use the “How may I help you” “How can I
help you” opening line. If we do, we have to put a fiver
into the kitty for the post-show beers!
The kitty didn’t stretch very far last time! From over
1000 visitors to our stand we only had 20 quid in the kitty
at the end of the show! Sean McPheat, our MD made it up
though for a job well done as we received exceptional
levels of business from our approach.
So I hope those tips will help you to overcome the “I’m
just looking response?” but remember they will only help
you if you actually implement them.
