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Tallahassee, FL—In our last installment, we discussed how to successfully sell a demanding customer. In this edition, we will learn how to sell the analytical customer.

Like a demanding customer, an analytical customer can take many shapes and forms. It can be the intellectual who knows a lot about jewelry or, conversely, the uneducated customer who desires information. Though these customers are total opposites, one thing remains consistent: a thirst for knowledge. These customers require a tremendous amount of focus and mental energy in order to meet their needs, so you must bring your A game to the interaction. A lack of skills or patience drives many sales associates away from selling an analytical customer, but that’s easy to overcome.

The first skill to gain success with an analytical customer is product knowledge. Make sure you take the time to thoroughly learn about every product you sell. I encourage new sales associates who may not have thorough product knowledge to turn over an analytical customer to someone more familiar with the product. The old saying that half of something is better than nothing certainly rings true here, and you will not succeed with an analytical customer without the proper product knowledge. So turn it over, and after you do, stick around and listen to the more skilled associate. Soak up the information and learn, so the next time the opportunity arises to sell that product, you are ready on your own.

Have you ever played chess? It’s a fun game, but can be very exhausting. The mental thought process needed to win is tremendous, and you must anticipate your opponent’s moves in order to defeat them. Likewise, you need vision to sell an analytical customer, because it is very much like playing chess: you must anticipate every move they could possibly make. By having vision and being prepared you will find yourself mentally calling “checkmate” (the winning move in chess) more often.

Brian Barfield

Remember that your analytical customer also is playing mental chess with you, so be careful not to focus solely on anticipating their moves. You must also be careful of your own moves. Don’t give your customer the advantage by playing too conservatively. Don’t be afraid to use all your “pieces” and, figuratively speaking, attack. Your chess pieces are all the selling skills you have learned, like compliments, serving your customers, creating obligation, and so forth. Use your full arsenal until your analytical customer purchases.

The final skill you need is one that I admit is rather difficult for me: patience. In order to successfully sell an analytical customer, you must have plenty of patience. Not every sell will be a marathon, but you must always prepare yourself. Keep in mind that the analytical customer will require specific questions to be answered in order to buy.

Take a moment and think of an area where you might feel vulnerable. Here’s an example: whenever I take my car to be repaired, I assume I’ll be ripped off. I feel this way because I know very little about cars or the maintenance required and I want the mechanics to show me exactly what they are fixing, in order to feel comfortable in proceeding with the repair. It is much the same way when closing an analytical customer. They must feel comfortable that their questions are answered completely.

In summary, remember that knowing your product, having vision, and being patient are three important keys to successfully selling an analytical customer. By knowing how to sell each customer type properly you will see your customers in a new light and gain increasingly more success at the counter.

Top image: Markofwestminster.com

Modern Day Selling offers the freshest new insight in jewelry sales training designed to help sales associatse achieve greater success. As a yearly million-dollar-plus sales associate for the past eight years, Brian Barfield practices what he preaches on finding success based on the core principles of trust, honest and integrity. He is a two time published author whose insight is being recognized around the world. For more information or in-store training, visit his website at http://www.moderndayselling.comor email brian@moderndayselling.com.