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|  | Answers to Top Mattress Dealer Questions At SleepTrust, we want to help retail customers find the best mattress for them, as well as to help dealers close more sales.
QuestionsYou’ve told us that these two questions are the ones you get often and your sales team has problems dealing with:
- How do you reply to an incoming call if the customer asks "Do you carry brand XYZ?", and you don't carry it? What kind of script do you suggest to tell the customer that the brands you carry are of equal/greater level than the one they’re looking for?
- How do you respond to a customer that asks the price for the XYZ mattress over the phone? Should you give the price or not?
Answers1. Customer asks do you carry brand XYZ? (and you don’t).
When asked if you carry XYZ brands, obviously if you don’t, you must tell them so. But the goal would be to keep the customer engaged in conversation with the hope of getting them to visit your store (if over the phone), or to consider purchasing a different product.
The best way to do this is by asking questions that can give you time and information to respond with your "pitch", such as:
- Have you ever slept on Brand XYZ before? If so, what is it you like about it? If not, what interests you about it? You can use their answer to make positive comparisons about your product.
- When you mention your products, do so with the confidence that you believe the customer would truly benefit by sleeping on your brand. It’s always a good idea to compliment the brand the customer is asking about.
Doing this does not diminish your brand, but saying something negative about might diminish the customer’s opinion and this negativity could spill over towards you.
- Brand XYZ is a great brand. There are a multitude of brands to choose from, but after our research and experience, we selected brands PQ & R and here is why (explain why). We have tremendous success with them and I can give you references from my customers if you would like to hear what they have to say". (Get approval from some of your customers for this, or gather some testimonials in print that you can share.)
- Tell your customer that whatever model they select -- he or she will be spending 10 complete 24-hour days on it every month for a number of years.
"It's one of the most significant purchases you can make. It would be well worth your while to take a few moments to try out our models. One should never buy such an important product without doing some thorough research and comparison."
- Offer some incentive for coming by, or trying out your in-floor models. You can offer a discount for purchase, or throw in some add-on products (like pillows or a mattress protector pad). Consider offering some small gift or coupon for just coming to look. Maybe tickets to a movie or something like that).
Here’s a sample script: "By the way, we offer a discount to first time phone callers that buy. We also offer ____ for just stopping by to test a few models. We wouldn’t do that if we were not confident that we can find the right mattress for you."
Finally, you might add, "there are lots of nice products on the market, but the real challenge is finding the one that is right for you." - If the conversation is going well, take an opportunity to establish a relationship by asking a few questions, such as:
Let me ask you a couple of questions:
- How many hours do you sleep a night?
- Do you sleep on your back, side or stomach?
- How would you describe your lifestyle -- Busy? Hectic?
- We not only can help you find the right bed, we have lots of information on how to get a great night’s sleep." 2. Customer asks the price for XYZ mattress over the phone? Should you give the price or not?
Be prepared. If someone asks about price give it to them. As soon as you give the price however, immediately start asking questions that may help keep the customer on the line to help further a relationship.
Ask Questions like:
- "What prices have you found so far?”
- “Are you replacing a worn out bed?”
- “What mattress have you been sleeping on?”
- “Have you ever slept on a really comfortable mattress?"
- You get the idea…
Start determining if you’re losing sales to customers you quote prices to. If losing most of them, it would indicate you’re not competitive on the low end.
You may want to consider bringing in something less expensive so you can compete. The idea is to get customers into your store, from there -- you can make a case for upgrading.
Now if you’re having some success keeping people on the line after you quote the price, you may just be losing customers where price dictates the purchase completely. You then have to ask yourself if you want this kind of business.
You may or may not, there is no right or wrong to it. Many stores elect to not play in that arena because there is not enough profit to make it worthwhile. It’s up to you…
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