When a customer says yes — what made the moment feel right?

Maybe it’s not your service — maybe it’s the reasons you didn’t see.

‍

Before customers make a decision,
there’s usually a whole internal “mini drama” playing out in their minds.
Some of it has to do with their own personal state;
some of it is shaped by the environment around them.

‍

So let’s take a moment to unpack
what’s really going on inside this little decision-making theatre.

Let’s start with a simple story.

It was a sunny Friday afternoon when Sophie walked into Anna’s homeware store in Byron Bay.
She wandered between the linen cushions and timber coffee tables,
nodding slowly at the handmade wall hangings while quietly murmuring to herself.

‍

Anna assumed she was just a tourist browsing.
But just a few minutes later, Sophie had picked out a few items and placed them gently on the counter.

‍

“I recently moved out to the countryside,”she said with a smile.
“The commute’s a bit longer now, but being able to come home to a space likethis — it makes me feel completely different.”

‍

She wasn’t shopping on a whim.
She’d been thinking for a while about finding pieces that matched her new,slower lifestyle.

Sophie didn’t buy those homewares just because she liked how they looked.
Her decision was shaped by her lifestyle, her motivations, and some recent choices she’d made in her life.
Things you can’t always see — and definitely can’t ask outright —
but they’re influencing your customer’s decision nonetheless.

These are what we call internal influences.

‍

Let’s break down two of the key internalfactors that were likely shaping Sophie’s decision:

Lifestyle
Sophie had just moved to the countryside. She wanted her home to reflect a calmer, more natural kind of living.
That meant she was paying close attention to materials, textures, and theoverall feel of the space.
She wasn’t just buying a cushion — she was buying into a sense of “I want to slow down a little.”

Motivation
Some customers buy because they need something. Others, because they want something.
Sophie didn’t need these items, but she knew exactly why she was there:
“I want to come home at the end of a long day, see these things, and feel a little happier.”
That was her motivation.

That day, the sun was pouring in through the windows.
There was a timber bench by the front door stacked with a few independentlifestyle magazines.
Soft music played in the background, and the air carried a subtle, calmingscent.
Sophie reached out to touch one of the linen cushions and said, almost withoutthinking:
“This place just makes you want to slow down and live well.”

‍

Sometimes, the moment a customer decides tobuy something
has nothing to do with price, or even what you say to them.
It’s simply that, in that moment, everything feels right.

‍

And those “feels right” moments? They’rerarely random.
The light, the smell, the sound, the layout — all of these were quietly nudgingSophie’s decision.

‍

We call these external influences.
They may not be as obvious as price or product specs,
but they can be just as powerful in shaping a customer’s choice.

‍

External influences tend to fall into twomain categories: situational and social.
Let’s start with the role your shop environment might be playing.

Situational influences
Sophie walked into the store on a relaxed Friday afternoon,
after a full week of work. She was ready to slow down.

The soft scent in the air

The natural textures and earthy tones.

The background music.

The space to just be — no pushing, no pressure.

‍

All of this created a setting that toldher:
“It’s okay to stop for a moment. It’s okay to decide now.”

Timing mattered too.
Had it been a rushed morning or a busy weekend with kids in tow,
Sophie might not have been in the headspace to browse, let alone make apurchase.

By now, you’ve probably noticed something:
From the moment a customer walks in, to the moment they decide to buy (or not),
a whole mix of different factors is shaping their thinking.

‍

Some of those factors are personal —lifestyle, motivation, taste.
Others are environmental — the light, the sounds, the time of day, a friend’ssuggestion.

Together, they create the invisible enginebehind every buying decision.

If you run a small business, those “random”moments you see on the surface
are often anything but.

‍
Next time a customer leaves without buying, try asking yourself:

Was there something they needed —emotionally or practically — that wasn’t met?
Were the conditions right for a decision to happen?

Keep an eye on where customers pause, what they touch,
and when they hesitate.
Chances are, you’ll start spotting the next opportunity long before they walkout the door.

‍