The Pen | Know your customer, ask questions!

Some time ago, my partner and I went in her ‘shopping cart’ to look for a new car for her. At the dealership, we were greeted warmly and the salesman asked if he could help us. “I'm looking for a new car,” my friend said. The salesman glanced at her current car and scaled us in for a similar car, but newer - wow! With this experience as a starting point, I started paying attention and what strikes me: actually, many of us often still work from our own assumptions and don't ask enough questions.

Originally, our limbic brain is programmed to pigeonhole people. After all, in prehistoric times there was no time to ask if the Neanderthal came for fun or to take something away from you (your life, your food, your wife et cetera). Still we immediately form a judgment when we look at the person in front of us. Our brain has apparently changed a little slower than the world around us....

Today, the profile of the customers the sun protection specialist receives in his showroom is different from what it was a few years ago. Judging by age and gender is therefore long overdue. The dividing line between different ages is also becoming increasingly blurred. Lifestyle has become a much more important factor! But how do you find out about lifestyle? Precisely by asking questions!

An example. A husband and wife, both 55-plus, come to the showroom on their bikes. They are looking for blinds. “We were thinking about an awning.” The classic approach would be to ask for the overall dimensions and then show some screens and then talk mostly about the product features. Sounds familiar, right? Whereas, upon inquiry, it turns out that these are so-called ‘new conservatives ’* or, colloquially, ‘smooth fifties. People who have retired early and enjoy going out in their luxury motor homes. They are sporty, so when they are in the Netherlands, they are on the road with their E-bikes. And they appear to live in a spacious new construction apartment on the top floor where it gets hot quickly. With this information, perhaps one or more zipscreens, enhanced with a solar sensor and linked to a smart home solution would have been a better alternative. Perhaps even supplemented with an alarm and some remote-controlled lighting points so that it always appears that people are home. After all, they are often away from home.

By asking more, we learn much more about the customer and can offer a better solution. With the bonus of being able to recommend more products for which there may be a latent need. Of course, we are all good salespeople and already do this, yet I challenge all awning specialists to take a critical look at their own sales/advice conversation. Are we really as judgment-free as we think?   

* https://www.motivaction.nl/mentality/de-acht-mentality-milieus/nieuwe-conservatieven