Customer<\/strong> \u2013 \u201cJust looking for a pair of shoes\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sales assistant wanders off and returns with a stack of shoe boxes<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sales assistant<\/strong> \u2013 \u201cHave a look at these dress boots, made of quality leather. \u201d \u201cAnd here\u2019s a casual street sneaker, durable and comfortable\u201d \u201cTry these slippers, if you are looking for something more comfortable.\u201d \u201cOr you\u2019d like to purchase black dress shoes for weddings and banquets \u201cWould you like the Oxfords or these Bluchers?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWait, what about the flip flops? Or gym sneakers? Maybe work boots?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the face of it, that the salesperson is doing some things right. They greeted the customer, engaged them and presented the shopper with many different options, showing the extensive assortment and positioning the store as a rich source for the customer\u2019s every wants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, what the sales assistant is doing wrong is not listening to the shopper and not offering expert advice and instead overwhelming the shopper. Chances are that the customer ends up irritated and confused by too much choice and walks out without buying anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While people instinctively do prefer more choice, it never yields better choices or bigger satisfaction with the purchase. More products at hand simply create noise, hampering our ability to focus and choose what\u2019s best for us. If there\u2019s such a vast assortment laid out before us, it makes us want to give some consideration to every option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Analysis Paralysis is the state of mind when people <\/strong>over-think a situation to the extent of abstaining from a decision. <\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a very common phenomenon and as consumers are increasingly exposed to information on the Internet, Social Networks and ads, businesses have to make efforts to help consumers reach a decision quickly and easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 Fear of making the wrong choice:<\/strong> Customers tend to over-analyze or over-think purchase decisions because they are afraid of making the wrong choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 Products are too complex:<\/strong> When buying commodity products like toothpaste or a hair brush, shoppers don\u2019t generally chew over the decision. But when it comes to buying more complex and high-priced products such a smartphone, laptop or even a car, the situation paints a different picture. It can be quite puzzling for shoppers, especially for non-expert shoppers who are not familiar with technical specifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2013 Too many options offered:<\/strong> Consumers will be attracted to stores with lots of different options, but if you want them to purchase, you need to cut down the number of available options to a manageable few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what could the sales assistant have done differently?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asking need-oriented questions like \u201cWhat type of shoes are you looking for?\u201d or \u201cWhat purpose is it intended for?\u201d and presenting fewer, but more suitable options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an environment that does not necessarily facilitates 1:1 conversations like in a physical store, you can apply Guided Selling techniques, like Mizuno, a Japanese sports equipment, and sportswear company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mizuno prevents analysis paralysis by making an interactive shoe advisor available to advice-seeking shoppers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shopper is taken through several questions to determine foot type, training pace, foot rotation and many more details that are necessary to recommend the perfect shoe and fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and get new articles straight to your inbox!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Join over 70,000 people who want to stay inspired and help people decide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Check out this customer \u2013 sales assistant conversation in a shoe store: Sales assistant \u2013 \u201cWelcome, can I help you?\u201d Customer \u2013 \u201cJust looking for a pair of shoes\u201d The sales assistant wanders off and returns with a stack of shoe boxes Sales assistant \u2013 \u201cHave a look at these dress boots, made of quality leather. \u201d \u201cAnd here\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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Schliefnig","author_link":"https:\/\/www.guided-selling.org\/author\/martin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Check out this customer \u2013 sales assistant conversation in a shoe store: Sales assistant \u2013 \u201cWelcome, can I help you?\u201d Customer \u2013 \u201cJust looking for a pair of shoes\u201d The sales assistant wanders off and returns with a stack of shoe boxes Sales assistant \u2013 \u201cHave a look at these dress boots, made of quality leather. \u201d \u201cAnd here\u2019s…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guided-selling.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guided-selling.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guided-selling.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guided-selling.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guided-selling.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1034"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.guided-selling.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2541,"href":"https:\/\/www.guided-selling.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034\/revisions\/2541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guided-selling.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guided-selling.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guided-selling.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guided-selling.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.guided-selling.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/generate_image_for_my_blog_post_post_title_is_t-10.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
TIP:<\/b> Just like Mizuno does with their shoe advisor example provided above, try understanding the shopper and help them weed out options that don\u2019t meet the needs or requirements of shoppers. In the end, they will be left with fewer options, but more chances for you of getting a sale and gaining a satisfied, loyal customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n