On my last long trip through the territory before the High Point Market, I was visiting one of our many great retail dealers just for a casual hello and check in. As I sat and chatted with the owner and three floor sales associates, a regular customer familiar to all of them walked in the door, a lady, mid-forties, very pleasant. They all greeted her by first name. I was impressed they all knew her and they all made her feel welcomed and appreciated. She had been shopping for a high-top table with six chairs and was now officially a be-back. Without hesitation, she courteously announced that she had found the set she had selected from this dealer’s floor on-line from an e-commerce source unfamiliar to all of them, and to me as well. It was $250 less, according to our be-back.

This group of pros went to work. They found the website and, in short order, found the table and chairs. They first confirmed it WAS the very set they had shown her from their floor stock. Then they astutely went to the fine print. They were looking for any add-on costs, often a bit hidden – of course the all-critical delivery fees, terms of delivery, (White Glove or cartons dropped in a driveway), delivery time (in stock or weeks away), set up fees, and the all important Return Policies. Sales tax came in to play here as well.

Here’s the punch line….by the time two sales associates, double checked by the owner, actually put the table and chairs in the shopping cart WHERE MANY OF THE HIDDEN FEES ARE ACTUALLY NOW EXPOSED, the difference in real retail cost to this consumer was a whopping $20. And from our hard working, brick and mortar dealer, she could have the set in her home that day. So guess what. The dealer quickly agreed to knock off $20 and the sale was completed.

Think how much easier this is to combat than having a customer walk in and claim that a cross-town competitor has offered the same set for $100 less! I love that nice even round $100 figure. You are almost always dealing with a consumer who is simply fishing for a better price. Know that many consumers are naive about on-line shopping. This lady hadn’t really done her homework and was fortunate to be a customer of a dealer who helped her get to the bottom line. She was claiming a $250 difference when that was no where near real pricing.

Due diligence! Does this take time? Yes. It took about 15 minutes. Is it worth knowing to do it and how to do it? You decide. I’m fairly certain you’d agree it is.

-dsHart