Trust Educated Intuition

Don’t think long or hard about how to make the sale when a shopper enters your store. Researchers at Texas Christian University, University of Houston, and Tulane University find that intuitive judgments work out better than deliberative judgments. There was a higher percentage of sales, and the selling time was less, helping out both the retailer and the customer. In fact, the salespeople in their study who began second-guessing their initial flash impressions destroyed the selling advantage of the intuition.
     The caveat is that the salesperson must have deliberated long and hard many times before the face-to-face exchange in order to educate their intuition. In the studies, salespeople who were skilled at both preparatory deliberation and on-the-spot intuition showed 130% better selling performance.
     Building three skills in advance proved to be especially helpful:

• Product & service knowledge. Your on-the-spot ability to guide the shopper toward the right decision and your self-confidence in doing that allow you to devote your intuitive skills to sensing the customer’s needs and decision style. 
• Empathy. Recognize that while you routinely sell the sorts of items in your store, the shopper makes such purchases much less often. It’s more stressful for them than for you. Empathy helps before, during, and even after the sale. Researchers from Chinese University of Hong Kong and Nankai University in China found that empathy toward customers influenced satisfaction to a greater extent than did service outcome factors, such how well the clothes dryer works after being repaired or if the cruise ship vacation met expectations. 
• Recognizing similarities to the shopper. Empathizing is easier when you and the consumer recognize your similarities. Or you fake similarities: Researchers at Université de Bretagne-Sud found transaction success if a salesperson subtly mimicked the shopper. And when a customer finds they have the same birthday or place of birth as a salesperson, the customer gets more interested in making a purchase and is more likely to be satisfied with their purchases. 

     Customers, too, benefit from intuitive reactions in the sales transaction, as long as the intuition has been educated. A substantial percentage of consumers chose an item because they had the right feelings about it, not because the item came out best in any deliberative accounting. Those led by their emotions generally express more satisfaction with their purchase afterwards.

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

Click below for more: 
Show Complainers Respect, Concern, & Empathy
Empathize to Ease the Endowment Effect
Announce Commonalities with Shoppers
Appeal to the Heart