Incorporate Shopper When Refusing to Sell

Some years ago, my wife and I decided to replace the elaborate gold brocade draperies covering the large front window in our home. The problem for me was that the decorator would not sell me the drapes I told him I wanted. He firmly refused.
     Was it that he didn’t have a supplier for the fabric? No, he said. He made a remark about having decorated even for museum displays.
     I was irritated. It took my wife’s gentle coaching to lead me to conclude that my insistence on replacing the old drapes with another elaborate gold brocade fabric would be okay, but not the best alternative available to us. She ended by saying our decorator’s refusal was because of conscientiousness—the sort of trait we wanted in a tradesman. She said he almost surely wanted to have a superior outcome on display in the front of our house for all his potential customers to see.
     Gee, you know, I’m wondering now if my wife was really the one behind the refusal.
     There are circumstances where you’ll choose to refuse to sell a product or service to a shopper:

• The sale would violate the law. A restaurant doesn’t want to serve liquor to an underage patron. A hunting shop won’t sell the gun unless the customer shows the proper ID.
• The customer seems incapable of making a good decision right then. For example, as part of her psychotherapy, a regular customer previously told you she needs help handling a Compulsive Buying Disorder, and today, she’s already purchased three blouses from you.
• There’s a better product alternative, and your concern is that your reputation will suffer. The decorator wants a good window treatment to be on display. The art supply dealer is concerned that the customer doesn’t yet have the skills to work with a certain medium and will become angry at the dealer if this point is not made forcefully.

     In handling these situations, remember that “No” is the shopper’s least favorite word. Avoid saying no. Instead, incorporate the shopper’s point of view. To the underage request for liquor, try, “Both you and I could be in trouble if I make that sale.” To the customer with CBD, use, “Let’s work together to do what’s best for you” To the drapery customer like me, who’s displaying abysmal aesthetic judgment, “I believe you retained my services because you respect my advice.”

Click below for more:
Compulsive Buying Disorder. Okay, Laugh
Dampen Involvement to Redirect Preference