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The Opposite of NO

Establishing a pricing strategy for your business

There used to be a series of public service announcements directed at children and youth. While the intention was to steer them away from drugs and alcohol, there was a phrase which was the central theme of these announcements, of "Just say no."

While I don't know how well the phrase worked as a result of these announcements, I do know it works too often in business. A customer calls, or comes into a store, and asks for a particular product, part, or service. There is the positive answer of, "Yes, we can", or "Yes, we have it". Independent stores, as well as chain and warehouse stores all use this answer.

Then there is the opposite response of no, which is too often heard. This too can be heard in the chain or warehouse stores. However, it is not what is heard in the store that knows how to take care of their customers. This is not a column, which makes a stand for you to expand your business to provide every service imaginable, or to stock every possible brand and type of product. It is however, an argument for the opportunity to provide extreme customer service and wrap up a tremendous share of the business within your community.

We take, as an example, the dealer who has posters displayed about the time clock, in the office, and in the back room of his business which proclaims, "No is not an option." To back up this statement, the dealer has done several things. The first is to educate his staff that the answer to the question about a product is always, "Yes, we have it", "Why have you chosen that particular product?" or "How soon do you need it?"

With the first answer, he simply makes the sale. With the question of why, the customer usually explains their preference for that product. There is an effort by the team member to equate the quality of the product they stock with the product the customer has requested. But without letting the customer walk away, the team member will move to the question of when. The second thing the dealer has done is to have a charge account with most all of his competitors. When the situation calls for the question to be asked, his staff will send someone to the competition to purchase the product and return with it to their store. They remove the price sticker of the competitor, and then charge their customer the same price as the competitor.

It did take a while for customers to find out why he always had what they needed, but it quickly became their best promotion to be able to tell customers they would not let them down. As for a service, they simply had built a file of technicians and service people who could respond to any type of question. The dealer was as close to being a "one stop store" as there could be.

There is an old adage of, "A dog with a full food bowl does not go looking at other food bowls". The customer who is able to get all of his products, and services, with one call or one stop, is not likely to go looking at the competition. While dogs are noted for being extremely loyal, people can and will be the same way. Your chances of finding this type of customer increases tremendously if you know there is no NO!

* The most successful merchants go to great lengths to satisfy a customer
* Look for every possible way to avoid telling a customer no
* Customers who are having their needs met, are not likely to shop elsewhere

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Profits+Plus
P.O. Box 1577
St. Petersburg, Fl 33731
(727) 464-2182
Fax: (727) 898-3179

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