Qualify Your Customer

There is something to be said about purchasing something at a store where the clerk makes a commission. Typically, I am not one for recommending a client to seek the advice from a representative at a make up counter if they make commission, but I was reminded this past week of why there is sometimes a higher level of customer service when one does make a percentage of the sale.

I am big fan of Sephora:

- I love a lot of their products
- I like that I can try on the make up without purchasing it
- I love that they give free samples
- I like it that they don't make commission so I can trust their word

Recently, I had to pick up a skincare product and stopped at a Sephora I don't typcially shop at, so I was not recognized. Women know that our face changes throughout the seasons and sometimes it requires more hydration than others. I have sensitive skin so I do not like trying new products if I don't have to. I was introduced to the "skincare expert" by the "make up consultant" since I had just been trying on some of Laura Mercier's finishing powder. I had told the make up consultant that I was also in the market for a more hydrating nighttime moisturizer and she walks me over to the department. She tells the skincare expert that I wanted a nighttime moisturizer at an inexpensive price point. I was quickly turned off because I did not use the words inexpensive (I actually used the word modest- to me, inexpensive means cheap). I opened my mouth to tell the young women why I was looking to change product lines and she didn't even look at me and tells me about an anti-aging cream from Korres. I had to find humor in this situation because I am approaching my 30th birthday and I keep telling myself that age is really just a number, but I took a little offense here. I then had to tell her that I was already using another Korres product and was trying to find out why she chose this line.

Sephora's employees do not make commission which is one of the the things I love about them, but in this case she was acting more like a clerk than a skincare expert or consultant. In order to sell a product you have to be able to qualify your customer. What is currently going on with their skin that they want to switch products? Who are they using now? What kind of skin do they have( dry, oily, etc.)? Since I have sensitive skin, I have tried many different lines and have paid hundreds of dollars for one small bottle that promised me the fountain of youth! I have since learned that it is more about the ingredients and potency of them that will dictate my purchases.

I will be honest, I did purchase the Korres anti-aging night cream but it wasn't due to the "clerk's" recommendation, as much as it was that I use and trust Korres's other products.

Whether you are making a commission or trying to provide excellent customer service, the most important thing you can do is LISTEN to the customer because this is where you will be able to find out their need and hot buttons!