Saturday, March 14, 2009

What Makes you Stop and Purchase?

Today I had the pleasure of driving around town in the rain and cold, with my son and his friend. It started out with a 9:45 AM Soccer game, followed by a Arts Show, Auto Show and Health and Wellness Expo. While I was walking around today, looking, shopping and meeting some very interesting and NOT so interesting business people, artists and salesmen, I begin wondering what goes through other shoppers minds as well as my own customers, when they are visiting me at my booth during show season. If you've ever had the pleasure of visiting any of these types of shows, then you know that some booths are more popular than others, that's just a fact. At these booths, I don't necessarily expect much attention, because its understandable that by this point, they are trying to keep an eye out for shoplifters and doing their best to help each person with a question or a purchase. So, if I need anything, I patiently await my turn. Then, there are other booths where the traffic is slow to non, where you have the comfort of browsing at your pleasure without anyone poking you in the side or blocking that particular item you've had your eye on. And then, there are the ones where the vendor NEVER stops talking and insists on showing you things you're not interested in.

What got me thinking today, were those booths were the vendors/artists were making no attempt to speak to their customers (meaning me), were talking to someone else working the booth, or busy working on something else. HELLO....potential customer here. One booth in particular today that my son and I entered, the artist sat the entire time, never greeted us and and when asked about a particular piece, answered curtly and that was about it! Little did she know, she had some beautiful pendants that had caught my eye. But because of her seemingly lack of interest in my business, it didn't take long for us to walk away.

So my question to you today is...what makes you purchase from a particular business or not and what keeps you coming back? What makes you STOP in the first place? For those who have your own business, what is it that you do, or don't do, to make it a pleasant shopping experience for your own customers? I look forward to hearing from you.

Unveiling and shopping,
Dee
www.runakojewelry.com

5 comments:

Tara Shenson said...

You are so right that bad customer service is a sales killer! I see so much of that now adays...I don't know why exactly. It's so important to treat your customers, and potential customers, with the respect they deserve when they spend their hard earned money on your wares! Thanks for the great post Dee!

Anonymous said...

With the economy, one of the ways to differentiate ourselves from run-of-the-mill businesses is by excellent customer service. We need to be inviting and friendly so that they want to buy from us - then build on that relationship with great customer service.

Good thoughts, Dee.

Dee said...

I think to sum it all up, customers are the core of our business and we'd all do well to treat them right! Thanks for the comments Tara and Maria.

Unknown said...

Great blog post and interesting...I have come across all examples....and hope that I have not been all, but do find just a pleasant acknowledgment that you have a customer is a start.
Not in your face, but as a customer its nice to be noticed ...even by a smile and "let me know if anything interests you."

thanx for this info

Dee said...

Thanks Crystal, again, the customer is your business. I truly believe that, unfortunately, not every business has the same mentality.

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