Monday, March 10, 2014

Sales Joke of the Day (March 10) The Makeup Department.

The saleswoman hadn't been in the department store for quite some time.  She was running low on a few of her favorite cosmetics, so she headed on over to the makeup department.   The Makeup department had gone through a complete makeover itself, since the last time she had been in.   New lighting, new counter, and new, more comfortable chairs where facials, and other cosmetics were applied.  "Wow!" she thought to herself, "I'm going to have to start coming back here more often."


Then the saleswoman spotted all the new electronic equipment behind the counter with all sorts of sensors attached.   "What are those?" she asked the sales girl behind the counter, the only remnant of the make up department she recognized from her last visit.


"Oh that!" replied the sales girl behind the counter.   "That machine is our new computerized skin tone analyzer.   Those sensors determine the amount of moisture in your skin.  We combine those results with a digitized color picture of your face and a cheek swab to determine the optimal brands and combination of skin cleansers, toners, exfoliants, moisturizers and masks you should be using.  It is guaranteed to make you look ten years younger.  And down there, that's our new olfactoralyzer.  It analyzes how your sense of smell interprets fragrance, and will come up with an customized recommendation just for you."


"Wow!   Things sure have come a long way since the last time I was in here," replied the saleswoman.  "I bet you had to go through all kinds of schooling to be certified to use all this new equipment."


"Oh no Mam.  I never even finished high school.   When the manufacturer's rep was here and dropped off all the equipment, she gave all of us girls a twenty minute demonstration and a web address where we can go anytime for a quick Youtube video refresher course.  I was skeptical too at first.   But Mam, ever since we started wearing those lab coats that came with the new equipment, sales have doubled and are still going up."


"Ten years younger?  Well, I guess now you can start calling it the Makeup Everything Department!" quipped the saleswoman's husband, who had spent the last ten minutes looking for her.


Moral of the story.  True sales professionals know that in order to succeed at sales, you sometimes need to dress the part.  Uniforms or suits go a long way to establishing credibility.   Just make sure that what you say, doesn't undermine it.


"Everybody's a mad scientist, and their life is their lab.  We're all trying to experiment to find a way to live, to solve problems, to fend off madness and chaos."    -  David Cronenberg