“Would you like your shoes cleaned sir…?” I was suddenly asked out the
blue while walking down a street in Seoul, Korea when I was there
facilitating a Natural Selling workshop.
My instant reaction was to say “No, thank you!”
Undeterred he looked down, pointed to my shoes, and asked in broken English
in a half questioning, half stating kind of way, “You look good and feel
better with clean shoes?”
That got me – looking good and feeling better!
I looked down and saw what he meant.
“OK” I said, not even thinking about asking the price.
He guided me into a warm little hut on the sidewalk, where I was invited to
sit down and take off my shoes.
He scrutinized each one carefully and then asked… “You like these shoes?”
“I do,” I said. And I do! They are comfortable, look good, and light, which
means not having to take another pair when traveling.
“Then you need repair them when you get home” he replied in broken English,
while showing me the worn down heels. “Or, I can do for 20,000 Won
including cleaning!?” he suggested using that once more inquisitive tone.
“Go ahead” I said, feeling intrigued and being drawn toward him with his
line of questioning.
“You like walking on sidewalk without soles?” he asked again, with a slight
grin… “Because soles are very thin…”, and he offered a shoe to me with
his hand inside it to accentuate the thinness. (I had the feeling I was
going to be lighter a few more thousand Won in a moment).
“If you like, I do everything for 40,000 Won…” and looked at me without
saying a word.
It took a nano-second to work out that though the price was a little more
than I would pay back home, I didn’t have to go through the inconvenience
of taking them to the shoe repair shop.
“Fine…” I replied and spent the next 40 minutes in his little hut
watching a real craftsman concentrate on his work oblivious of the noise
coming from the commercial activity on the street outside.
Why did I pay more in an environment that was unfamiliar? Why didn’t I
attempt to bargain especially as we were on a street renowned for its
notoriously low prices?
Because by “asking the right types of questions at the right time” – one of the 4
Principles of Natural Selling…
- He created value in himself and what he represented
- He involved me without telling me once what I should do
- He showed respect by allowing me to persuade myself to come to my own
natural conclusion
He effectively removed any cost barrier.
Asking the right types of questions like this will do the same thing for
you as well…
