Did you actually want that?

We hear a lot about how to sell to our customers and finding the needs/pains of our customers. Have we ever thought that a customer had a pain or a need when they actually didn’t? Did we ever sell something to someone and never hear from the customer again? Why is that?

That is “buyers remorse”. Buyers remorse is when a customer purchases something that they regret buying. Customers feel this when they buy something that they didn’t know enough about, didn’t evaluate the price, paid too much for it, or bought it because they trusted the salesman a little too much. No matter what the reason is, the customer is highly likely to never come back to the store/company or salesman.

It is argued that it is the customer’s fault for not thinking everything through before purchasing the product or service. It is also argued that it is the salesman’s fault because the salesman missed something when speaking with the customer before selling the product to them. However, I argue that it is both the customer’s and the salesman’s fault.

A salesman needs to get as much information out of a client as possible before selling a product or service to them in order to see if it is the right fit for that customer. They need to know pains and needs, not assume them. They also need to know who the decision makers are when purchasing a product or service. If the salesman misses that important information during a meeting or phone call, then they should hold off on selling until they know it is a good fit. If they sell too soon without all the information, then the buyer will have buyers remorse and most likely will lose that customer forever.

A customer is also to blame because they need to evaluate whether they have the resources to buy the product at this time. They also need to take in all the factors a salesman would have to. If a customer does not know enough information about a product but buys it, then it is on them for not taking enough time to make a large decision.

In order to cut out buyers remorse, the salesman and customer need to both be knowledgeable, informed, value-oriented, and realistic. Otherwise, a salesman could lose a customer and a customer could lose a lot of money.