REALITIES VERSUS EXPECTATIONS
Sales psychologists contend that prospects in a positive mood are more likely to make a purchase than those whose moods are less positive. Furthermore, the psychologists explain that all of us, in our daily lives, are consciously or subconsciously continually “looking ahead” or developing expectations of what we will see or experience. An example could be: We are planning to drive our auto some number of miles down a highway. We are familiar with the highway and know that there is a lot of traffic on it. Our expectation is that we will be able to navigate the traffic just fine. We begin our drive. The traffic, happily, is much lighter than we expected. With the reality having surpassed our expectation our mood is elevated. Further down the road there is unexpected construction slowing all traffic. In this case the reality is less than our expectation of a trouble free trip. Our mood, therefore, has been somewhat dampened.
Imagine two identical persons (could be twins). These totally identical persons make totally identical decisions to shop for and to buy new manufactured homes. The retailers they chose to visit were identical. The homes and the salespersons they chose were identical. Their experiences in making the purchases, taking delivery, and occupying the homes were identical in every way. Yet one of the buyers was happy. One was unhappy. Why?
The proposition is that what was not identical were the expectations of the two persons throughout their identical manufactured home purchase experiences. We can identify some of the experiences these identical persons had that, individually, either exceeded their expectations or fell below those expectations.
Experienced retail owners, managers, and salespersons understand that there are innumerable factors that influence the results of efforts to sell manufactured homes to the public. Of course, there are the more obvious considerations like location, product choices, expertise of a sales team, retail financing, delivery and set capabilities, etc.
Then there are a few somewhat less obvious, subtle, but very important, factors not generally recognized by observers who do not have the experience of owners, managers, and experienced salespersons. Among those are the positive or less than positive moods developed in prospects from their recent experiences dealing with expectations and realities. This proposal could, theoretically, apply to any number of enterprises. But, in this paper, let us deal with the retail sales of manufactured homes.
Now, we can think about a number of expectations our prospective customer is likely to have had before he arrived at our place, while he is there, and beyond. Remember that it is in our best interest for the prospect to be in a positive mood, which will make him more likely to buy.
At some point our prospect considered shopping for a new manufactured home. Most likely, over time, he had driven by and/or visited some number of manufactured housing retail locations. From those conscious or subconscious observations, he had formed one or more images of how a manufactured housing sales center would most likely appear. At the time he is coming to visit our sales center he has an expectation of how our sales center will likely appear. If the reality of our sales center’s appearance is quite attractive, surpassing his expectation, then his mood, before he gets to us, has been elevated.
Our prospect, most likely, had been in a variety of offices. So, he likely has an expectation of what he will see and experience as he enters our offices. Some offices are cleaner, neater, better furnished, better organized than others. At this point I need to tell you a story about ladies restrooms in sales offices.
As a (old) retailer I noticed, and most of you have noticed, that ladies shopping at a sales center, on the average, will visit the ladies room at least once during her visit. With this in mind I came to an understanding that the ladies restroom should always be neat and clean. There came a time that I had a new sales center office built for me by one of the factories with whom I did business. I made a point to make sure the restrooms were well designed and placed easy to find for visiting prospects. Once the new office was in place I held a meeting with all the office staff. The subject was about the restrooms, particularly the ladies restroom. We decided that the ladies restroom would always be appropriately supplied with soft toilet tissue, facial tissue, paper hand towels, hand soap, and room deodorant. Beyond that the restroom must be meticulously clean. There must be no trash in the trash can, no water splashed on the countertop or the mirror. The objective was to have the visiting lady sense she could be the first visitor to the restroom at the time she first entered it. For that to happen the staff had to make sure that, each day, the ladies restroom began the day in pristine condition. Beyond that, after ever lady visit to the ladies room, as soon as possible, a staff member must go to the ladies restroom and make sure it is in the same pristine condition, or make it so, for the next visitor. One day as I was visiting with a husband and wife shopping for a home the lady asked to be excused to visit the ladies room. Upon her return she said to me “Sir, I know we are discussing the purchase of a home, but I must tell you that your ladies restroom is the nicest and cleanest I have ever seen at a place of business.” That comment to me proved that our protocol about ladies rooms was the right one. She did not say that we had a nice lobby or nice kitchen or nice sales office. She only talked about the restroom. The restroom greatly exceeded her expectation! I can tell you it put her in a good mood. The sale of a home to this lady was very easy.
Apart from super neat and clean restrooms (which I believe may provide a great opportunity to elevate the mood, especially of the lady prospect) all parts of the office are important to consider as to their likely “above expectations” impact on prospects. Of course, cleanliness, freshness, and organization are important. Then, mood enhancers such as décor, signage, and perhaps fresh flowers can work in the favor of the sales team. (Fresh blossoms in bud vases on desks and in the restrooms could work very well.)
In every office any of us visit there is generally a “feel” for the atmosphere created by the persons seen and heard. For this “feel” to be positive, above expectations, every single staff member should acknowledge the visitor. Even staff members who are unlikely to be involved in sales activity should at least give the visitor a nod and a smile.
There is a better than even chance that the prospect has dealt with car salespersons, furniture salespersons, or even other manufactured housing salespersons. We will not know what the profile of a salesperson the prospect has developed in his mind to create his expectation of the salesperson he is about to meet at our sales center. But rest assured that it exists. (Sometimes the profile is of a less than trustworthy person.) Assuming that the salesperson (or manager or owner) is dressed and groomed appropriately to get at least a fairly neutral first impression on the prospect, making the prospect comfortable and creating trust should be the primary efforts to have the prospect sense he has met someone exceeding his expectation. This would mean a very nice boost to the prospect’s mood.
It is a proven fact that most of us make buying decisions emotionally and justify rationally. Our prospects are no different. We have established that a prospect in a positive mood is more likely to buy than a prospect in a less than positive mood. The mood is an important part of the prospect’s emotion. Trust or lack of trust of the prospect in the sales person is a serious part of his emotion. Salespersons who do most of the talking are less trusted than sales persons who actually interview the prospect, allowing the prospect to do most of the talking.
Expectations versus realities become critical elements of the interchanges between salesperson and prospect. To the extent that the salesperson is able to direct, control or limit prospect expectations he will begin to develop the trust he needs from the prospect. Unchecked expectations can lead to much unnecessary frustration and unhappiness when realities don’t match those expectations. Explaining limitations to a prospect during the sales interview will engender more trust than will unlimited promises.
Continuing to exceed expectations after the sale: The salesperson and the organization for which he works does every single thing they said they would do, who would do it, when they would do it, and then some! Such activity will continue to elevate our customer’s mood. A customer in a good mood will recognize and express appreciation for the professionalism. And, importantly, he will be more prone to send referrals.