Grab Their Attention
The first thing they said to me to get my attention was 'May I see your ticket please?' I was unable to divert my attention from them because they established themselves as officials. I showed them my ticket, and they then told me 'You are eligible for a free pearl'.
Keep Their Attention
At this stage I thought, 'okay, this better be free, I am not going to forget the fact that I was told I was getting this for free no matter what they say'. My eyes were then drawn to the second part of their table, where the lady was prying open oysters and giving letting the customers look at them.
When I got my turn I was going to just turn around and leave with the pearl, but the lady then said, 'Would you like me to drill a hole through it so you can make it into a necklace? That is also free'. I said sure, why not. After all, it's free. At this stage I know that the pearl is going to be mine by the end of the salespitch.
When she finished drilling the hole, she then said, 'Because today is the 8th, we are giving away the necklace part for free too' (The 8th was the day of the opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics). I said great, I will take that too.
She then told me that 'if I had a friend or girlfriend I might want to consider getting a custom designed connector piece' for my necklace. This was the first time anything which I had to buy was brought up. But because I already had a pearl, with a hole drilled in it, and a necklace, I just might find that useful.
I didn't end up going for the necklace, because I guess I'm just too conscious about when somebody is making a salespitch to me. But to the average customer, I just might buy.
Turn Them Into a Customer
The pearl sellers took it slowly with me and gave themselves the best possible chance to get me to buy their necklace. Here's what they did.
1. They caught my attention by establishing themselves as an authority/official. They did this not by trying to sell the product, but by engaging me with conversation.
2. They kept my attention with an actual demonstration of how the product was being made (Cool!).
3. They put a FREE product in my hand. (The Chinese absolutely love free stuff. More than us.)
4. They kept me at the table for an extended period of time, creating the illusion to myself that I am actually interested in a product which I had originally had NO intention to buy before.
5. They made me think about other people when making the purchase - girlfriend, friend, mom, etc. This made me consider of how much the product was worth to these other people in my life, not me. It almost made me buy it.
Don't Sell, Pre-sell
The necklace sellers put all of their efforts into the PRE-sale, not the actual sale. They turned the product buying into an adventure, and made me consider buying something I would never seek to buy. That's a little better of an effort than the vendors on the streets in China who ask you immediately to buy a watch or wallet from them.
How You Can Immediately Improve Your Sales Pitches
A good way to improve your sales pitches on your websites is to keep a dossier of what has and hasn't worked as a sales pitch. In fact, soon after this little occurrence happened, I took down the details on my cell phone.
If you keep a record of what you find good and bad, what works and doesn't work, what was unique and what turned you off, you are reminding yourself that you too are a customer. If you can look back at that, you will have a better grasp of the customer's perspective, and how to turn on the light in their head that gets them into a buying mood.
