An interesting thing happened to me today. I had a flat tire on my bike. Fortunately it went flat while I was having lunch with my wife, so we threw the bike in the back of her SUV and she dropped me off at a local bike shop. While the mechanic fixed the flat I wandered around the store for about fifteen minutes looking at the bikes. No one said a word to me!
These guys sell bikes that run well into four figures, some almost five. They had my bike. I couldn’t leave. They could see that I could use a new ride. In fact, they sold me the one I have now.
For the life of me, I can’t understand a specialty retailer that doesn’t try to show you something, especially when they see you kicking the tires like I was. No wonder we’re in a recession.
C’mon people! At a time like this you can’t let any potential sale get away. At least do a quick demo with every warm body that comes into your store. No one should ever leave without at least a brochure. That’s just common sense. But I guess common sense isn’t really that common.
Filed under: Customer Service, Sales and Salesmanship | Tagged: small business, tire kickers, turning repairs into sales | 2 Comments »