lara
Well-known member
Some people honestly expect to see a whole new person in the mirror, and those are some of the hardest people to give full customer experience to. When you combine it with someone who is limited with make-up and who wants to keep it natural, you have a box trifecta of a challenging customer. You kept your cool (and hopefully they didn't sense your frustration) and they purchased multiple units, so don't write off the whole experience.
The best advice I've ever received is to never take the statement 'you just do what you want to do' at face value. Treat it exactly like a regular consultation and pull out all the information you need to give them exactly what they want and need. 'You just do what you want to do' is just customer code for 'I don't know how to articulate what I want from you, so I'm just going to hope that you guess what I need.'
People are always able to tell what they don't like, sometimes we just need to put on our lateral thinking hats to find out what they do like.
Run your mental checklist:
With my manager/trainer hat on, I'd say that you needed just a little bit more purpose finding and a lot less given in the way of options. It reads like she wasn't quite able to articulate what she was after and you didn't quite tease it out of her with appropriate purpose-finding, and then that was compounded by her being given waaaaaay too many options. Too little choice is bad, too much choice is worse.
The prep and base part of your consultation sounds perfect, but I'd say that you should have stopped just before the eyes and really gotten into reconfirming and pinpointing her needs and wants.
Challenging customers are just learning experiences, not bad things. Now you've got more in your bank to deal with the next 'uhhh, I don't know' customer who sits in your chair.
The best advice I've ever received is to never take the statement 'you just do what you want to do' at face value. Treat it exactly like a regular consultation and pull out all the information you need to give them exactly what they want and need. 'You just do what you want to do' is just customer code for 'I don't know how to articulate what I want from you, so I'm just going to hope that you guess what I need.'
People are always able to tell what they don't like, sometimes we just need to put on our lateral thinking hats to find out what they do like.
Run your mental checklist:
- Did you do all your set-up questions and did you clarify her answers? Were you 100% on the same page as each other in the beginning, or was it a gradual process?
- Did you completely find her purpose? When she said she wanted a look to wear everyday, did you go into that further? Was it for work and if so what kind of work? Is she a SAHM? Is 'I need something to wear everyday' really 'I just need something to wear on the weekends'? Did you clarify everything?
- Did you FAB (feature - advantage - benefit) everything in a concise, clear manner?
- Were there too little or too much options given to her? Were the options you gave her pinpointed to her needs or did you take a broader approach and give general suggestions?
- Did you constantly do minor closes to back up your major close? Did you do a major close at the end?
- Were you empathetic? You noted that she was giving obvious signs of getting out of her comfort zone, did you take that moment to give her affirmation and reconfirm her needs and wants? Sometimes we all see someone in our chair start to give 'uhhhh... I'm not sure' signs and we automatically cringe, hope they're not going to freak out and start issuing verbal diarrhoea with FAB statements and 'that looks gorgeous on you!'s to try and paper the cracks. You'd be surprised how incredibly affective acknowledging someone's discomfort is by asking them what they're not sure about.
With my manager/trainer hat on, I'd say that you needed just a little bit more purpose finding and a lot less given in the way of options. It reads like she wasn't quite able to articulate what she was after and you didn't quite tease it out of her with appropriate purpose-finding, and then that was compounded by her being given waaaaaay too many options. Too little choice is bad, too much choice is worse.
The prep and base part of your consultation sounds perfect, but I'd say that you should have stopped just before the eyes and really gotten into reconfirming and pinpointing her needs and wants.
Challenging customers are just learning experiences, not bad things. Now you've got more in your bank to deal with the next 'uhhh, I don't know' customer who sits in your chair.
