My daughter announced, as we were returning from our summer holidays in France, that she needed a new desk for all the homework she was expecting as she entered Year 9.
So a trip to Ikea was arranged the following Saturday. How can I stand between my daughter and her education.
As soon as we arrived, we climbed onto the Ikea conveyor belt, had breakfast in the restaurant and were guided along the zig zagging path that took us to all the corners of the store. Could we shortcut to the office furniture? No, the way was mapped for us and so many delights to see. Carefully signposted, it was impossible to get lost.
Ikea are very astute with their sales techniques and they know full well that customers buy countless other items by pure serendipity rather than desire.
In the same way we should:
- Have a sales process, a route map for our customers to follow
- Put our customers onto this sales process wherever or whenever they appear.
- Signpost the customer along the process just like Ikea
- Make the sales process as pleasant an experience as possible
- Make it easy for the customer to buy
Could we find a desk to suit? No, but we found some lovely light bulbs, cushions we just had to have, a shelving unit for my office, some rugs for the front room and some beautiful glasses that would go down a treat over dinner that night.
