Wednesday – 17 January 2007
Last night, I stopped off to take a look at – and potentially buy – a new dining room set. I had been to the store over the weekend and had narrowed my search to four or five sets. I walked in, was greeted by the store’s… um… greeter and then headed to the dining room furniture area. There was a sales associate there, an older lady, who asked if I needed any assistance. I told her no – and thanked her – and went about my business. Over the course of the next twenty or so minutes, I had no less than four other associates come up and ask if I needed help. I’m okay with that; it’s their job.
What I did not care for was the fact that the last associate hovered around me after I told him that I did not require any help. Just… standing there. Lurking. Watching. Waiting…
*grblsnrx*
I have worked in retail sales before.
More specifically, I worked commission retail sales.
And, according to my managers and some of my regular customers, I was pretty good at it.
One of the things that I learned, fairly early on: Customers do not like to be hounded. If they say that they don’t need help, that generally means – hang on, this could get a little dicey for some – that they don’t need help and would like to browse in peace. If it turns out that they later need help, they usually know to look for someone with a name tag. It’s not rocket science.
When a customer entered my department, I would greet them. I wouldn’t start off with “May I help you,” because that most often elicited a “No, just looking” response, right off the bat. Instead, I would say “Hello” or “Good afternoon” or something that should have fired a synapse or two in the customer’s brain. Most of the time, it worked and they would actually return the greeting before saying whether or not they needed assistance. If they needed it, I’d offer it. If not, I’d tell them to enjoy their shopping and to feel free to ask for help if they needed it. And then… I’d go away.
Maybe I’m expecting too much when I think that a well-trained sales associate should understand that concept. Maybe I’m expecting too much in thinking that they have been well-trained. I don’t know. I do know that sales, especially commission sales, are competitive. I was competitive when I was doing them, too… to a point. I earned a commission on certain sales, on top of my regular wage. If I made a sale that was eligible for commission, that money was just icing on the cake. Either way – sale or no sale – I still got paid. Many sales associates today seem to be too… cutthroat. “MUST…MAKE…SALE!!! MUST…EARN…COMMISSION!!!”
One of the fastest and most easy ways to guarantee that I will not buy something from you – and possibly even your establishment – is to simply treat me like a dollar sign. Don’t hover over me. Don’t watch for my hand to hit my wallet. (Or, if you do, at least wipe the drool from your chin.) Let. Me. Shop. In peace. If I have a question or want to purchase something – more importantly, if I want to purchase something from you – I will find you and ask you.
I was Ivory Soap ready to purchase the dining set last night, when I glommed on to what the young man was doing. As I was deciding on which of my final two options I wanted to go with, another salesman walked up. Then the two started talking about how much they had earned in commissions during their shifts. It was just plain tacky, in my opinion, to stand there – within easy earshot of a customer (no more than ten feet!) – talking about how much money they had made on sales during the day.
And… it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
I looked for the older lady – the one who had been in the department when I first walked in – to see if she was around. I was willing to buy from her. I would have happily done so. And, I would have done it in front of the young man. I wasn’t able to find her. And I was sorely tempted to ask the young associate to find her. I didn’t because I couldn’t remember enough of what she looked like – nor had I seen her name tag – to have him find her easily.
Instead, I walked out of the store.
I haven’t decided if I’ll go back and purchase the dining set there or if I’ll go someplace else. If I do go back, I know from whom I will not purchase anything – I checked the name tags of the two commission-hungry salesmen. Hopefully, I’d be able to find the lady who had first greeted me.
*decompress*
The rest of my night, was good: I had dinner at Outback with and and then headed to and Chris’ place to set up for our new game. It’s going to be set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe and based on the All Flesh Must Be Eaten game setting. It should be interesting… and, hopefully, fun.
Back to the grind.
Namaste.
