Are You Accidentally Annoying Your Customers?

My favorite place to buy furniture is Nebraska Furniture Mart. Overall it’s a super overwhelming place and you have to be mentally prepared for it, but since they have SO much stuff, it’s worth taking the long drive to have so many options.

The problem is that you’re stuck with whatever sales person you get and you can either get a great one, or a SUPER annoying one. Sometimes my mom and I (who always shops with me) will sneak around, avoiding the annoying ones until we find one that looks better because once someone says those words, “Can I help you?” it’s over. Now you have to spend the next few hours forcing a smile while you deal with the rep you REALLY didn’t want.

This is how your customers think of you. The question is: do you make them want to run away? Or do they feel lucky to have you?

I’ve spent a lot of my career doing research, and here’s just a few of the things that really annoy customers:

❌ Interrupting them. Instead, sit quietly and nod. You don’t need to give them oral feedback on what they’re saying, and they certainly don’t want to have to stop talking just to listen to you. Zip your lips.
❌ Talking too much. Many people fill silence with talking. Or, they cover the fact that they don’t really know the answer with lots of talking. They just like to hear themselves talk. Don’t do this. Again, zip your lips.
❌ Giving an “elevator pitch” and assuming you know what they want. Not all customers are created equally. They have different wants and needs and it’s YOUR job to find out. But not by asking what “keeps them up at night” or asking them to list their “pain points”. You can do better.

I challenge you to spend some time thinking about what irritates you when you’re furniture shopping? Or car shopping? Do you think you’re doing anything to annoy your customers? How can you fix it?

What has your experience been like? Let me know in the LinkedIn comments!

Would you like for me to come speak to your sales team or conference?  Click here for videos of me speaking and book a meeting with me to get pricing info!