The author himself, most of the practitioners of management and the young aspiring enthusiasts have been weaned on a stable diet of the principles and practices of management gurus like Philip Kotler, Peter F. Drucker and Elmer Wheeler. But the real education comes from the mother of all teachers that is real time, on the job experience. It has been proved that the real successful managers have been the ones who had put-in valuable experience in the field before learning the nuances of the art of manage-Men –Tactfully. (MANAGE-MEN-T)
I would highlight some of the smart selling techniques taken from my own life. These commandments are culmination of observation. Observation is the most invaluable art which all management practitioners should actively cultivate. The commandment that will be discussed today is Smart retail selling or Psycho - selling.
Visualize a scene common to all of us who shop for daily requirements from the numerous kirana shops that dot the vast expanse of India. The customer approaches the shopkeeper and in a quiet voice asks his requirements. The usual response from the nose picking, pan chewing, shopkeeper is a curt " Nahi Hai" (I dont have it!). The shopkeeper is least bothered about customer’s need nor is he bothered about satisfying the same. Most of the customers would beat a hasty retreat after such a rebuttal. A brave customer might venture further to enquire as to where one could procure the desired article, only to be met with a stone walling reply " Nahi Mallom ". ( I don't know).
Let us venture into the shop itself. Ask for your articles and the surly shopkeeper would shout obscenities to the timid attender who in panic would sloppily weigh out the item in the fashion described below.
The attender would take a paper packet and put it in the weighing scale and hunt for the non-available weighing measure. If it is found it's alright, but if not found he would pick up any already packed item of the same weight and use the same. Then he would pour the item into the other side and inevitably pour more quantity than required. Then he would proceed to take out the quantity of the item to get to the desired weight.
Meanwhile the shopkeeper is impatient. He just can't wait. He would quickly calculate the bill, grumble about the change, make some snide comments, try to palm off some eminently uneatable toffees in lieu of loose change. The deal over, he would slip back into a world of his own and wonder why his customers never seem to come back. The end result is a dissatisfied customer who vows never to return to the same shop.
Let us now see how it can be done and how it is being done in many cases. The shopkeeper is eager to help the customer. He is courteous and will direct you to a place where you could procure the desired articles. Once inside the shop the difference is palpable. The shop is spic and span. The attenders are ready and eager. The weighing scale is smart and the weighing measures are near by. The attender would take a plastic pouch and the item that is to be weighed will be poured little by little into the pouch and the same process would be continued till the weighing scale slowly tilts down.
Psychologically and without our knowledge the shopkeeper is scoring winning points. When the item is poured in excess and subsequently taken out we feel cheated because we would feel that the quantity that is being taken out is ours. In the second instance when the quantity is being added we would feel that we are getting more quantity. As simple as that.
As the customer is moving to the paying counter the alert shopkeeper would come out with " Saab Ji, Anything more". What is the shopkeeper trying to induce? Nothing but to trigger our inherent trait of impulse purchases. The customer ends up buying products like chocolates, biscuits, noodles etc.
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