The clerk did a lot more than that didn't he? Think of what you have learned so
far in The Art of Selling.
This example is based on a true case. It was obvious to the manager that the
reason the electronic flea collars were not selling was because the other sales
staff members were not qualifying the customers and their needs by using good
questioning techniques.
The manager held a series of staff meetings, trained the staff in correct selling
techniques and, within six weeks, all of the electronic flea collars were sold and
more ordered.
Here is a review of the clerk’s handling of the customer:
After opening the conversation, the clerk immediately qualified
that the customer had an interest in the flea collars.
He used good questioning techniques to identify the nature and
scope of the customer’s problem.
He used good questioning techniques to lead the customer to
compare the cost of previous actions to the cost of the
electronic flea collar.
He used good questioning techniques to ask for the order.After the clerk had sold the flea collar to the customer, the manager came over
to the clerk and said. "This is amazing. No one in the store has been able to sell
one of those electronic flea collars in six months. How did you do it? ′′
The clerk replied, ′′I don't know. I just asked him if his dog had fleas and
one thing led to another and he bought a collar. ′′