Could someone please help me buy!

I’d been thinking about buying a new bicycle for a couple of months. The problem was I had no idea what bicycle I was looking for and no one to help me buy one. I wanted a decent one but not one I had to refinance my house to purchase. I didn’t know what brands were good or what specifications were right for me.

Really, I was yearning for someone who knows a little something about bicycles to help me buy the perfect one. Logically, you’d think a sales rep at my local bike store would fit the bill, right?

To my amazement, my local store had three separate opportunities to help me buy my bike and make a sale last month and they missed them all:

Opportunity #1

I’d taken my old bike in for a service. We discussed the fact that my bike was getting old and I was wondering whether it would be a good time to upgrade to a new one. The guy who was serving me replied “possibly” and then went up to the till to ring up the bill for the service. Seriously, come on. Give me a good solid reason as to why I should consider buying another bike and you’d have had a sale.

Opportunity #2

The owner of this particular store was the one who sold me my last bike. Yet, as always, (unless I make the effort to say hello first), when I was in there last month he didn’t even acknowledge me. It doesn’t take much! Just a friendly hello even if you don’t recognise me would give me the peace of mind that you do care about your customers and that you’d look after me. You would also have had a sale.

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Opportunity #3

Eventually, I bit the bullet, made a list of specifications and settled on the exact bike I wanted. No subtle clues here. I literally told the person (sorry can’t call him a salesperson because that would not be fair to salespeople) the exact brand and model, only to be told “Sorry we don’t have that bike in stock”. End of sentence. Silence. All he had to do was say “We’ll have to order it in for you,” and he would have had a sale.

What happened in the end?

A good friend of mine has raved about a particular store he goes to. I walked 300 metres down the road and into this store. I was greeted by a salesperson. I explained what I was looking for, he asked me a few questions, he listened to what I wanted, he made a couple of suggestions, we had a little chat and BINGO! 30 minutes later, I had just paid a deposit for my new bike. He had made a sale.

When someone walks into your store or contacts you, it is highly likely that they have an itch and need some help to scratch it. And if you won’t help them scratch, then you are committing that cardinal sin of business: leaving good money on the table.

Have you experience the above? Who’s leaving money on table in your life?