Okay... So, it has been a tough few years right? During the pandemic I was working in the retail sales industry as a showroom manager, selling a product/service direct to consumers. This product was high ticket and personalised, tradition dictates that the client will not purchase anything without seeing it in person. But how could we do this with imposing lockdowns?
Well at first we was looking into appointment only, but the council soon decided to vetoed this. So, the options were clear; we either defy gravity and sell virtually or we shut up shop for a permanent vacation.
Now, spoiler alert... We did it! We sold virtually. And now that we are somewhat back to normal, more companies are implementing this process alongside their traditional physical store appointments to great success. But it was not an even success throughout the business I worked in, with hundreds of national showrooms there were a mix of results and this was all down to the game plan. You see, you can not sell the same process virtually but you do sell the same values. So lets talk about this:
Anyone who has worked in retail a long time, would have seen that buying cycles of consumers have changed. During the 1960's, America brought to the UK the phenomenon called 'Paradox of Possibilities'. This was giving consumers the power and prerogative to shop around. We haven't always had the psychology of shopping for three quotes. This was adopted and has stuck around in B2C environments for the last 70 years, in B2B it is far more ingrained. The issue with the paradox of possibilities is simply that you no longer need to choose only the product, but now you are choosing the company, price, product, values, experience and it all becomes very confusing. Often delaying a buying decision.
During 1980's this buying power that consumers had developed along with an influx of competition from easily accessed mass produced products, created frustration for the sales teams of the world. And in retaliation, wrongfully, sales professionals who rely on commission started to close with emotion, just not the best type of emotion. Sales professionals became known as aggressive bullies, only in it for themselves. Trying to maximise on every opportunity they could due to the demand. This left a bad taste in consumers mouths and with the emergence of the internet in the 1990's and 2000's we found a shift of power again into the consumers corner.
In 2023, we have had 20 plus years of internet, but truly, only the last 15 years has given consumers almost unrivalled control over their buying cycle with binary facts and figures and comparisons. As the new tech savvy populous grows, we have the resentment of sales professionals still in our thoughts and use online comparisons as a way of shielding ourselves from those horrible mean money grabbing monsters. However, by only shopping online you miss vital and important qualities physical retail offers; customer experience, professional knowledge & advise and an understanding what you are actually buying.
Earlier I mentioned that we couldn't have imagined virtual selling would work. But we should consider it is an extension of the comfort zone consumers have behind a screen. They can end a conversation when they want, they can walk away without any human interaction and still feel in control. All without being in front of the big bad sales wolf. This is fine, virtual selling is not binary facts and figures, the truth is, people still need professionals to help educate and understand what problems the consumer faces on a human level. Using the virtual boundaries as a comfort zone, consumers will be a lot more open, their defences are within the screen. With your clients feeling in control, you are able to build rapport much quicker on a larger scale and accelerate the experience.
But if consumers have ultimate buying control in reviewing companies and products without interacting with anyone, why should we use virtual selling and physical selling as options? In my opinion, with great knowledge comes great stress. The new tech savvy populous that wants everything on demand may not have the time or patients to do all of this work themselves. Buying cycles are always changing and in a world were we are often caught up in screen time, we still need that element of interaction and professional knowledge on demand. This is where the values should be the same: a fantastic customer experience / journey and super knowledgeable but with a quicker interaction time .
In my opinion we should utilise the buying journey being a step by step guide from consumer research, then virtual interaction then if we have not sold, we move to physical interaction. Making a more linear approach rather than circular. Virtual selling offers a much greater option and scope to companies and should be incorporated. But it needs to be considered. Sales professionals should not use this new approach to shopping as a frustration, but rather as a tool. Most customers, if they have approached you, likely have done their own research and so are warmer as a lead than 70 years ago. Therefore, it is integral that we focus on the purpose of the meeting and make it consumer centric.
In summary, we are in an evolving world of retail sales. Retail is thriving, this is partly due to the quick evolution and merging of technology and retail. The foundations of retail are solid, we simply need this to be extended into various platforms. Sales people should not become frustrated by this, but use it to enhance the customer experience with values, integrity and human rapport. After all, we are no strangers to meeting people for the first time and building rapport over the internet anymore.
- Tom Luke.