Yes, I know it’s the holiday selling season. Yes, I know you’re extremely busy right now. But here’s an important reminder that’s worth your time to read: Don’t interrupt clients when they’re talking.
Trace
Shelton
—
Editor-in-Chief
of INDESIGN Magazine and Contributing Editor of INSTORE.
Y
es, I know it’s the holiday selling season. Yes, I know you’re extremely busy right now. But here’s an important reminder that’s worth your time to read: Don’t interrupt clients when they’re talking.
It seems like something we all know – and we probably do, in our minds – but as people, we have a difficult time letting someone finish speaking when thoughts and responses are already dying to jump out of our mouths.
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Studies show that doctors interrupt patients an average of 18 seconds after they’ve begun speaking about their maladies. But why? Why not let the patient feel good about the fact that they’ve explained all the symptoms before jumping in and making it seem like you may be jumping to a hasty conclusion?
The same principle goes for jewelry sales. Never interrupt a customer while he or she is speaking. Let them finish, no matter how long it takes. They’ll feel you really care about why they’re in your store and what they’re looking for.
As marketer/researcher Doug Rice says on 12most.com, “The misconception is that good salespeople have the gift of gab. I don’t think that is entirely true. People are annoyed when they can’t get a word in. Customers, when confronted with a salesperson that won’t stop talking, are often too nice to interrupt the salesperson. As a result, the salesperson loses out on finding out what the customer wants. Great salespeople are great listeners and are able to get their customers to open up.”
No matter how many people you have to wait on in your store during the holidays, don’t short-change the person standing in front of you!
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