often we forget to demonstrate it. Here is a simple technique
that will help establish a great first impression with a customer:

Maintain the attitude that the customer is really important.
We all know and understand this. Yet in the real world it is

easy to forget. Think of times you have been elbow-deep in
products, trying to merchandise the store. A customer comes
into the store, makes a beeline toward you, and then asks, “Do
you work here?” We think to ourselves, “Does it look like I
work here?” Then, when we actually do respond, our tone of
voice will have a slightly sarcastic or edge to it. We have now
announced to the customer, without meaning to, that she is not
important.

You only have one chance to make a great first impression.

Don’t blow it!

“Just Looking”

How many times a day do you hear this? Ten times? Twenty?
Fifty? This is by far and away the most common response we hear
when we first approach and greet customers. These two words
frustrate, annoy, and aggravate us. We feel even worse when we
actually greet them and they still breeze past us with “Just look-
ing.” They take a few steps and pause as they glance around the
store. “Do you have . . . ?” We shake our heads and imagine
responding, “If you want . . . why did you say ‘Just looking’?”

Before we can effectively overcome this response, we need

to understand why people say it. There are two reasons.

First, “Just looking” is a conditioned response. When we

were very young our parents took us shopping and we heard
them say, “Just looking” when a salesperson approached. We
noticed that the salesperson immediately left our parents,
allowing them to wander unattended through the store. As we
grew older and became independent, we used the same phrase
and discovered that it worked just as effectively for us. Now, in
most buying situations, the customer has learned to say these
words to reduce the pressure they feel from the salesperson.

32

c h a p t e r t h r e e

•

Greeting Your Customer