How good are YOUR sales skills?
On a recent visit to Border’s Books, I was delivered one of the best sales pitches ever! After ordering coffee and a pastry, the smiling barista asked if I’d like to get $5 dollars off my purchase by getting a free Border’s membership. She also handed me the plastic membership card while she was asking so of course I took it and said “sure” (so as not to be rude). Her response was perfect! “Great, what’s your email address?” Without even having much time to think about it, I gave it to her! As soon as I was done speaking, she immediately asked, “and your phone number? This way you can get your discounts without having the card on you!” This gal had sales skills! Most of us decline such offers and sales or customer service people rarely show they care whether we want to save 10% off today or receive special discounts or promotions by email. They simply make their obligatory offer anticipating rejection and move on. This barista, on the other hand, seemed to genuinely believe that me getting $5 off today was a pretty cool deal and I would be silly not to accept! It was a routine sales pitch delivered, however, in a masterful way.
But I wonder how she sounded the very first time she gave that pitch. . . I bet she wasn’t quite as confident. Maybe she didn’t smile and make eye contact. I doubt she was very comfortable asking for the customer’s email address let alone the phone number. My guess is that it was after selling coffee day in and day out for weeks and ringing up who knows how many customers until she finally mastered the operational procedure.
On a scale of 1-20, the barista’s pitch and delivery combo was at least an 18. How’s your pitch and delivery?
