How to convert uncommitted customers

 (A trusty article written in 2009)

At a ramshackle roadside tourist market on the north coast of Jamaica, if you stop to investigate the goods in one stall, the high-spirited vendors who eke out a living there insist you visit them all. I managed to escape on one recent trip by saying I had a bus to catch (which was true), and that I would return the next day (which was possibly true).

But I was humbled by one young vendor who implored me to visit her stall. When I said I had to go, she responded, “But you said you’d come back tomorrow. You’ll come back, right?” I assured her I would. And so I did, because her earnest questioning had transformed my feeble excuse into a solemn commitment.

Her brilliant marketing tactic made me wonder how many Canadian entrepreneurs are equally adept at winning commitments from potential prospects. What do you do to elevate your relationship with customers who are “just browsing” to increase your chance of landing a sale tomorrow that you didn't make today?

This is one task that’s more easily accomplished online than IRL (“in real life,” for those who didn't know that reality is now just an acronym). If someone has visited your website, but is about to slip away without leaving their name, you can easily generate an automated “Going so soon?” screen that offers casual visitors an additional benefit (a brochure, newsletter, white paper or “special report”) if they provide their name and email address. That gives you one more shot at demonstrating the value you create, or adding the prospect to your mailing list.

Some online marketers structure that “last chance” offer as a survey, giving them a chance to learn more about the prospect, or to obtain feedback on their site or product offerings. But I think most companies should try harder than that when they play this game. Why not offer a free sample or coupon to anyone who leaves their contact points on your site, or urge them to enter a contest and win a prize?

Business, after all, is more than a succession of rational transactions. To build robust customer relationships in today’s busy markets, you need a little showmanship. Just because your competitors don't use fun, style or surprise as a business tool is no reason you shouldn't. Selling is about differentiation, not conformity.

Back in real life, wringing commitment from tire-kickers has to be a more personal, creative act. You and your employees have to be trained to carefully manage potential purchasers. But how often do businesses let them get away?

Just last week, a friend and I met for drinks. Feeling peckish, he also asked for a menu. When the server returned for his order, my friend said he'd changed his mind – nothing on the menu interested him. A well-coached server would have said, “What do you feel like? Maybe we can help you out.” (Our server ambled back to the kitchen.)

Therein lies the secret of winning over reluctant customers: you need to create a dialogue. Not in a “what-can-I-do-to-sell-you-this-car-today?” kind of way, but a genuine conversation aimed at solving the prospect’s problems rather than filling your weekly quota.

At the souvenir market in Jamaica, the attendants, like sales people everywhere, asked what I was looking for. That’s the wrong question. (I had no idea. Does anyone go shopping with the intention of buying island-shaped key chains?) They should have asked more focused questions such as “Who are you buying for?,” or, “What have you seen already that you liked? Maybe I can help you find something better.”

If a prospect just won't buy today, don't let them get away. Request their business card, or ask them to fill out their name and address to be notified of your next sale or new-product launch. Maybe, just maybe, you could let them take a sample product home if they promise to bring it right back tomorrow. If you are running out of ideas and your prospect is in a hurry, ask if you can call them back tomorrow with a custom solution.

Better still, develop specific tools for engaging the indecisive. A no-questions-asked returns policy may ease some buyers’ fears. Handing out a binder filled with positive testimonials from satisfied customers will reassure others. For cost-conscious clients, have a strategy ready to bring down the cost of ownership: a “value-priced” line of comparable products, flexible financing, or escalating discounts for multiple purchases.

Your employees may have additional solutions to offer. Why not hold a contest to see who can submit the best ideas for converting prospects into buyers? That will go a long way to building the can-do culture you need.

A successful business owner told me that a new customer recently asked if he could supply a certain product that he had never actually handled before. “What did you tell him?” I asked. “I’m an entrepreneur,” he said. “The answer is always yes.”