Ever ordered anything online? I’m sure you have.

Why do you do it?

The answer is certainty. You know what you want, the price is acceptable, and perhaps some other factors like ease of acquisition (it’s going to be delivered) is also attractive. It can be quick, painless, and satisfying. It’s one of the great commercial WINS for humanity of the last 10-15 years.

Do people order their telco products and services this way? Sure.

Some.

And that’s the point. Early adopters know what they want and need. Yet some people are clued up and knowledgeable about a certain product or sector, and some are not.

There’s an unshakeable truth in this world for all humans: “You don’t know what you don’t know”.

It’s why assisted selling needs humans. Houses, cars, technology.

The higher the ticket price, the more likely you are to want to be SURE about your purchase. You will have questions, you may be nervous about committing, about changing.

THIS IS WHY RETAIL IS NEEDED.

So why then, do most telecoms providers set up “shops” right out of the 1970’s?

In the UK, there was a very famous TV show about retail – way way back when.

Open All Hours, ran from the mid 1970’s to the mid 1980’s – and was set in a retail store, a traditional “grocer’s shop” which was the bastion of retail all across the UK, and a format that was replicated in most cultures around the world.

Open a store – display your wares, and complete the transaction once the customer had decided.

 Now, look at the nearest telecoms store to you.

· It will have a poster in the window defining the latest “offer”.

· Go inside, and you will see phones and other products spread around the store.

· You will see some things on a table, effectively extending the wall space.

In EVERY telecoms store you will see the Apple-sponsored area with the latest iPhone. You will see the Samsung sponsored area with the latest devices. In each and every telecom provider’s stores. All the same.

· You will see transaction stations with PC’s and credit card terminals.

· Once you have chosen what you want – you will go to the transaction station.

· You might talk to someone, a little, in the process. But mostly staff are busy and are at the transaction station themselves.

· So you wander, you self select, and then you go find someone to get you what you need.

TRANSACTIONAL. Old. 1980’s. Arkwright’s grocery store. Me too.

 Yet your transaction now could be the following;

iPhone $999.

48 month subscription at $89.99 a month.

Fiber subscription at $75 a month for two years.

A phone case $29

 TOTAL: $8,947.52

 Admittedly, that’s an extreme example, but is it possible? Absolutely.

Even if the transaction is $500, or $1,500 – then should the customer be left to browse the options themselves? Do they WANT to be left to browse themselves?

Mostly, no.

The customer of today is discerning with their money. They want the best, and they want value. 5 years of constant inflation has done that to people.

Certain demographics want different things.

· The older generation wants to feel safe and find something that fits their needs, and is not too complicated.

· The younger generation wants to know how they can bundle free social media use into their data plan.

· The family budget planner will want value, and to make sure they’ve got options that keep the kids from complaining the wifi is slow or they need a new phone to keep up with their friends.

 All different needs. And these needs require a CONVERSATION. With an expert, with someone they TRUST is an expert.

 So what do the telcos do?

 The open stores with uninspiring store designs like Arkwright’s shop, and staff them full of Granville type staff, motivating only by how much they sell. Which leads them to lose patience with the grandmother looking for better wifi for her grandson. Or refusing to give the right attention to a Gen Z doing some research as they are not buying “right now”.

 People buy from people they like. This is a universal truth.

Get this – a friend of mine was drawn into a cableco style store the other week as a cartoon character was present in the mall and was entertaining the kids, not least his 2 year old daughter. Now my friend is quite techy, he’s clued up, and knows his onions. He’d be very resistant to ANY sales tactics from this particular brand. The approach to him?

“Can I interest you in our monthly broadband?”

If I roll my eyes any more at this situation they will pop right out of my head.

What was not known by this appalling sales “advisor” is that the brand in question could very well have sold to my friend’s wife – who at the slightest encouragement of a more stable TV system that didn’t buffer every ten seconds would see her gladly over-rule her husband and sign up on the spot. Regardless of the price.

The advisor had no clue how to read this family, how to engage them subtly, using the cartoon character and the child to engage and build rapport and then assess the two adults using friendly conversation. They would have worked out that the male customer was the “driver” but they were resistant to the brand and were not interested. Yet the female customer was the “amiable” who, if they liked the salesperson, would gladly be very receptive to signing up. Or at least going home and having an argument about it – which would have led to the sign up anyway, just maybe in a few days time.

So, how do you READ people?

The clue is in another TV show – “The Mentalist”. This was a West-Coast USA show which ran from 2008 to 2015, featuring “Patrick Jane” a charismatic character who somehow became attached as a consultant to the police force, due to his “power” to read people and the situation. The characters were on a perpetual quest to find a serial killer named “Red John”. It was entertaining for sure.

The piece that sums up my point here is a flashback scene where a young Patrick is on a fairground ferris wheel. It gets stuck at the top, and he is on the wheel with his father, sat in the typical two person cab. The delay in getting to the ground sees the father use the time to TEACH young Patrick on the people they could see below them. What their clothing meant, how they behaved with each other, all clues as to actually WHO they were.

What was happening here is the study of people. It’s a core tenet of “NLP” or “Neuro Linguistic Programming” which also deals with body language and micro behaviors as well as language. It can be TAUGHT.

Sales can be TAUGHT.

It’s not an inherent skill that we wake up with one day. It can be TAUGHT.

Yet the recruitment and training efforts of most telecoms retailers, dealers and franchises is literally no more than look for a “bit of personality”.

Recruitment must improve.

Training must improve.

The design of stores to facilitate the conversation must improve. Coffee, sofas, a focus on dwell time.

All of this must improve – and I’m imploring my industry to listen.

Come talk to me – I’d love a CONVERSATION with YOU!