Dampen Excessive Noise

The positive noises of retailing stimulate purchasing. Excessive noise levels, however, repel shoppers and disrupt salesmanship.
     Excessive noise leads us to tighten our muscles, and as research from National University of Singapore and University of Chicago confirms, tense muscles keep people from being sold what they’re not fully convinced they want. In his latest book, Drop Dead Healthy, humorist A.J. Jacobs devotes an entire chapter to the topic of avoiding the destructive effects caused by loud, prolonged sounds: You don’t remember as well. You get more irritable.
     To facilitate the sale and soothe the savage shopper, determine where you should be lowering the decibels. A little peace and quiet also soothes the harried salesperson.
     About 24% of respondents to the Zagat 2012 New York City Restaurants Survey said excessive noise was their biggest complaint about eating out. This statistic surely was having its say in the mind of restaurateur John Paluska when he designed Comal, which opened in Berkeley, California earlier this month. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that even the paintings on the walls were printed on acoustic transparent cloth in order to better dampen the din.
     Mr. Paluska walks the premises to check for and remedy offensive sound levels. He sets different thresholds when in the bar than when around the tablecloths. You’ll want to do the same sort of checking and differential correcting in your restaurant, store, shop, or clinic.
     Recognize that certain types of sounds, such as the voices of agitated consumers, require a psychological technology which goes beyond the acoustic transparent cloth, fiberglass duct liners, and 123-component sound-cancelling system Mr. Paluska has mobilized at Comal.

• When a customer, client, or patient seems to be getting progressively more upset, invite the person to move to a quieter location. Turn down the music, if possible. Speak loudly enough for the person to easily hear you, and not louder than that. 
• If a shopper makes what seems to you to be an unreasonable request, pause. Face the person straight on. Be briefly silent while building within yourself a “You are somebody who can help me pay my bills. I want to find a way to say yes to you” frame of mind. Then reply. 

     Eliminating negative noises opens up space to appreciate the positive sounds of retailing. Like the series of tones at the cash wrap signaling to all that completion of the sale is getting closer.

Click below for more:
Soothe the Savage Shopper with Silence 
Sound On When the Purchase is Completed