They Never Ask Me For That...
Not long ago, Slats Zinoff, a window covering dealer who is a good friend of mine told me, "I just don't get it.  You guys want me to sell more Silhouette and Nantucket shadings, but my customers never ask me for that."

"Really," I said, "That is unusual, Slats.  I would think they'd be asking for them all the time."

"What planet are you from?" He asked, "People today know what they want when they come in to the store.  I just do my best to give them exactly what they ask for."

"Earth." I said, then added, "You're right.  People do know what they want these days. What is it they ask for?"

"Well, they ask for a lot of different things.  You know, wood blinds, faux woods, cellular shades... Stuff like that. They saw it at their neighbor's house or on TV or on the internet."

"Well, Slats,"  I said, "it sounds to me like you're letting the neighbors, the TV and the internet do your selling for you.  What you seem to be saying is that your customers know more about window coverings than you do --after all the years of experience you've chalked up.  I think you may be responding to what they ask for in the wrong way.  If you really listen to them, you may find that they're really asking for Silhouette shadings. They just don't know that's what they want because they don't know what it is that they don't know."

"What are you, crazy or something? You think I don't want to sell Silhouette?  You think I don't try to sell Silhouette?  If they ask for wood blinds and I pull a Silhouette sample out, they think I'm trying to pull a fast one on them.  I hear exactly what they say. Then I give them exactly what they ask for."

"No, I'm not crazy, Slats," I said, "But you're not the first person to suggest that possibility.  So, what is it that they like about wood blinds?"

"What am I, a psychoanalyst?" Slats asked, adding, "I suppose they like the way they open up and let the light in.  Oh, and you just might want to check with somebody about that 'crazy' thing, Jim."

"But isn't that a feature of Silhouette shadings, too?  In fact they do it better because they soften and diffuse the light.  The light that comes in through a wood blind is harsh and unfiltered, so you might even say that Silhouette does exactly what the wood blind does —only better.  Right?"

"Yeah, you're right.  It does."

"And what about lifting them?  Aren't wood blinds are heavy to lift? And don't they end up taking up as much as a third of the view when lifted?  Haven't you ever had a customer that had a problem with that?"

"Yes I have.  But what am I supposed to do about it?  All wood blinds do that.  I just tell them they'll just have to get used to it and learn to live with it."

"But they don't have to live with it, Slats, that's my point.  Silhouette shadings stack entirely into the headrail and leave the entire view open. Silhouette shadings and Nantucket shadings do everything a wood blind does, and more."

"Well, when you put it that way," Slats said, "It starts to make some sense.  You could even say that Silhouette shadings do what roller shades do, too.  Or... Roman shades. Or ...pleated shades. Or ...any other kind of shades ...or blinds ...or even draperies for that matter."  He was getting excited and growing louder by the second. "And, I could spend some time asking my customer what they want from the product, instead of what product do they want.  And I could show them, really show them, how Silhouette does whatever anything else does— and better.  And if they don't like the price,  I could show them Nantucket... And..."

"By George, you've got it," I said, "I Think you've got it!"  

Then he started dancing around the room singing "The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain..."

"Now who's the crazy one?"  I asked.

"You are, Jim," He insisted, pointing his index finger to his head, "You're crazy. Crazy like a faux wood blind." 

He was right.

DISCLAIMER: Slats Zinoff is a fictional window covering dealer.  Any resemblance to any real window covering dealer is purely coincidental.  If he were real though, he'd be planning on earning a Windows To The World trip in 2004 to Marbella, Spain to find out whether the rain truly does stay on the plain.