Negotiate Through Shopper Rituals

The man enters the furniture store with a woman who appears to be his wife, a boy who appears to be their preteen son, and an older woman who could be the mother of one of the couple. When the salesperson approaches the four, the man shakes his head vigorously and says something to the boy in a language the salesperson doesn’t understand.
     “My father does not want to buy anything,” says the boy. But the quartet then proceed to look carefully at the merchandise, with the man and two women chattering continually and the boy listening attentively. Finally, the boy walks toward the salesperson and, with eyes looking down, says, “My father wants to know what discount you will give him on the furniture over there.”
     This begins a negotiating session between the salesperson and the father, with the boy serving as interpreter. The session ends with the man agreeing to purchase a complete bedroom set.
     How did this happen, and what are the lessons for other retailers?

• The salesperson realized that the negotiating partner was the man. For successful negotiations, identify the decision makers.
• The “what discount you will give him” wording was a cue that the man considered negotiating to be an essential part of purchasing this type of item. Respect shopper rituals.
• The salesperson replied to the request for a discount by pointing out how the value of that item justified the full price. Redirecting from price to value reduces the shopper’s insistence on getting a discount, according to researchers at London Business School and European School of Management and Technology.
• When the man—through his son—kept insisting on a discount, the salesperson hesitated before each reply. Researchers at University of Maryland found that during the back and forth of negotiating a purchase price, the shopper will feel better about the final decision if the retailer waits a while before responding with an okay or a counteroffer during each round.
• And when the salesperson concluded that the degree of discount requested by the customer was not realistic, the salesperson said to the boy, “Please tell your father that if he is not able to afford this furniture set, I’ve another set that is at the price your father desires.” The instant the son finished interpreting, the father agreed to the salesperson’s final offer. The words “not able to afford” called up the shopper’s pride.

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

Click below for more:
Let Shoppers Go Through Their Rituals
Clarify Item Advantages via Pricing
Wait a Minute Before Purging Customer Waits

My thanks to furniture retailing consultant and SBDC Business Advisor Bruce Sparks for sharing with me a true story which I fictionalized for this posting and for helping me recognize the lessons to be learned from the story.