I rode my bike past a self-storage place the other day and noticed that it was recently landscaped. Flowers, trees, and a fresh coat of mulch lined the fence facing the road.
My first thought was, why would anyone bother taking the time to landscape a self storage place?
Then I realized it was analogous to my installing walls at the Buyers Market. It’s that above and beyond that builds confidence in your brand. After all, wouldn’t you feel more comfortable leaving your possessions in a place that was well cared for and attended as opposed to a place that was rundown and overgrown?
I just finished reading Predictably Irrational
You don’t rationally think, “Wow, this place has nice landscaping. I’ll keep my stuff there.” Instead, you just know there’s something about this self storage unit that makes you more comfortable than the others you looked at.
The same thing goes for my walls. In the comments, many people argued that the decision to buy or not buy really couldn’t be influenced by the walls. And rationally, that’s probably true. But subconsciously? Well, I believe that’s a different story.
So much of selling revolves around understanding psychology. Many of the improvements I’ve made to my own sales procedure have come from observing the way people interact with my products and making changes accordingly.
Back in 2007, when I first started doing outdoor retail shows, my entire product line consisted of earrings and bracelets. I didn’t really wear necklaces, so I didn’t make them.
But when people would walk into my booth, they would glance at the product, see that I made jewelry, and then instinctively look up to see what I was wearing. The first place their eyes would go? My neckline, to see what necklace I had on. You could practically sense the disappointment when people realized I wasn’t wearing one.
As a result, I started adding more necklaces into my line. And now necklaces are actually my biggest sellers.
The same goes for the way your booth is set up and the way people behave. Does your set-up encourage them to come in? Look around? Touch? Or do they hover like they’re at the edge of a cliff, too scared to dive in?
Most of the time, people won’t tell you why they did or didn’t buy your product. Because they can’t.
Because so much of our decision making process is subconscious, it’s difficult to articulate why. You can’t expect your customers (or those who look but never become customers) to clearly explain their actions.
Instead, it’s up to you to observe, draw conclusions, and make changes accordingly, keeping in mind that it’s often the little cues and subliminal messages that influence someone’s decision to buy.
I didn’t read all the comments after reading about your gallery walls. From looking at the images I already knew I’d be drawn in to browse. You gave it a gallery feel and to me your items looked like pieces of art on display. I’ma sucker for that, I’d be drawn in. If you just scattered your items across a table I wouldn’t have subconsciously wanted to hang out in your spot. Reminds me of when people sell a house. You’re encouraged to remove most of your personal items (family photos etc). You need potential buyers to feel like they could live there. You’re playing to their subconscious. Great article Megan, I love that necklaces became you’re best seller. How funny.
Great article! I think you’re right on target with the subconcious part of why people buy. I think in building a rapport with our customers it’s the same way, once they realize that they can trust you and your product, they sort of let their own walls down. Observation is really key in knowing/learning what people are drawn to, they don’t always tell you in words.
This is so right on Megan. The subconscious is so powerful and understanding that as a seller is critical, but it also helps as a buyer. Trying to understand what draws us to things so that we can make purchases please us long term rather than just in the moment. I think looking at it from both sides can really empower us as sellers.
…Great Megan, thanks for the blog food! have a great time in San Diego
It’s funny how you sometimes don’t even realize that obvious things are happening until someone TELLS you… Thanks Megan!
After reading about the “subconcious mind” being the sucker for purchases, it made me think about how much my subconcious mind could be responsible for not only what I buy, but also for many other decisions.
These little things we think about on a daily basis add up to what actually runs our lives. I wonder where the subconscious mind gets these ideas from? Maybe past lives? Just a thought…
Great blog post! Very helpful and interesting info!
Megan,
Very interesting post. It is the little things that can really turn someone into a buying customer. I just ordered Predictably Irrational for my kindle. I am excited to jump into it.
Why can’t I seem to get into Malcolm Gladwell’s books? Any one else? What am I missing?
Great post as always, Megan! The visual presentation of our businesses speaks to people just like our personal appearances do. We instinctively take the first visual clues we get and create an opinion of the person, brand, etc. When I read your example of the newly landscaped storage units, my first thought was “Oh, I like people who garden. My mother is a gardener. Whomever runs the storage place must be a nice person.” But, if I rented a unit there and you asked me why, I’d probably say it was because of location, price, or something more tangible like that. Thanks for the good food for thought!
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I want to add one comment to the storage place example. The landscaping also gives the feeling of permanence and that someone is around therefore making the space safer. The impression is also that any business that is well manicured (attentive to the smallest details) is most likely to still be there a long time from now.
Details matter in a subconscious level. Why do you think Tiffany’s prints their receipts in a beautiful thick paper and then puts the receipt in a beautiful envelope. A friend asked me if I could make a bracelet similar to the one his daughter liked at Tiffany (of course for less money). My response: “She doesn’t want the bracelet, she wants the teal box and bragging rights”.
And that is just at a material level. In a sales interaction, looking in the eye, smiling, not being distracted – among other things – make people feel special. Isn’t that what we all want?
Creo que la mejor vitrina somos nosotros y es cierto no siempre lo pensamos esta es una forma de hablar de nuestro producto sin decir nada, gracias.
Its so incredibly true! understanding the power of human cognitive reasoning is the key to any business success.
A friend of mine had an award winning second hand childrens product store. It was like walking into a jammed packed Aladdins Cave, a real treasure trove of eclectic wares, clothing etc. Nothing in any real order, but she did have a ‘pram parking area’, couple of nursing chairs and gated play area for the little ones down the back so parents could rumage around unfettered. She also had 2 notice boards, 1 for items people were looking for and the other for people wanting to sell items. The shop was constantly busy and the vibe was so friendly, people just felt compelled to walk in even though it was a tight squeeze to get around.
Many years later, she retired selling the business. The first thing the new owner did was ‘clean it up’, organise it, categorise items, open up the space by removing the pram parking, nursing and play area. So too, the boards were removed, as the new owner felt that they were ‘cannibalising’ the business. 18 months later the business closed down.
Unlike the new owner, my friend understood, when people buy second hand, they like to rummage, fossic around at things that were owned by someone else beforehand a subliminal journey into someone else’s life of even be reminded of their own past. A little bit of shared history.
People generally love to help other people, so by having the boards, it provided interaction within the store & the community as a whole, adding to the business not deflecting from it.
By having the pram parking, nursing chairs and play area, provided comfort, ease and a sence of ‘stay a while, its all good’.
Yes! And the most important part of any creative product is the artist herself. I’m fairly certain that a deciding factor in whether or not people buy my work is how they relate to me and how confident I am.
This is so interesting! We make decisions based on subliminal messages (what feels “right” or not…)
Thanks for the post!
Great post! I completely agree with you that a display can have a huge impact on whether your customers will buy or not (I love your display with walls btw!). I’m fairly new at doing craft shows and have done a few this summer. Just smallish shows as I’ve been building my inventory and learning from each one. The last one I did I revamped my display giving it a more light and airy and feminine feel that reflects my style of jewelry and I would say it was one of my best shows to date. I can’t say for certain it was the change in display, I’m sure there were more factors, but I definitely think it gave me a boost! I also happened to be wearing all jewelry with turquoise colour stones (my favorite) and a huge number of my sales were turquoise coloured jewelry. The power of persuasion!
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