Avoid Locking In Bad Moods

Compared to customers who enter your store in a good mood, a customer who enters in a bad mood is less likely to buy items beyond just what they came in for.
     The mother who comes in for supplies for a sick child is worried, and that worry is one of the reasons the woman will purchase only what's on her list and rush off.
     The home handyman frustrated by a repair gone awry comes into your store on a mission, not interested in browsing.
     It's important to provide these customers with signage and staff to get them right to the desired products and then have quick checkout service to get them on their way. Maybe they'll want some conversation to help them feel better. If so, we'll give a listen to the degree we can. But unless they show an interest in chatting, we won't do much talking beyond sincerely thanking them for their business. If they ask for advice, we'll provide it succinctly.
     We do this because we know they're in a hurry. But with customers in a bad mood, keeping it brief works for another reason as well: Too much talking will lock into the shopper's mind the bad feelings they're experiencing, and those negative memories make it less likely they'll buy from us in the future.
     When the shopping experience itself has been responsible for the customer's bad mood, we want to ask questions to find out how to make things right. We then take action, and the customer leaves in good spirits. But when the customer comes into our store already sad, mad, or in other ways not glad, and it wasn't our doing, we don't want to lock in those bad feelings.

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers