|
5 Sales Tips from a Coffee Pod Barista
 Because I spend my time with lots of sales people out
in the field, coaching and training them how to sell, my antennae never stop
working when I am out and about shopping or buying products and services. I
love to see the science and art of selling in action. I can spot a top notch
sales person in an instance.
The
Coffee Barista
One day, on my way to buy a new kitchen gadget, I came
across a crowd gathering around a young lady with a beautiful coffee machine, talking
about coffee pods. Apparently, the coffee pod is the freshest cup of coffee you
are going to get from the designer coffee machine they were made for. The coffee pod is small. It’s clever and
exclusive. You can only order these coffee pods on-line. Coffee pods were a
whole new concept to me on this day. You
could put your small pod into the machine and out pours a delicious fresh
coffee with an aroma to send you into a sensory reverie.
My guess is this
lady didn’t even know how gifted she was as a sales person. She was a natural
and I guessed she had been product trained rather than taken a sales training
course. But what she was doing worked quite beautifully in winning over her
audience. She was the science and art of
selling in action.
I watched her speak to the onlookers. I watched their
faces as she used language, gestures and actions that crossed all the sensory
barriers. She had us in in a sensory trance. She was so effective that you
couldn’t but resist the notion of having one of these machines in your kitchen.
She moved with grace and ease. She set the scene for us to want a coffee. She
talked about the freshness of the roasted coffee. She made us the coffee with
finesse and swiftness. We tasted the fresh coffee. She asked us how we liked
it. She explored our love of coffee. She asked us again about our coffee-making
experience at home. Answers varied from instant coffee, to perculators with
filters to coffee pots on stoves. She asked us “was it as fresh as this?” She
smiled, nodded and affirmed our experience.
She wrapped it all up by telling us how easy it was to
get the coffee pods that were the freshest you could get straight to your
kitchen. In essence, she created a luxury experience, right there and then that
was almost irresistible. It was real and tangible and it made you really want
to buy one of these coffee pod machines.
So
where was the Science in Action?
The science is to be found in the steps taken in gathering
interest from her audience, creating a sensory experience and then testing the
buyer’s experience by asking for feedback on the experience. She created a want from a passing interest
and turned that into a need through a sensory experience. She took the buyers
all the way back home to their kitchen. She kept them inside the experience
through great questions about our experience of the coffee, until we
sufficiently locked into want to know more.
So
where was the Art in Action?
The art was in her passion for the product. She spoke
with enthusiasm. Her presentation was compelling. Her public speaking skills, of
course, were elegant and refined. She explained in lovely simple ways how
machine and pod worked. Her art was in the natural way she spoke, the language
she used, how she paced the experience
and built rapport with her audience. “How do you like the taste?” she asked. What
a suggestion! Of course the smell is the most powerful scent of all, so the
coffee created that experience that you would want in your kitchen every
morning. She mirrored our coffee
experience perfectly. The result, two coffee machine sold and customer for
life. You can only buy the pods straight from the factory.
5 Sales Tips from a Coffee Pod Barista
- Activate as many of the senses around your
product as you can; the images, sights, sounds and aromas; this increases your
chances of closing the sale.
- Create an emotional bond
between the buyer and what you offer by getting them to try it or imagine
trying it. Every buying experience activates emotions. The sense of smell is
the most powerful, hence the success of our coffee pod barista.
- Create the experience with
the buyer and ask them to share it as a feedback exercise. This is a way of
testing the level of desire for the product. If it’s not high enough, ask some
more questions.
- Create a comparison
scenario to create a contrast in the buyer’s mind between what they have and
what could have.
- Work on your delivery
skills and pay attention to the language you use. Is it enticing enough. Our
coffee pod barista knew how to motivate her audience. Her communication skills
and interpersonal skills were second to none. Work on yours.
I didn’t buy the
coffee machine in the end. But I witnessed the science and art of selling in
action. And the coffee was exceptional!
If you want to learn
the science and art of selling,
contact us for a training course or a
coaching session
www.zenithtraining.ie
|
