So we were on this private island called Labadee in Haiti which has a little artisan village and other places where people are selling. While we were having lunch, a certain band was playing music which was selling their CDs. They had a little basket for donations and they were also trying to sell hand-carved crafts. What puzzled me was that nobody was buying stuff from them. Hmmm… So what’s the missing link here?
They simply failed to sell what most buyers would put their money into – experience. As a sales professional, have you done this? Are you only giving surface value to your customers and not giving TRUE value to them?
You need to understand that you need to sell the experience. Take your customer into the experience.
Here are some strategies for bringing your customers into the experience (which unfortunately that band in Haiti failed to deliver):
- Know your customer.
The band didn’t really know or understand their customers. Nobody really bought because they could be selling something that the customers do not need or want.
- Sell the experience.
Draw the customer in by selling the experience. How? As with the band’s case, they could have played some music that customers can relate or mingle with.
- Get them involved.
Give people the opportunity to participate. Getting your customer involved makes them feel they need to buy from you or contribute further.
- Show them the physical problem.
Paint that picture to them. Take the customer with you so they would understand the problem. Once the customer recognizes the problem, the cost wouldn’t be that much of an issue anymore.
Again, it is the experience that people buy. Bring them into the experience and that will certainly build trust and increase their willingness to buy.
Check out this book, The Experience Economy to get more ideas about selling the experience.
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