After my bulldog Hammer shattered his 3rd keg bucket expressing his extreme dislike for being soaked in a soapy tub of warm water, I decided to give the good folks at PetSmart their shot at ridding him of his monthly buildup of stink. I dropped the odorous pooch off for the basic bath and nail clipping service, and for the (borderline) reasonable price of about $24 got him back two hours later wagging his tail and smelling like fresh flowers in morning sunshine. I was fully satisfied with the results of my moderate splurge.
My cell phone rang three weeks later and a friendly voice identified himself as a representative from PetSmart inquiring about whether Hammer could use another bath. I was on my way into a meeting and gave him a soft blowoff, mumbling something about being “all taken care of” and appreciating the call. The PetSmart rep, unfazed, next asked me “Are you sure he’s not smelling up the house or in need of a nail clipping?” He had me. Nobody wants guests walking into their home to be overpowered by the smell of a dog just to be scratched up by the offending canine. “You know what, let me know how early I can bring him in tomorrow morning and I’ll pick him up when you’re done.” The PetSmart rep had been trained to casually and succinctly hit on my pain points so that it felt like I was doing myself a favor for buying what he had to sell.
This is was small sell, so (as per the main theme of SPIN Selling) it was fairly easy to close with the right line of questioning intended to reveal value. It also helped their cause that I was a repeat customer where the weather had just turned warm enough to make a bulldog’s aroma go sour after just a short jog around the block. But still, they called at the right time, made a great impression and immediately hit on their value to me without any blathering whatsoever. Kudos PetSmart. You’re SaleSmart too.
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