Wednesday, January 2, 2013

 Do you want a unique sales training experience that comes with Baklava? Go to Turkey.

On day twelve of a fourteen-day tour of Turkey, 30 tour members bussed to Cappadocia. After hours of crawling through caves, tunnels, and underground cities, the group was shuttled to the Hereke carpet factory/outlet. The Hereke carpet company could be a front for a sales academy touting salesmanship honed over centuries.

Sales Success Steps Turkish Style

1. Educate first. The manager/chief barker greeted the tour members at the door and ushered them into the weaving room where the group learned how carpets were woven and the difference between silk and wool carpets. The tour learned how many months it took to weave each carpet and how the Hereke company was supporting the local economy by employing the women of the area. The long history of the Hereke carpet company was told along with the fact/get-'em-while-you-can that carpet weaving is a dying art and trade. Photos of dignitaries from different countries proudly standing with their carpets from this very carpet factory we displayed on the walls.

The tour group members asked questions, saw how silk was made and how big the pieces of mulberry leaves had to be to feed the finest caterpillars. Each person got a fuzzy cocoon to take home.

All this history, explanation and demonstration helped build confidence in the factory, the product and the value of the carpets. The head salesman assured the group that Hereke carpets are superior to other countries' carpets. After all, a carpet from China is made in China. Anticipation to see the finished carpets in the flesh was building, too.

2. Put your customers at ease. The tour group was steered into a large showroom with benches around the perimeter to sit on. Rolled up carpets stood like toy soldiers at attention.

A swarm of employees appeared to take orders for Raki, tea, and cola lite. Raki, the ouzo-like national drink of Turkey, is guaranteed to knock you on your ear and melt your resistance. Once you've accepted the host's hospitality and beverage, you do feel a bit of obligation. If you don't yet feel obligated to buy, you do feel obligated to listen.

The host continued to educate and build desire to see finished carpets. As soon as the group was served, he began unfurling carpets. He unrolled one with a loud snap. He got "oohs" and "ahhs" from the group. He was careful not to interrupt positive responses. Then he explained the carpet's virtues. He repeated this snap-and-describe routine over and over until the whole floor was covered in carpets.

Just when you were sure you'd seen the most beautiful carpet, he'd snap out a new one. Large ones, small ones, silk ones, wool ones, embroidered ones, tribal ones. A palpable fervor was building. The "oohs" and "aahs" from the group were the responsive chants to the head salesman's call to prayer. Snap - "ooh" - snap - "ahh". Faster and faster. The group was breathless and ready to convert to wool and silk by the time he'd carpeted the large showroom with layers and layers of carpets.

3. Involve your audience physically. He invited the tour group to stand up and walk on the carpets. The group gingerly left the benches and raki glasses to walk on these hallowed, magic carpets. He assured the group that it couldn't harm the carpets by walking on them in street shoes.

Then he upped the ante and invited the group to get down on all fours and feel the different textures of the carpets. Picture 30 middle-aged plus, cynical, well-traveled folks down on their hands and knees touching, feeling, crawling around, oohing, aahing and selling to each other. Arthritis was forgotten as they clambered around determining which carpet was their favorite. The tourists pulled others aside to show them their carpet choice. Buying signals were sent out like crazy. These signals were not lost on the junior salesmen who were observing their target market from their stations around the room.

The head salesman didn't rush the group. He didn't cut short the group selling each other on his wares. He waited for a lull in the activity and then began stirring the pot again. "Which one do you love?" he asked. Note he didn't ask if people were interested. He assumed the group was drooling over several. These educated travelers, some with degrees from Harvard and Yale, engineers and educators, business owners and buying mavens, couldn't wait to proclaim and lay claim to the carpet of their hearts' desires. The sales team took note of these testimonials.

4. After customers reveal they are hooked on a rug (or your product or service), discuss price and other details. After the display of delirious carpet infatuation, the head salesman shared the cost of owning a dazzling carpet that would impress friends at home. The prices ranged from $400 to $40.000. The salesman offered a discount because this was such a fine tour. "But, wait! There's more." He added another discount because it was the end of the season. And, if that wasn't tempting enough, all shipping would be paid if you didn't want to lug a 5' X 8' carpet under your arm, through security and try to shove it under your seat on Turkish airlines from Istanbul to Kennedy airport. The tour guide was there to negotiate an even better deal with his longtime friend, the head salesman. Winky-winky.

5.Use the anti-sales pitch. The head salesman warned, "Don't buy a carpet unless you love it. No matter what the price, if you don't love it, don't buy it. And, if you do love it, price doesn't matter." If you bought, you'd have the carpet forever and just like the kings, queens and lesser dignitaries pictured on the walls of the weaving room, you'd own a Hereke carpet.

6. Watch for buying signals even after a "No." After the tour group members hoisted themselves off the carpets and became upright again, the junior salesmen attached themselves to each person. Before the look of love could leave the tourist's eyes, a salesman was at his or her side. If you told your sales appendage that you weren't going to buy, he said that was fine. If you just wanted to look around the 9,000 carpets, that was fine. If you wanted to see the silk room, that was fine. He never left your side. If you "oohed," if you "ahhed," if you touched those sublime threads, he was there ready to encourage you to buy. If you tried to ditch him by slipping into the restroom, when you emerged, he stood ready to continue the tour.

7. Let the customer sell other customers: A husband and wife from the tour were standing over two carpets trying to make a choice. Several other tour members wandered over to give their opinions. The consensus was for the 7' X 9' carpet on the right. When asked where the carpet would go in their home, they didn't know. Of course they didn't know. These were totally impulse purchases. No one "needs" a Turkish carpet.

8. Up sell when the customer has just bought and is in the joy of ownership ecstasy. For example, when a man buys a dress shirt, the haberdashery salesman usually whips out the perfect tie to go with that shirt. This works with carpets, too.

As soon as the couple decided on carpet #1, they were seen purchasing a second carpet. It's akin to adopting a kitten. You get two so they won't be lonely. Now the couple had two carpets they had no specific place for.

9. Throw in a little something extra, like a guarantee – on parchment: The salesman gave the new owners a certificate for each carpet that had the picture of their carpet on it. This was suitable for framing. It was printed off a very nice HP laser printer.

10. Help your customers celebrate the joy of ownership and their brilliance in purchasing your product or service.

The proud owners of two carpets were next seen posing with their carpets, their certificates and their salesman for a photo shoot. The only time the couple was prouder was when their daughter graduated from college.

11. Understand sales psychology. The tour mates raved about how cheap the tour was compared to other tour packages, complained about gas prices, stuffed extra breakfast rolls and fruit into their backpacks so they wouldn't have to buy snacks and then spent $11,000 on an impulse purchase.

Shoes off to the carpet salesmen. They knew how to overcome ever objection. They knew how to turn people's hating to be sold into pride of ownership. They understood the psychology of sales.

How can you apply these sales skills to your own products and services? How do you get "oohs" and "ahhs" from your customers? How do you support their love of owning? How do you help them rationalize their expenditures? Practice these skills and your customers will want to pose next to you for photos while proudly holding your contract.