So the other night I dropped by my local Home Depot to pick up a new spray gun for my backyard hose.
Now I normally go to Lowe’s, mainly since it’s closer, but more so because their store is much cleaner and better laid out.
But since I was in the area and in a hurry, I broke my routine.
I approached one of the orange-apron-wearing attendants and ask him for directions.
“Uh, yeah, it’s on the other side of the building. Just go up this aisle, take a left. You’ll pass milling and then you’ll want to take a right. It’ll be on the back wall.”
“Cool, thanks!” I reply as he walks away, confident that I’ll be back in my car in 2 minutes.
But when I took that first left, there were no signs for milling.
There were large signs for lumber, plumbing, lighting, electrical – but nothing for milling.
With no more orange aprons to be seen, I stood alone, confused and a little annoyed.
Then after a minute, it hits me. By “milling” he meant their lumber department, where they keep all the wood, where I happened to be standing.
It felt like some secret code that only Home Depot employees know about, since there were zero references to milling on the signs for customers.
I guess you need to have an orange apron before you get the secret decoder ring…
As you look at your own marketing materials and “secret shop” the people that answer your phones and greet your customers, do you find that they’re speaking in your customers’ language?
Or are you annoying and confusing them with meaningless insider code?
What other “sales speed bumps” could you get rid of to make your sales move more smoothly and your customers feel more satisfied?
Next time I’m gonna stick with Lowe’s where I don’t have to know any special language.
On top of that, they escort me to the section I’m looking for.
Cheers to your success!
Philipp
P.S. I’m scheduling my first book signing here in Los Angeles. I wanted to make it even better, so prior I’ll also be doing a training (topic to be determined) along with Q&A. I hope to see you there. Right now it’s looking like the first week of October. Keep an eye out for an email from me with the final details (no decoder ring necessary).
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