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“May I help you?” “No thanks, I’m just looking.” This is a dialogue familiar to us all. Each of us has reacted similarly to salespersons at one retail establishment or another. So, why do we respond this way? Why are we evasive and defensive? Is it that we have learned from a previous experience gone bad? Or, is it simply a natural reaction embedded in our psyche to avoid perceived pressure? Who really knows? The fact is that it happens all the time in a selling atmosphere. Even though the salesperson is merely offering to help, we suspect or perhaps even fear that being in sales, he or she will begin to push, cajole, or at least offer unsolicited advice--all of which make us feel vulnerable and uneasy.

I learned this first as a young and ambitious door-to-door salesman in the mid-1970s. As a 21 year old law student, I had signed up for a summer job that I wouldn’t soon forget. My first week selling bibles and medical books in the farm land of northern New York was a disaster. I worked 14 hours a day, talked to hundreds of people, made more than 80 product presentations to housewives, parents, grandparents, teachers and pastors, and sold just three books! What was I doing wrong? I was motivated and had memorized the scripted sales talk of a former successful salesman. I really liked the books myself. And, I was enthusiastic in my presentation. Why wasn’t I selling more books?

Reflecting on seeming failure, I began to review the training material from the company sales school that I had attended the week before arriving in upper state New York. There, tucked away in the middle of the manual, was a training outline that I had forgotten about--a brief section entitled, “How to Create a Buying Atmosphere.”

How to Create a Buying Atmosphere

Objective: Help Mrs. Jones feel comfortable enough to say “yes” or “no” at the end of the sales presentation. This includes being relaxed, listening to and hearing the unique features of the product, and responding to the questions targeting the potential benefits that she and her family might experience with the product in her home.

Step 1 – Establish a common connection between you and the customer. Create a rapport with Mrs. Jones. Look around at the environment, i.e., books on the shelf, pictures on the wall, gender and age of children and grandchildren. Does she have any hobbies, favorite movies or TV shows? Remember, no one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.

Step 2 – Use names and third party testimonials. Names can help you with rapport. Mention names of people you have already met that the customer might know. These can be family members, neighbors, church members, co-workers, etc. Remember, the more relevant the relationship to the purchase the better, i.e., when selling bibles, use Catholic names with Catholics, Methodist names with Methodists, etc. Also, as you explain the features, advantages, and benefits of your product or service, do it through the stories and testimonials of others instead of in your own words. These third party testimonials can prove extremely effective in capturing a customer’s attention and in establishing credibility. People really do care about their neighbor’s opinions. This also brings in a certain “keeping up with Jones” mentality.

Step 3 - “Some people buy and some don’t.” No matter how many relevant names you have, always mention that some people don’t buy. Pressure exists in a selling atmosphere because there is an expectation to buy. This implied pressure can be so strong that instead of paying attention to what you do and to what you say, the customer is focused on making up an excuse for leaving, or in any case, not buying. Something has to be said or done that releases this pressure. Simply stating that some people buy and some don’t informs the customer that not everybody has to buy, and that’s okay. After all, it will only take a few minutes to take a look.

 

Step 4 – Ask questions! Someone once said, “The art of selling is the art of asking questions!” Indeed. Asking questions can help you establish rapport; uncover favorite neighbors and friends; discover what features and benefits excite the customer, and who else he/she knows that might be interested in your products or services. With every advantage that questions offer, the primary role that they play in creating a buying atmosphere is that they seem to put the customer in charge. And, customers in charge don’t feel the pressure of the sale; they feel the freedom of being able to buy.

Step 5 – After 20 minutes, get up and leave! With the particular product that you are selling, it should only take 20 minutes to demonstrate all of the features and point out the benefits. When you are through and the customer says, “yes,” you finish, thank him/her for his/her time, and leave. If he/she says “no,” you finish, thank him/her for his/her time, and leave. Successful people are busy people, and time is an important asset for the customer as well!

After reviewing these sales school training notes, in the weeks that followed, I began to follow the suggested steps to create this buying atmosphere. Did it work for me? By the end of my very first summer, I was making 30 presentations a day, selling 50% of my customers at the door and 70–80% of those sitting down to take a closer look.

As the years past by, I experienced sales through the eyes of a lawyer, team building consultant to Fortune 500 companies, business owner, CEO, and corporate executive. Time and trials taught me to value and refine the ability to create a buying atmosphere in multiple settings. I soon realized that this art of persuasion was as essential in a court room as it is in the boardroom--that it is just as effective a tool for corporate executives in the MLM industry as it is for the leading field distributors!

Yes, over time it seems the more things change, the more things stay the same. People still hate to be sold, but they love to shop and buy!