Does it hurt for sales people to be friendly?

[justjulia]

Don''t you think that when a store employee is friendly and at least tries to smile at you while doing business, that you would want to repeat the busines with that person or place? My husband went to pick up my earrings yesterday, they weren''t ready, and the person who handled it was not in a good mood. It makes you wonder why you do business there in the first place. Especially if you have done a lot of business there before. Nothing kills future sales like an unhappy salesperson. Chalk it up to personality or their having a bad day, but this particular salesperson has been this way before. You would think people would be required to watch themselves on camera every once in a while or something, to get a clue. You can tell that I am not happy about this. Amazing how one person can destroy the image of a whole institution. Oh well, that''s my rant for the day. Had to vent. Sorry. jj

 

[Ellen]

As you said, everyone can have a bad day, althought they still shouldn''t take it out on the customer. But if you have seen this person behave badly more than once, I''d be talking to the manager.

 

[Madam Bijoux]

A lot of jewelry store salespeople are unaware of how strong the competition from internet vendors is. They''ll be holding their unemployment checks and wondering what happened after they''ve driven their last customer out of the store and onto the internet. The store managers need to keep a closer eye on the salespeoples'' behavior, and the salespeople need to wise up.

 

[glitterkitty]

Hi JJ,

I worked in retail for many years, and I was often horrified at the attitude of co-workers. I firmly believe that there are two distinct types of people who go into retail.

The first think it will be a doddle - stand around all day, playing with the products you sell (particularly if you work in a ''luxury'' product store), and flounce over to the till point when someone plucks up the courage to interrupt the conversation you are having on the shop floor. These are the ones who will audibly ''tut'' if the customer asks for something they actually have to make an effort to find. They have no interest whatsoever in the product they are supposed to be selling, will not do anything to find out what the customers needs and wants are, and will sell the easiest thing to them - regardless of how it fits in with the customers desires. They will be rude and uncommunicative, and will pretend not to remember you from the last time you came in and dropped a load of cash in their store.

The second type love to sell. They get excited when their customer asks for something out of the ordinary. They understand the thrill of making a purchase of something that is perfect for you. You will be amazed that they remeber your name, and thatof your children. They''ll ask how you''re getting on with the previous purchases you made from them and show you the new items that have just come in. They''ll contact you when something comes in that they think you''ll like, and when you walk in the door, they''ll make you feel like the most important person in the world.

Sure, everybody has a bad day - but it seems that this individual has displayed ''attitude'' previously. Speak to the manager without delay. let them know you are unhappy. Speaking as a former retail manager and trouble shooter, often the mgr is crying out for evidence from customers about the bad attitude. Employees like this are the first ones to ask for proof when you speak to them about their behaviour (trust me, I''ve had way to much exerience of dealing with this) so a customer complaining/voicing their concerns over a poor shopping experience is just what is needed. In the battle with the internet, stores do not want customers to have poor shopping experiences.

 

[codex57]

Date: 9/12/2006 11:28:54 AM
Author: glitterkitty

Sure, everybody has a bad day - but it seems that this individual has displayed ''attitude'' previously. Speak to the manager without delay. let them know you are unhappy. Speaking as a former retail manager and trouble shooter, often the mgr is crying out for evidence from customers about the bad attitude. Employees like this are the first ones to ask for proof when you speak to them about their behaviour (trust me, I''ve had way to much exerience of dealing with this) so a customer complaining/voicing their concerns over a poor shopping experience is just what is needed. In the battle with the internet, stores do not want customers to have poor shopping experiences.

Excellent post!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I agree it is obviously a personality problem since the sales person has been in a bad mood everytime you have been in there but having experience in both retail and restaurant environment, customers are MEAN. Very, very mean to retail workers/servers. I could write a book. I was always very good at "acting" but sometimes it is too much for people to deal with. Now obviously there are very nice and kind people but unfortunately there are more rude people out there who treat you like slaves. When someone is put off/unfriendly I just remind myself that I don''t what is going on in their life or what there day has been like and try to kill them with kindness.

 

[justjulia]

Thanks for the replies. I''m sure it was just "one of those days" for somebody. My husband never complains and is characteristically shy. This is someone who did not like the fact that they offered a trade up policy have just changed their terms because the company is losing money. We chose this place because of the trade up policy. We have seen a large turn over in crew at this company and times are getting harder and I think these poor salespeople are left to deal with the public. If you change your policy, then that is fine for the new people, but you simply cannot change it with people who have bought previously. We expressed our concern about this with a manager and she agreed totally with us. It just happened to be another manager that handled our last visit and didn''t know us. In my job, I have to smile through the tough times and I expect others to do the same. It just isn''t right to say that you are changing your policy midstream. They now want 1/2 up front for upgrades. I''m sure that will slow down their impulsive buyers. I think it is a sign of the times. Oh well, I like the things I have purchased and have had an overall great relationship with the company. I think I''m pretty much done with the trade ups anyway. I can easily take my $$ elsewhere. Ya know? Such is life. I''ll try to forget and move on.