Here’s a real story about a satisfying buying experience my husband and I had last week. I am sharing this story because too many sellers think prospects don’t want to buy. The truth is: we don’t like being sold to. There’s a big difference between the two. You’ll see what I mean.

My husband was invited to an awards ceremony dinner two days before the event. He didn’t have a suit. With 24 hours till the event, this wife had to come up with a solution. He hates shopping, would need to have the suit altered and didn’t want to spend a bundle to look great. I remembered seeing a sign for The 3 Day Suit shop. Checking the website I found they were open, so we drove over. The sign said “2 suits for $200″. I thought, “Yikes!” I figured Macy’s was nearby, just in case.

Inside there were racks of suits, shelves filled with shirts and shoes and several well-dressed men and young model-looking sellers gathered around the cash register. Out of nowhere a very modestly dressed middle-aged woman approached us smiling. She asked what he was looking for and brought us to the $500 suit section and had him try on a blazer. She pointed out the cool stitching on the lapels. Though he looked and felt great, it was more than he wanted to pay for something he’d wear once. Without hesitation she pulled out a suit for $200 that looked almost as great. Watching our positive reactions, she kept on. Within 15 minutes, she had led him to the fitting room, brought in a shirt and grabbed a pair of shoes so he could see the whole look. It was perfect. While he was in the dressing room, she arranged for the tailor to come over to assess. A smart assumptive move. The tailor said he could hem the pants by the next day.

On the way to the cashier, our sales clerk showed us the new ties that just arrived. Why not? Besides the suit she built a nice little sale in about 30 minutes. Suit, shirt and dress socks – all well coordinated for around $300. And yes, the next day it was all ready to go.

Here’s the moral of the sales story. Sometimes crappy looking places have surprises inside. For a seller, here’s the reality:

1) You can be any age and sell well.
2) Be willing to start high because you can always come down.
3) Act with quiet confidence, make certain assumptions and serve buyers’ needs.
4) Make buying simple and exceed expectations or at the very least surprise customers.

In the end, Russell enjoyed spending money on something he didn’t really want but had a need for. He found a new place to shop and he told countless people just how pleasant the experience was. Will he return? That’s a no brainer.

.