End the Sale with a Decisive Launch

I’m not alone. A Los Angeles Times article says actor Samuel L. Jackson agrees.
    Have you seen the movie “Lincoln”? If not: Spoiler Alert! I’m about to complain about how the movie ends. My comments are for a good cause, having to do with retailer profitability. And, come to think of it, we all do already know how the story of Abraham Lincoln ends.
     This universal knowledge might be the reason director Steven Spielberg decided to close “Lincoln” with a portrayal of Lincoln’s assassination. I’d been more satisfied if those last minutes were edited out, with the final scene being the one where President Lincoln, having completed his dedicated lobbying to end slavery in America, walks down the hall to leave for the theatre. His butler hands Lincoln his hat, and fade to the movie credits, launching the audience toward contemplation, or maybe just the theatre exits.
     How do you and your staff end a sales transaction with a customer? Is it decisive, unlike the endings to 2012’s “Les Misérables” and “Life of Pi”?
     A while back, I conducted a two-day “Profitability Tactics for Small Retailers” seminar with a set of business advisors from the Los Angeles Regional Small Business Development Center Network. The objective of the seminar was to equip the business advisors so they can help their retailer clients implement profitability tactics I preach.
     During the evening between the two days of intensive training, two of the business advisors from out of town supplemented their retailing knowledge by shopping at an IKEA store. At the cash/wrap, the two shoppers experienced an unsettled feeling. There was no sound accompanying the completion of the purchase. No sound of a cash register. No acknowledgement from the cashier, who had moved on to the next customer. No sound of a package going into a bag. As the shoppers learned, this last one was because the store charged for a bag.
     Sounds from the shopping experience can burn themselves into the brains of consumers. Since some of the last sounds the shopper hears before leaving the store are those associated with making the purchase, those sounds are especially important. We want the customers to come back, so we want them to take away pleasant memories.
     Be decisive in expressing your appreciation to your customer. Launch each customer off with a happy ending which will make the customer boomerang back soon and often.

Click below for more: 
Sound On When the Purchase is Completed 
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