64. How can you use suggestion to increase your sales?
With a little "suggestive selling" you can easily put more money in your pocket. People tend to act in accordance with the ideas that are in their minds, and many of these ideas, in the form of suggestions, may be put there by you.
This being the case, you should look for every opportunity to make suggestions that will result in getting what you want. Selling through suggestion should be considered not only as a way to increase profits but also as a form of service to the buyer.
Suggestions bring to his or her attention items that might otherwise be overlooked. If suggestions are tactfully made, they impress the customer with our desire to be of service.
Make a habit of calling your customer’s attention to new merchandise, to specials, to other items in connection with what they are already buying and you will be enhancing your relationship while increasing your business.
You should always be on the alert for the suggestion of things that will “go with” the merchandise you are selling. If you do not carry the exact item that the customer wants, you should, by all means, suggest a substitute.
Suggesting a higher quality product than the one they are buying may perform a real service. Most customers appreciate having their attention directed to new or unusual items. Every time something new comes on the market it opens an opportunity to make a suggestion to your customers.
You should be careful not to suggest anything that will cause the customer to act contrary to what you want.
This can be illustrated in the case of the sales person who followed the practice of telling customers that if they did not like the product he would be happy to issue a credit for it. The sales manager noticed that this sales person was giving out way too many credits and instructed him to stop suggesting the credit guarantee, even though the company would guarantee the product.
Once the sales person stopped making the suggestion – the credits stopped.
Comments:
Suggestive selling “farming, planting the seeds” truly is a cornerstone to selling. For a prospect, it could be just planting that ‘seed of doubt’ on their current supplier without placing the current supplier's name to your seed. For your customer, its building on the relationship, planting the seeds for future sales, offering products, ideas, knowledge, conversation. For you, it’s the ‘harvesting’, taking ownership, building on your profits.
David Vize
A good technique is what I call “reverse suggestive selling” and usually is successful. When there is an opportunity to down-sell a customer, either to save him money or make his purchase more efficient, point it out. This quickly builds credibility and trust and lessens the natural anti-salesman defenses of the customer paving the way for future sales. The result will be even higher profits.
Crocker Smith
The first example of suggestive selling that comes to mind was recently used at a convenient store. I brought a pack of Lance peanut butter crackers to the cashier and she politely asked if I would like a bottle of water to go with my crackers. She did not know I already had a bottle of water in my car but that was a very observant and smart question to ask. Suggestive selling at its’ best.
Gregg Nixon
Suggestive selling is something that many sales people shy away from doing. They feel like they are being way too pushy. My previous employer was an irrigation supply company that also sold direct shipments of plants. One of our best customers did not even know we sold plants because we all thought he knew and was simply buying his plants somewhere else. When he found out we sold plants he was upset with us for doing a disservice to his business. Luckily we kept his irrigation business and gained his plant business after a lot of convincing. He would have bought plants from the beginning from us if he had simply known about them. It is very important to show every customer ever product. You cannot take you customer’s knowledge for granted.
Cullin Hamm
"Make a habit of calling your customer’s attention to new merchandise, to specials, to other items in connection with what they are already buying and you will be enhancing your relationship while increasing your business."