Extrapolate to Discern Shopper Intentions

When you see a red light on the traffic signal at a busy intersection, you stop. Why?
     Because you’re extrapolating. At some level, maybe subconscious, you’re taking the red light to mean cars going across the intersection are moving fast across your intended path of travel. You don’t need to see the cars to assume they’re there. Or it might be something else you don’t see, such as the cop on the motorcycle who could be watching, ready to give you a citation if you run the red light. And this isn’t the type of citation considered to be an award.
     Drivers who don’t extrapolate the meanings of a red light won’t last long on the road. Yet, retail salespeople who don’t extrapolate well from the signals given by shoppers may last a long time in a store. Sales are not what they otherwise would be, but because the salesperson hasn’t recognized the cause, there’s insufficient improvement.
     Skilled salespeople are said to be able to read the customer. The skill includes thinking through the implications of what’s sensed.
     A recent Wall Street Journal article reports on programs to improve the skills of restaurant servers in extrapolating from customers’ body language and offhand remarks.

• The server at Romano’s Macaroni Grill will ask the diners if they’d like a bottle of house wine. If they say no, this could mean they’re less interested in a leisurely dinner and so might be expecting to get the check soon after the entrée arrives on the table.
• At Blue Smoke restaurants in New York City, the customer who makes strong eye contact with the server is assumed to want deferential treatment, while the shy customer is assumed to desire reassurance.
• At Cheesecake Factory, servers look for people who are pushing food around on the plate, which is taken to be a red flag that this diner could be displeased with the meal. That’s the signal to go ask.

     According to the article, a number of restaurants are finding that an effective way to train extrapolation is to have the less-experienced servers shadow the more-experienced ones. Whether your retail business is a restaurant or not, this version of miniature mentorship can work. But an important condition is that the mentor think through and talk about what signals are being spotted and what extrapolations are being made. Those with extrapolation skills often do it on automatic.

Click below for more:
Synch with Your Shopper’s Brain Before Influencing
Anticipate Intentions of Ecommerce Shoppers
Lie in Wait for Lying Shoppers
Produce Aha Experiences for Shoppers