Last Updated on 12/11/2009
Among the common criteria usually prescribed for achieving sale success, ‘rapport’ and ‘relating’ are two that are often cited.
The idea is that we buy from those we like or share experiences or traits with. This idea is not revolutionary. We seek the safety of the known and avoid dark places.
A new Canadian study for the Journal Of Consumer research, however, takes the study one step further and offers even stronger evidence in this regard. The study claims that, what it terms, “incidental” traits help persuade a consumer to make a purchase. These motivating factors include extraneous factors like shared names, shared birthdays and hometowns.
The sales process is irrational after all.
This actually reminded me of my Whistler trip where the facilities’ employees – lifts, counter staff and the like – wore tags depicting their name and country of origin. I now know that many Australians and Japanese work at Whistler.
What the study highlighted makes me think. By deduction, the opposite can be true as well. Could the information that the workers at Whistler are Japanese and Australian be detrimental to my purchasing decisions?
It is possibly a double-edged sword.
What does this idea say about the desire of many buyers to have a ‘trusted advisor’? Trust is a function of time and experience. Could relating to a seller be a stronger factor in situations involving smaller purchases? Very possible.
And could being a ‘trusted advisor’ or ‘relating’ also be a double-edged sword in that the relationship requires a higher level of service and knowledge?
After all, one would expect a higher quality of engagement from the ‘trusted advisor’ or someone one has a rapport with than from any seller. The relationship has a lot longer to drop.
