I remember an incident back in the November of 2002 when my mother and I visited a Gold shop in Vishakapatnam, India for the first time on our own accord. It is a story about how middle class Indian families approach to buying aspirational products such as Gold Jewelry. Jewelry shops always scared my mother. She would usually visit with a veteran like my grandmother in her hometown and she would trust only the family jeweler. She had never ventured out individually into a glassy and shiny showroom for the fear of unaffordability and also due to the fear being ignored or worse overcharged.
However, we were in for a surprise when the showroom owner’s son, a 28 year old young man, apparently an MBA, immediately greeted my mother with smile and asked her what she would like to collect for her daughter, which was me. This one statement melted the barriers between “Rich shop owner” and “scared middle-class consumer”. He “understood” her. An Indian middle class mother likes to “collect” Jewelry for her daughter’s wedding over a period of ten years, primarily because she feels she cannot afford heavy purchases all at one time.
He showed her low value items and made her feel comfortable with her budget. He did this in a subtle fashion anticipating our immediate need was for maybe was a low value product.
In fact he also served us cold drinks and tea along with another groups of customers who were purchasing expensive diamond wedding Jewelry. He made her feel “important” and valued irrespective of the monetary value of her purchase.
With his encouragement, my mother made her maiden purchase of Rs.5000 ($ 80). But he did mention that within a year she could “plan” and save to purchase a necklace worth Rs.10,000 ($160). The aspirational value encouraged us to save more and save sooner. We purchased that necklace within 6 months. In our third visit, we took my elder sister along with my brother-in-law who in turn purchased few small items of jewelry for my sister and niece.
And within just one year of enrolling us as a customer, the seller had converted a middle-class skeptical housewife to a proud jewelry owner, had gained 4 additional customers within the family, 10X times of total sales value (as compared to our humble first purchase),and plenty of goodwill.
The reason my mother remembers this particular experience till date is because he led us through an aspirational buying journey which she had never imagined she could afford. The Jewelry purchased at that time has appreciated in value and created genuine personal value to the buyer.
How was this man able to achieve this? He stood out by anticipating and empathizing with how the customer “felt”. He identified a customer’s psyche and won complete loyalty and repeat purchases without any additional marketing investments. It is very important for marketeers to understand that a consumer who purchases for an amount as low as Rs.500 today may be able to purchase for Rs.20,000($ 320) tomorrow. Additionally he or she can create a circle of influence through positive recommendations and thus may be worth much more times than his/her first low value purchase (OR one time transaction value).
EVERY customer and EVERY purchase is key irrespective of the monetary value it holds.
Unfortunately most organizations do not get this. Even if the management does understand this fact, the client facing employees may not be able to realize the depth of the value of the customer to the organization.
Do your sellers know how important your client is to the organization?
Let me share another incident, more recent one in the November of 2014. My mother and I entered a saree showroom outlet in a high-end mall in Hyderabad, India. My mother likes to look at latest patterns of Sarees (an Indian outfit worn by women). If she likes something she may just buy it. But this kind of indulgence and off-hand purchases are usually towards low-value and regular wear clothing priced below Rs.1000 ($ 16). However, when she visits a shop she also likes to see expensive sarees and make a note of the store. She would later go back when she actually intended to purchase an expensive saree.
Now, that day the salesman in the showroom looked at me and my dressing sense and automatically assumed I could “afford” to spend on an expensive saree. He never cared to inquire on whether or not we “wanted” to. He showed us four Sarees priced at Rs.5000($ 80), Rs.3000($ 48), Rs.1600($ 27) and Rs.800($13) respectively. My mother immediately picked up the one priced Rs.800($13) and asked for more colors. Three times she asked him for less expensive sarees and three times he brought higher valued items and categorically insisted that unless she is willing to spend more money she can’t get good sarees.
At one point of time he cornered her verbally and literally asked her to STATE how much she could afford to spend.
Clearly, she was uncomfortable. She did not want me to spend money. Yet she could have thought of purchasing had he been patient to help her find something she wanted.
He upset me deeply and I vowed I will never step into the store again.
The salesman had just ensured the management had lost a potential consumer. Unfortunately the management is not aware of it.
What do we learn from story 1 and 2?
1. Making your customer “feel” important and valued, erasers barriers and helps you relate to their needs better.
Making them feel “small” and making yourselves feel big can lose a customer
2. Value every single monetary transaction whether it is for Rs.500 or Rs. 50000. The Lifetime value of a customer is more important than one time transaction.
3.A customer can help your business not just by purchasing but by “speaking” about it. Be wary what experiences you give them to speak of.
4. If you help your customer build an aspirational journey, they will truly remember you.
