Selling to Geeks
Most of us that have worked in retail of some kind know that when it comes selling a product, or getting the client to buy more, this can be tricky. However, there is something that can be more tricky, yes, I said more tricky. Selling to geeks. The people that do their research about the type of product they are looking for before they even step through the doors to the establishment. The people that basically know what they want, and that is that. They do not want anything else, they don’t want a long speech about how great this product is or anything that you would tell a non geek, and they don’t want a story that involves any emotion. They simply just want some facts about the product. So now you ask, How do I change my routine to be able to sell to geeks then? Well, it is actually simple, you just need to understand how geeks work, and how they buy things.
Yes, of course, we shall be referencing the Geek Leader’s Handbook, as well as other sources, but for now we will see what the book has to say about learning the geek method behind buying. First thing is first, you basically have to make a boundary of how much emotion to put into selling. If you put to much emotion, geeks tend not to like that at all. They will get very offended at you because their thought process is that you are belittling them in a way, and Nobody wants that. So, how do people avoid this from happening? Well, my selling friends, you can do a couple of things. There is a three step selling tool that you can use to help yourself that involves crafting a clear problem statement, demonstrate how the benefits of what you are selling resolves the problem, and then show how the features of your offering directly deliver the benefits. This is one way that you can help sell the benefits of what you are trying to sell, and can get the geek to want it more.
Another way is to make sure that you provide the facts to them and to make sure that you do include some of the flaws of your product. Not all of them, but some to understand the product better and that they have a better idea of what they could be getting into. A geek does not want to be told that thee product is perfect, because Nothing is perfect. Not even the world itself is perfect, so how is the product going to be perfect? Be as honest as you, a salesperson, can be without making your client not want anything to do with it. I think another thing that is very important, but wasn’t really named was for you, the salesman, to have some knowledge of the product. As obvious as that may seem, it is important, because there are people out there that try to sell things that they don’t know anything about, and the client knows more about, and it is embarrassing to hear the rest of. So please, do yourself a favor and know a thing or to about your product.
For me personally, I feel like I can relate to the geek side of being sold to. For me, I honestly just want the facts about the product. I want to know the main take aways and probably what the salesman thinks about it, and of course, some cons about it too. I don’t want to hear about how jimmy loves to play with the product, or that it is the greatest things since the creation of fire. I just want the rundown, and if you have stories from clients about the product, that is fine, but that is about it for me. I honestly hate it when people sit there for thirty minutes talking about something that I could care less about and waste my time, when I could be doing literally anything else, just sell me a product and goodbye. Which is typically what your geek wants as well. So just remember, mostly fact based, know things about the product, and don’t try to make it sound perfect. Make everyone’s life easier please and thank you.
https://www.consumerreports.org/consumerist/9-confessions-of-a-former-geek-squad-geek/