Ask Your Customers Lots of Questions
October 22nd, 2006In preparation for FamilyLearn’s team barbecue, Jeff and I stopped by Harmon’s grocery store to get some meat (it was a bring your own beef barbeque). I hate cooking and I rarely do it. But I was hungry and not about to settle for a hot dog. As we arrived at the meat section, there was a sample table manned by a big friendly fellow named Nate. He asked, “What are you guys looking for?”
“Something to grill,” I responded.
“Let me see if I can change your mind,” he replied while handing us each a sample of the roast he had prepared.
The roast was excellent, but I was thinking in my head, “Oh great! Now we have to listen to him try to sell us a roast when we just need something for the barbecue.”
Instead, Nate asked, “So, when do you need this?”
“Tonight,” we replied.
He continued, “Are you cooking for lots of people of just yourselves?”
“Just ourselves.”
“So, do you want a really good steak or just something mediocre?”
We hesitated as we realized we hadn’t even thought about the quality of meat to purchase.
“Well let me ask you this,” he continued, “Do you want to spend $12 or $4″
“Four dollars,” Jeff quickly responded.
Nate then left his post at the sample table and walked us over to the steaks. He quickly educated us on the hierarchy of steaks. He told us about the different cuts and types of meat. Even after learning our options, we didn’t want to make a decision.ÂWe asked which one he would get. He explained that he loves Black Angus steaks, but those are much more expensive. Both Jeff and I said, “Okay, I’ll take that one.”
“Great,” he continued, “Do you already have seasoning?”
I sarcastically thought, “Oh great! One more thing to buy!” But instead, he stepped behind the deli counter and pulled out some steak seasoning sample packets. He tossed them to us then quickly explained how to season and cook the steaks.
“You guys will love these steaks,” he assured us. “But if you don’t, just bring them back and I will buy them back from you.”
Without even feeling like we had talked to a salesman, we were sold the most expensive steaks in the store. We walked out of the store commenting to each other on how much we like Harmon’s grocery store. At the barbecue, we were the envy of the party. No one’s hot dog tasted very good after seeing and smelling our steaks.
Thinking back over the experience, I asked myself how Nate had created such a perfect buying experience for us. His questions were the key. Through his questions, he found our exact need, then provided a great solution for the need.
There is a lot written on effective question asking, but I haven’t read anything yet on how to instill a question asking attitude in an organization. How do you train a team of Nates?
Let me know your thoughts. Please refer me to some good books, articles, or posts.
October 24th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
[…] Ben and I had a great customer experience at Harmon’s (great name by-the-way) grocery store while preparing for the FamilyLearn BBQ the other day.  I had talked about the experience throughout the night trying to figure out how Harmon’s trained Nate to sell me a $10 steak, but Ben blogged about it.  At the end of his entry he extended his invitation for others to make a comment on his blog: […]