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 second blog post, I will share about the positive experience.
Unlike the first mattress store that was crowded with signs, the store was much more clean and organized. Mattresses were clearly labeled, and prices were unchanging throughout the entire selling process. The salesman was very friendly, but not overly chatty. He greeted us and asked us our names, along with other questions about ourselves and the type of mattress we were hoping for. He respected our budget and pointed us in the right direction, and then left us to try out the mattresses ourselves. He gave us space while also making it clear that he was present if we had any questions. With the pressure off us, we felt free to ask more questions about the mattresses and trusted his recommendations. In the end, in large part due to the salesman’s genuine care for his customers, we decided to purchase a mattress. He even suggested that we pick up the mattress from a store that was closer to Grove City (where we live) in order to avoid the higher Pittsburgh area taxes.
From this experience, I learned the following:
- Buyers appreciate honest clarity, especially regarding pricing. While running a sale can often entice customers to buy immediately, changing the price throughout the shopping experience makes the business appear unclear and pushy.
- Buyers are more likely to engage with a salesperson when they give some space.
- Buyers can tell when a salesperson genuinely cares about their customers.
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