Does your store sell products or experiences? Think about it, because the two things are very different. And how you answer shoppers' questions and address their concerns is a big part of making sales.   Pay attention to what shoppers want to do with each product. It's easy to talk about the technical parts of, say, a digital camera. But features don't sell the camera unless the buyer is a professional photographer or has done a lot of research. All the fancy parts don't always mean that a problem is being solved.   Before you can suggest a product, you need to know what the shopper wants to achieve. The customer might want to put together a family album. But she doesn't know much about cameras and just wants one that she can point and shoot with little chance of blurry photos. She won't use the different lenses or quick settings for different types of exposure, so they won't matter much. She wants something easy to use and simple.   The first step in recommending a product that will make a customer happy is to figure out what she wants. It's called "solving a pain point," but what it's really about is selling happiness.    

The Right Questions

  People who go shopping might not know how to explain what they want. It's important to ask the right questions. Try asking simple things like, "What do you want to do or solve?"     If the shopper is looking for a gift, he or she should ask about the recipient's interests, activities, and music preferences. Ask questions about the products you sell so that you can give real answers.   For example, if a father wants to buy a TV for the kids' room, he may only know the size and the most basic functions. If the TV is mostly for streaming, you could probably skip over some of the features and focus on the built-in apps, sound quality, and sleep mode instead.   A pet store doesn't sell just dog toys. It also sells time for people and animals to play together. How long a dog plays with a toy depends on things like the type of dog and how strong the toy is. Say that the shopper has an overweight German Shepherd that weighs 75 pounds and loves to play fetch and always brings the ball back. You could talk about a fancy bouncing ball that would really get the dog jumping, which is good exercise.   You can tell important things by paying attention to the little things.  

Sell Feelings

  When you sell feelings and experiences, you make a connection with your customers. People will remember how your business helped solve the problem as a whole.   Think about how music can set the tone for a time in a person's life. Every time they listen to a certain album, it takes them back to how they felt when they first heard it. No one buys CDs or albums that can be downloaded. They spend money on music because of how it makes them feel.   Source: Fit Small Business   How a customer feels about a product after using it can lead them to write or tell their friends and family about it. It can make the customer feel more connected to the business. If the result makes the customer happy, it's a step toward making them a customer for life.   They’re also more likely to recommend brands they feel connected to―30.2% of emotionally connected customers make recommendations compared to just 7.6% of non-connected who do. In turn, word-of-mouth referrals also translate into increased sales.   Emotional selling can bring in new customers, increase customer loyalty and lifetime value, and get your customers to send you more referrals. You can use emotional selling in your business strategy as a whole, in sales conversations, and when making marketing materials to get customers who are interested in your business.