My wife and I went shopping for a flat screen TV, washer, dryer, and refrigerator at Best Buy the other day. The sales professional led the process and I loved every minute of it.

First, we couldn’t decide between two refrigerators. We liked one with French doors and large drawers, but it was a little small on the inside. The other was larger inside but lacked the kind of drawers we liked.

Mike, our sales professional, asked a few questions about our kitchen and entertaining habits. He uncovered that my wife Shelley uses large platters that wouldn’t fit well in the first option, so we decided on the second.

X-Factor Sales Professional Example 1: He asked the right questions.

I then mentioned that we were interested in flat screen TVs and he said, “Okay, I’ll start writing this up, what date do you want this delivered?” After I told him a date, he said he’d finish writing it up and meet us in the TV section.

X-Factor Sales Professional Example 2: He assumed the sale.

I had seen one TV advertised that I liked and Mike said, “That’s a good one, but Samsung makes a higher end one that I want to show you.”

He also used a mock-up fireplace to show which TVs would look best in our space. We were between two options. The Samsung was more expensive but also had many features. The other was less expensive, but you had to add on the features (like 3D glasses and Internet).

So he told us to go sit on the comfy leather chairs while he tallied up the differences, “That way, you can compare apples to apples.”

He showed us that the Samsung was only $30 more than the other option, but that it came with Internet, which the other didn’t offer. That was that — the Samsung will soon be over our fireplace.

X-Factor Sales Professional Example 3: He provided information that shrunk the perceived price gap.

When we were leaving, Shelley laughed and said, “I can’t believe we just spent that much money in 45 minutes.”

X Factor Sales Professional Example 4: He made it easy for us to hand our money over.

And we left happy.

Jason Forrest is a professional sales trainer, coach and speaker specializing in new home sales. He is the author of Creating Urgency in a Non-Urgent Housing Market and 40 Day Sales Dare for New Home Sales. He can be reached at jason@shoreforrest.com and his website is www.jforrestgroup.com.