Questions, questions, questions…
It struck me the other day that a certain retailer I visited must be losing thousands of potential sales opportunities, simply by not rephrasing a question that they ask every single customer:
“Do you have a membership card?”
“Er, no.”
Conversation over.
What if they’d asked me: “Have you heard about our membership card?” or “Are you interested in receiving points to put towards an x, y, z?”
I may well have signed up there and then, taken a leaflet or told other people about it.
A slight tweak of the standard question could kick start real conversations between staff and customers, help to engage staff, increase membership, loyalty and drive more sales through the till.
Best not bite the hand that feeds you.
In WHSmith they just ask you if you want a stack of chocolate with the copy of “Diet Weekly” you’ve just purchased.