You may have heard of the "hard sell" (high-pressure) and also relationship selling, where you spend a lot of time relating with your customer. These are two of the most common sales methods. Another method is called soft-selling. Before you default to the hard-sell or relationship-selling methods as a salesperson or manager, understand and consider the benefits of soft-selling as well.
Soft-Selling
Soft-selling is a low-pressure way of garnering the customer's interest. You provide your potential buyer with some information about the product or service but then back off, giving him room to make his decision. You do not crowd the customer or try to persuade him to take an immediate action. With this selling method, you might assure the customer that it's fine if he takes time to consider his options or not even mention the products for sale at all. This is common for Internet sellers who provide general information about a topic while casually displaying advertisements for corresponding products that can help the potential customer achieve his goals.
Benefits
Many customers appreciate a low-pressure sales environment where they can think and leisurely browse without feeling overwhelmed by the sales employee. Some customers will buy from a business solely because the salesperson does not seem desperate to make a sale. Soft-selling is also beneficial for the sales employee because he can relax a bit and focus on simply answering the customer's question rather than remembering a spiel.
Downsides
The obvious downside of soft-selling is that certain customers will simply walk away from the deal. Some customers look for encouragement one way or another toward one specific product or service in the interest of time. Also, a customer may look at your soft-selling approach as an indication that you don't really value or care about his needs.
Suggestions
Instead of using a hard-sell or soft-selling approach, find a middle ground. For instance, instead of simply saying a few words to the customer before telling her to think about it and walking away, stick around for a few minutes. Ask her specific questions to find out more about her needs instead of telling her what she should do.
Tags: about needs, customers will, information about, product service, sales employee, soft-selling approach