The Turkish Rug Sales Team
I just returned from speaking in Istanbul, Turkey where I
bought, no, I was sold, a rug and in the process learned that
real selling, and especially Team Selling, is alive and well.
The Turkish people are warm and friendly so it was not unusual
to be approached by a nice looking, well dressed man in his late
20's as we stood there reading our map. "You are looking for
Blue Mosque?" he asked in broken English. "I can show you where
entrance is. Come this way." With that he started across the
street and my wife, son Tim and I followed.
As we walked down the long sidewalk that leads to the Blue
Mosque, our new friend said, "I am Azad. I am not tour guide,
but I show you. You see that building over there? That is family
business. After you see Blue Mosque, maybe, just by accident, we
sell you a rug. Just by accident." At this point I knew we were
in for a great experience that is uniquely Turkish, and we were
not disappointed.
The tour of the Blue Mosque was fascinating. We learned about
the thousands of blue tiles that are used to decorate the Mosque
in place of pictures, which are banned in Mosques by the Muslim
faith. Azad, who seemed to have a story to accompany each topic,
answered every question we asked in wonderful detail. As we left
the Mosque we followed our host down a narrow stone alley to an
area full of interesting shops. Azad pointed to the nicest store
on the block and said, "This is my family store. I show you." We
were escorted into a room that was filled with beautiful rugs
stacked, rolled and piled neatly in every corner. Azad
introduced us to his Uncle, Habib, who owned the store and said
that he would like Habib to show us around. With that, Azad left
and we never saw him again.
Habib was very well dressed in a blue blazer and starched shirt
and he spoke perfect English, which we later learned, he
acquired at school in London. "Please, sit." Habib said,
motioning us to the couch. "Before I show you a few of my
carpets, it is our tradition that we serve you something to
drink. With that, one of his assistance entered carrying a
traditional Turkish silver tea service with wonderful apple tea
for three. Now the real show began.
Habib told us about the various styles, materials, patterns and
origins of the rugs in his shop. For each type he mentioned, one
of his cousins found a beautiful example and flew it out before
us. I say 'flew' because that's what he did. He was able to
unroll a 5x7 rug and then spin it in the air so that it landed
at our feet with the fringe perfectly straight and the carpet
unwrinkled. One after another the rugs were spread out before us
until there were easily several dozen rugs of every possible
description piled on the floor. Finally, Habib asked, "Just so I
can get a sense for your preferences, can you tell me, if you
were to enjoy a Turkish carpet in your home, what size would fit
best?" Gina and I agreed that the 5x7 would be best for a floor
rug.
Again Habib asked, "If you were to have one of these beautiful
carpets to enjoy in your home and pass on to your children,
which style would you like?" His assistants moved carpets around
until we had agreed on the basic style we liked. The process of
elimination continued with up to three cousins flying rugs in
and out of the display area until only four were left. Habib
said, "Do you have a favorite among these?" We made our final
choice and the cousins removed all except our favorite rug.
Habib complimented our choice and assured us that we had picked
the Rolls Royce of carpets. Knowing what a Rolls costs, I knew
we were in trouble!
Now came the price. Habib opened his calculator and started
entering numbers. In a few seconds he turned to us and said, "In
US dollars, this carpet is $5,300." Now I was prepared for a
shock, but that was way out of line with our expectations, so
let the games begin.
After many cycles of offer and counter offer, we finally set our
firm price at $2,000. Habib said, $2,500? I apologized and
assured him that my offer had nothing to do with the quality of
his carpets but simply our budget and $2,000 was already $500
over our budget. We settled on $2,000 and walked out with our
new rug.
But what had I learned? First, that Habib, Azad and his family
were willing to spend a great deal of time with us before we
ever talked price. The tour of the Mosque, the dozens of rugs,
and the wonderful tea all added value to the sale.
We had also seen a great example of Team Selling. Azad did the
prospecting, the cousins made the presentations and Habib was
the closer. They worked together like they had rehearsed it a
hundred times. In fact they had, and as a result their
communications were flawless. Azad brings in 10 prospects each
day and Habib has a 70% closing ratio.
We can learn a lot from the real pros in this world.
For a free copy of "5 Steps to Building a Great Sales Team",
please email article6@waterhousegroup.com and ask for article #6.
Stephen Waterhouse is Principal and Founder of Waterhouse Group
(www.waterhousegroup.com). They specialize in helping companies
increase their sales and profits. He can be reached at
1-800-57-LEARN or steve@waterhousegroup.com.
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