Through my experience shopping for a mattress with my husband a few months ago, I gained insights about sales from the perspective of the buyer. We visited two different mattress stores in Pittsburgh – one that represented a positive shopping experience, and the other a negative shopping experience. In this first blog post, I will share about the negative experience.
As we showed up to the first mattress store, the colorful, bombarding signs in the front windows were a hint at the sales strategy we would find inside. Upon opening the door, we were immediately greeted by a very outgoing salesman. He quickly directed us to a QR code where we were directed to take a mattress quiz, which would supposedly guide our decision. The salesman then asked us our budget and proceeded to have us test a variety of different mattresses, almost all from their premium collection. My husband and I were hoping for some space to discuss the options, but the salesman stayed close by. While we were slightly interested in one of the mattresses, we decided to wait to check out a few other mattress stores. The salesman responded by emphasizing that the mattresses were on sale today, and that he would give us a discount if we purchased a mattress by the end of the day. The price became very appealing to us, but the added pressure from the salesman caused us to leave without purchasing.
From this experience, I learned the following:
- Buyers don’t like to be bombarded with information about products. Crowded signs make it difficult to learn more about the products themselves.
- Buyers want space to make a purchase decision. A pushy, over-involved salesperson can add unwanted pressure on the buyer.
- Buyers want clear communication about prices. When the salesperson is constantly changing the price to make a quick sale, it can come across as unclear or even deceptive.
deleonardislm24
My immediate thought from reading this post was about the clip Dr. Sweet told showed us in class from Groundhog Day: this sounds like the cliche salesman! I completely agree how, even when deals sound enticing and for good reason, overbearing salesmen can drive people away and hurt their business. I have also had situations where the person I was talking to made my experience unpleasant and drove me away from purchasing anything. I am eager to read your next blog post to hear about how the good experience for your mattress shopping differed from this one!