Weird Buying Signals

Paul Staub

I usually pride myself as being very perceptive, and I have noticed something very weird over the last year. This may sound stupid but every time a male customer rubs his chin as if hes stroking a beard while hes looking over my proposal he ends up buying from me. I thought it was coincidence at first but it happened so often that I began to wonder why. Has anybody ever heard of this before? Or have any other weird or unusual buying signals they notice?

Glasshousebltr

Yea, I get some standard signals from buyers, like just before a chic goes home with me I find that everything I say is much funnier than normal.

Thats when I close on the bonus plan.

Bob

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Bob

Mike Finley

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Paul Staub

Right.... I'm pretty good at picking up closed and open body signals, I just didn't realize that stoking the chin was an open signal.

mark lauzon

now get this...there is a technique called matching...this is a process where you sync with the client..you rub your beard so will he...you rub your nose so will he...It is amazingly powerfull try it some time
mark
www.stoneadvice.com
"slab fabricator heaven"

Glasshousebltr

Matching is a process ya might not want to try at the nut ward.

Bob

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Bob

Tom McNall

If they ask you how busy you are or how soon can you do it, chances are they are buying :Thumbs:

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Have Fun eh?
Tom McNall
Great Northern Stone
www.greatnorthernstone.com

Paul Staub

Ive noticed that every single customer that tells me up front that they never buy on the first night, ends up buying that night. I guess the only reason for saying that is to throw up an early smoke screen, because they always buy on the first night, and they are scared.

I get some pretty funny objections though. I'd have to say that the weirdest was a customer told me that they needed to wait and see if the cat died before buying windows. I guess it needed an expensive operation if it didnt die, but I didnt feel like pressing them to find out if that was the case. Maybe they were planning a $6000 funeral for it.

mark lauzon

Heya Tom!

Mark
www.stoneadvice.com
slab fabricator heaven

Don Benham

Back whe I was working for a retailer, he tried turning me into a salesman. He had alot of theories on how to sell a customer. Read all the books. On the phone you could almost smell the Aqua Velva. He should'a been in used cars.

One thing he said was....when a customer walks in and you approach her and she says"don't come talk to me I'm just lokking" it translates into "please don't try to sell me because I have no self controll and if you talk long enough I'll buy whatever you want me to."

I hated working for this guy.

Don

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Benham Flooring
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Look, I know the voices in my head aren't real, it's just that lately they've had some really good points.

Floorwizard

"I am just looking"
translates into:
"I have been to other stores and been attacked, and the last thing I want is for you to do the same, but yet I do not want to be left alone. Please show me you are interested in providing me with good service and not just making a sale"

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"in 20 years you will regret more what you did not do than what you did"

Tom McNall

Good to see here buddy!

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Have Fun eh?
Tom McNall
Great Northern Stone
www.greatnorthernstone.com

Don Benham

Exactly! Can these sheisters not smell their own BS? My customers like me because I act as if I don't care about selling floors. . My goal is to give them every bit of information they require to make an informed decision. I never push for a decision. never If they want to shop around I invite them to. I send them out armed with a little more knowledge about what they are buying. A clearer picture of what they want. When they come back, I thank them and never ask to see the other qoutes.

By then I've earned a loyal customer, and tells are obsolete.

Don

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Benham Flooring
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Look, I know the voices in my head aren't real, it's just that lately they've had some really good points.

Mike Finley

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Floorwizard

Mike,

That was brilliant. And very true.

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"in 20 years you will regret more what you did not do than what you did"

Don Benham

I may have misrepresented my position a little. I'm not opposed to sales in its self. I don't generally dislike salesmen just for being in sales. It's a very important part of our respective industries. I, of course, can't install anything that hasn't first been sold. I just have a problem with preasured sales. The false sense of urgency alot of people try to put into their clients.

When I started dabbling into selling the floors I installed, my goal honestly wasn't to sell floors, but to make sure my clients didn't get taken. Also, being a little bit of a control freak, I couldn't trust some random retailer to sell my clients the right product for them.

I realized that consumers saw and appreciated my honesty. Also, knowing that they were free to buy from someone else gave them confidence that I was giving real advice and not trying to steer them.

I'm also pretty good at reading people face-to-face. I'm able to determin what their particular concerns are. I can help people understand what they really want, which is often not what they origonally looking at.

I don't make every sale. I know I could increase my percentage by learning more proffesional sales techniques. But the ones I close become loyal customers for years. They have absolutely no reservations about reffering me to friends.

But I guess, in a way, this is my sales pitch. It works for me. Won't work for everyone. My business structure(one man show,only have to keep myself busy allows for this kind of practice. Of course larger companies need more work to keep everyone happy so they need to employ more intense methods.

Don

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Benham Flooring
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Look, I know the voices in my head aren't real, it's just that lately they've had some really good points.

Mike Finley

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Teetorbilt

I was sent through Dale Carnagie training years ago, 2wk course, excellent!
I'm a big Ziglar fan too.

Don Benham

I've read that book. Very good. Ya know, I never thought of it but that book may be an influence of mine. I read it for the first time a long time ago. Years before I was ever in a position to use the teachings for sales. But even then it made perfect sense to me.

Looking at my approach I see how it follows what I read in that book. I'm glad I got ahold of it at such a young age, before I had a chance to learn the hard sell.

Don

P.S. While this thread may have gone in a different direction than Paul intended, I'm glad it came up. I'll be digging this book out of a stack of boxes of books to re-read it. Thats why I love these boards, you never know what you'll get out of a conversation.

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Benham Flooring
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Look, I know the voices in my head aren't real, it's just that lately they've had some really good points.

PipeGuy

You're so right. That's why I scan all the threads. You never know what gem'll be laying there waiting for you to snatch.