What causes a customer to buy from you? You can come up with all kinds of answers to this question, but it all boils down to two ingredients: trust and value.

Customers buy merchandise because they trust the salesperson and they find value in the product. Value is established in the demonstration. Trust is established earlier on as part of the probing process.

From the customer's viewpoint, the probing process can be either a pleasant experience with a salesperson who is genuinely interested in what they have to say, or an uncomfortable grilling session with a salesperson who shows no concern for their answers. In life, people generally trust others who are not only concerned about their hopes, dreams and aspirations, but also listen intently to what they are saying. The same is true in your store.

Customers want to know that they are being heard and that you understand and care about their concerns. That's where a technique that I call Q.A.S., Question-Answer-Support, comes into play. The process involves asking a probing question, and then responding back by adding a supportive response to their answer.

For the sake of illustrating a point, play along with me for a moment. Let's suppose you have a close friend who is single and has not been steadily dating anyone. You run into him on the street, and the conversation goes something like this:

Bob: Joe! I haven't seen you for awhile. How's it going? Joe: Well, hold onto your hat, but I got married last weekend! Bob: You got married? I don't believe it. Who'd you marry? Joe: Her name's Denise. She's a friend of Mary Johnson. They went to college together, and she was visiting Mary a couple of weeks ago and when I met her, we just hit it off. Bob: You knew her one week, and then you got married!!! That's unbelievable. How could you possibly decide to marry someone after only knowing them a week? Joe: I don't know. It just seemed right. Bob: Well, congratulations. It sounds like you're really happy about it. Where is she from? Joe: She lives in Denver now, but she was out here interviewing for a couple of jobs, so she's back in Denver making arrangements to move now. Bob: Oh, great, so she'll be moving here soon. What kind of work does she do? Joe. She's a computer programmer. The job market here is great for that type of work, so she didn't have any problem finding a job at all. Bob: A computer whiz, huh! This is great. I'm really happy for you. When do I get to meet her? Joe: How about I give you a call in a couple of weeks after she's out here and we'll get together? Bob: Sounds great. Well, I've got to run, but I'll talk to you soon. Hey, congratulations again.

I think you'll agree that this sounds like a typical conversation that might take place if you really did have a friend who unexpectedly got married. You'd have a million questions to ask, and after each reply you would make some sort of comment on the reply before proceeding to the next question. It's quite a natural reaction to each response.

In fact, all of us do this in almost every conversation we have with other people, even if we are speaking with a complete stranger. Think about the last time you were on a plane and the person next to you struck up a conversation. One of the inevitable questions you end up posing to your fellow passenger (after discovering he is flying on business as opposed to pleasure) is, "What type of work do you do?" He says he is a stock broker. Before a follow-up question, you might say something like, "I know nothing about the stock market," or "I bet that is very interesting work," or "What a high-pressure field to be in," etc. This simple comment not only lets the stranger know you heard his response, but implies that you're really interested as well.

So why don't we do the same with our customers? Salespeople are champions at asking questions, but fail miserably when it comes to supporting the customers' responses. In doing so, they miss one of the key steps in developing trust and ultimately closing the sale. What could possibly be more important to the customers than feeling satisfied that they get the merchandise that fits their wants, needs and desires? Nothing. Admittedly, purchases have and will continue to be made without trust so long as the customer finds enough value in the product. Value can be defined as a variety of different things depending on the customer. It can be prestige, economy, durability, practicality, style, etc. Let's face it, many customers will buy in spite of the salesperson-but they may not buy the item at your store.

So if building trust and finding out why the customer wants a particular item to create value is so important, what do you do when you run into an "educated" customer? You know what I mean probably all too well. A customer comes in who has obviously been shopping for a particular model very seriously and he doesn't even give you a chance to schmooze, let alone probe. He already knows about your merchandise and wants to see a particular model. Maybe he's been in your store looking before. Who knows? Maybe your competitor down the block did the educating for you.

The answer should be obvious. You probe anyway. The biggest mistake you can make is to start demonstrating to this customer right away. You have no idea what he knows, what he might be comparing your merchandise to, what's important to him...nothing. You're fighting a losing battle if you misinterpret this as a lay-down sale that should be easy.

Begin by saying something like, "It sounds like you've been doing your research!" Then follow-up with, "How did you learn about this particular model?" Always remember to answer with a supportive response. If a friend told him about the item or has one that your customer likes, you're in. Keep probing and slow the whole process down a bit. Just because his friend told him that it's great doesn't necessarily mean that you're off the hook on the trust and value issue. Don't risk it-probe. If the customer has been in another store and is here to compare, definitely probe.

In review, you probe to determine your customer's wants, needs and desires. You probe to find out why the customer wants particular merchandise and what is important to him/her in selecting it. You probe to build trust. To sum it up-NEVER SKIP PROBING.