3 Shades of sales: things I learned at a makeup table

Beautiful eyes and rosy cheeks, the magic on one makeup table made me realize some basic concepts used in sales. I was not the one getting those services, the lucky lady was my fiancée. I was only required in between for approvals (they don't matter much) and in the end, you guessed it right, for BILL PAYMENT!

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That session, made me re-realize some important points which the makeup girl (only for this story we'll call her Anna) followed, that made me swipe my card (for a very high amount). I would like to share those 3 points which I think made all the difference:

1. Patience: "Patience is a virtue" The one who understands and implements it in sales will always excel at the art of selling. In this scenario, if my fiancée was not satisfied with any color or suggestion, Anna made sure she heard her completely and suggested options B, C or D. She made sure to tell us some interesting fact that got us to stay an extra 5 minutes and try different products. Always keep the customer engrossed. The effort needs to be sincere though, be fake and you will lose the customer instantly. Avoid selling if a customer looks uninterested in a product rather understand the reason and ask relevant questions to suggest relevant solutions.

2. Consulting: Effective salespeople don’t just listen, they consult the client. Consulting is often misunderstood with mere suggesting or giving an opinion. I believe that consulting is far beyond that. You need to gather the evidence and consider different points before you can provide your consultation. 

Consulting needs to be accurate, effective and implementable. For every problem or issue, she consulted my fiancée and sometimes went beyond the product offering at her store. This made the entire process more fun and also increased our trust level with Anna.

3. Closure: A great introduction, an engrossing pitch but… No Closure is a state where a lot of salespeople get stuck. There is a lot of text on effective closing techniques. The most effective one that I have implemented and experienced in this case is to “make that sale a necessity”. The client must think that if he does not buy X product from you then he would be missing something crucial. It’s this sense of urgency which will bring you that closure.

Since she was ever patient with us and consulted us about the good, bad and the ugly part of the products, we thought of purchasing some products (rather a hell lot more) and she closed it like a boss. Recapturing the necessity of every product we had on that table and then (without wasting any time) went ahead to get the fresh pieces of everything (sense of urgency).

Now, what happened after that was obviously I cleared the bill (I think I got a mini-stroke there but got distracted by the shiny new box that they gave for FREE if only it was free) & by that time, my card was swiped, the damage was done. Anyway, for the smile on my fiancée's  face, it was a small amount to pay but I did realize that selling is not rocket science. It’s all about people, understand them, listen to them and solve their problems or fill that gap or make them happy about the product you want them to buy and they will buy.

There might be much more helpful material that will guide you on how to be a better sales guy/girl but they are merely different ways to grip a glass what matters is that you don’t drop it.