If you’ve ever been in a retail store you’ll notice a similar trait among salespeople.  They ask a lot of questions.  The obvious reason for this is to learn your likes and dislikes so they can lead you to the product that you are most likely to buy.  One good example is if you’re shopping for diamonds, the salesperson might ask how large a diamond you want, and they may even go so far as to ask you how much money you have to spend.  This is actually good for the consumer.  You want to be led to the product that you are interested in. If you have found a true professional sales person, you will be led without even realizing it.  Let me fill you in on what’s going on here.

There’s More Than Meets the Eye

When you walk into a retail store you’ll be confronted by someone that will say something like “How are you today?”, or “Hi, What brings you in today?”.  You will recognize the professional because he or she will never say “can I help you” why, because you as the consumer will say “no I’m just looking”.  The salesperson knows better than to get into this go nowhere conversation, so they avoid it at all costs.  They want to start with a question that will cause you to start communicating as quickly as possible.  This works most every time.  It’s not unusual for them to start talking about things that don’t even relate to what they want to sell you.  Once they feel they have developed an open communication they will start on the sell. 

More questions follow to gain information, but that’s not the only reason for all the questions.  When you ask another person a question during a conversation you are taking control of the conversation.  The salesperson keeps control by asking questions.  If you have children you have practiced this without even knowing it by asking questions like, where have you been, what did you eat for lunch, who are you hanging with, and so on.  When you have control of the conversation you can lead it in any direction you want.  The professional salesperson knows this well.  After your introduction you will notice a series of questions that are carefully designed to lead you to buy.  An inexperienced sales person does not know this yet.  Let me give you some examples of what the inexperienced sales person would say, followed by the experienced one.

• That ring looks beautiful on you. (inexperienced)
• Don’t you think that ring looks beautiful on you? (experienced)
• We have some beautiful diamonds in the case. (inexperienced)
• What do you think of the beautiful diamonds in our case? (experienced)
• This ring is $300.00 (inexperienced)
• This ring is just $300.00. Would you like it gift wrapped? (experienced)

Asking questions leads to more questions.  You might be wondering what happens when the customer asks a question.  The answer is the sales person will answer the question with a question, thus keeping control of the sales process.  Here is an example.  The customer asks “do you have this jewelry style in a ruby?”  The response would be, “Yes, have you ever owned a ruby? ” This question technique zeroes in on what you want.  It’ ok, don’t be afraid to be led to something you might want. 

After all this you might be wondering ‘what defense do I have?’  Your defense is just saying no to what you don’t want.  You may have to say it 3 times.  Sales people are trained to ask for the sale at least 3 times.  It’s just business and don’t take it personally.  Keep in mind these sales tactics are everywhere and not just in the jewelry industry.  In addition, if you wish to skip all of the questions on the sales floor you can always visit on-line jewelry stores.  I give my recommendations to www.myjewelrybox.com because of the well organized layout, great prices and customer service.

Mike Stevens