Please Be Nice to Salespeople!

[cm8]

I work in retail at a non-commission sales job. Over the past few days, whenever I have approached a customer who is browsing in my department, before I even say hello, they whirl around and snap " I'm just looking! Don't waste your time!" Please don't take it out on me if you have run into commisioned sharks at another store. I REALLY just want to say hello & be friendly.

If you came up to me and was very nice and really just wanted to say hi and be friendly, then I would not mind you doing so.

I do not like being hounded by sales people though, it makes me go .

 

[shellabell]

I am fine with being greeted once, but the other day I was in Bath & Body and the same woman asked me if she could help me find something 3-4 times within a 5 minute period. That is overkill.

 

[jrmasm]

Did they do one of his nails too? That's what happened to me. She was a hot russian girl who really poured on the charm and buffed out one of my nails which actually came out pretty good.

Luckily I didn't buy what she was selling.

Yes and when he showed me I laughed even harder.

 

[Pigeon]

I hate being approached by sales people. If I want something, I'll ask.
But I am not rude to them.

 

[kamik86]

I can see both sides of this... because I hate stores where no one is around... and I hate the stores that ask you 20 times. The best ones are always the ones that say hello, ask if I need any help and thats all.

My husband works retail too and since he is in Electronics if you find something you want you generally need him to help you because its locked or in the back room. You would be surprised how many people will yell at him and then 2 min later be yelling that he is now helping someone else and they now want something and "No one will help them".

My husband takes his sweet time getting back to those ones.

 

[Disfan1]

I can see both sides of this... because I hate stores where no one is around... and I hate the stores that ask you 20 times. The best ones are always the ones that say hello, ask if I need any help and thats all.

My husband works retail too and since he is in Electronics if you find something you want you generally need him to help you because its locked or in the back room. You would be surprised how many people will yell at him and then 2 min later be yelling that he is now helping someone else and they now want something and "No one will help them".

My husband takes his sweet time getting back to those ones.

That's what drives me bonkers! A few months ago, I had greeted an older couple, asked if I could help them yada yada and was brushed off by the husband. I went through my usual speech of letting me know if the need help etc. and went back to my little work area to do some paperwork while they browsed. All of a sudden I hear "HELP HELP! WILL SOMEBODY HELP ME?!?" I rush over expecting to find someone injured or ill but nooooo, it was the same man who had brushed me off wanting to ask about the wattage on an over-the-range microwave! At least his wife looked embarrassed for him.

 

[crzy4my2]

I just tell them I have allergies and then run for the hills! Those people really bother me. They try to sucker you in with some kind of compliment, and yes, they try to touch you. Really bugs me. Normally I don't mind touching but I'm just irked by them!

In other retail stores I'll either tell them what I need or if I'm just leisurely browsing I"ll say so. I've done the retail thing before, I was geniunely nice to people and still got barked at. I'm just saying hi!

OH no not the guy from last year. I worked the day after Thanksgiving (at the mall) I was on break and I was heading back to work. As I walked by, the guy at pro-active said "I have something that can fix your face" I was pi$$ed

 

[Ceila]

I got harassed so badly one day by the kiosk people, I was tempted to go to the mall's guest services and complain. I had a couple of returns to make on my lunch hour and did not have the time to fend off a bunch of kiosk people. Really, I don't think I should have to. These people can ruin your whole shopping experience.

Do it. Most malls have regulations that the kiosk people are supposed to follow (but often don't). There was one kiosk at my mall that was horrible, so I filled out a complaint form at guest services. I got a phone call from a mall manager and, best of all, the staff of that company clearly were told to knock it off, because after that they didn't harass people anymore.

 

[Elmo9607]

OH no not the guy from last year. I worked the day after Thanksgiving (at the mall) I was on break and I was heading back to work. As I walked by, the guy at pro-active said "I have something that can fix your face" I was pi$$ed

Oh dear lord!!!

As if the day after Thanksgiving wasn't bad enough!!!!!

Speaking of which...8 DAYS TO GO!!

 

[Shelby5514]

UGH. The kiosk people. I swear they are out of work carnies. The best defense is if you have a name tag on. In our mall they are not allowed to bother employees of the mall stores. Another trick I've used is to be "talking" on my cell phone. Sure you have to walk around, sometimes talking to yourself , but it does work.

 

[chwgmjay]

I was at Target tonight...in the produce section. In LESS THAN A MINUTE I had 5 employees ask if they could help me find anything. SERIOUSLY. The first one walked by and asked...then the next one walked past the other direction... then another came up from the first direction... then another one came in from the side... Then one more came from the first direction. I swear I thought I was on candid camera. You just finished telling one you were just looking when the next approached.

 

[LilyWDW]

Let me explain how it was at my last job, where I was a manager.

Greeting: "Welcome to X! What can I help you find today?", if we are told nothing then "Alright, just to let you know we have our Y promotion going on right now. If you need anything just let one of us know." The promotion could be anything from a new sale, to new items, to having marked down clearance.

Then the manager was required to do "figure eights". If we came across a customer we would have to ask "Is there anything I can help you find?" We were not allowed to ask yes or no questions.

When a customer checked out: "Did you find everything alright? Would you like to put this on your card?" Depending on that response we either had to (A) ask them about opening the card, (B) why they should use the card they do have, or (C) do nothing. Then a simple "Thank you and come back soon!" to end it all.

Talking to the store manager rarely is going to help anything either. They have people breathing down their necks about how things are supposed to be done. There was nothing they could do to "change things". Policy was policy and was something we ALL had to follow.


Though, I say all rules are off when it comes to those kiosk people (the ones with the beauty products). Even I, who has worked retail for 13 years, can not stand them. I tried being nice and just saying "no thank you"... but they didn't understand and kept at it... I am ashamed to say I looked her straight in the eyes and told her "you need to step back and leave me alone. I don't want your stuff and it's a bunch of (poop) anyways."

Yeah, not my best moment.

 

[HeyMickeyUSoFine]

How about being nice to me? You may truly be friendly, but good customer service is falling to the wayside. It irks me for employees to walk by customers and not speak; fail to speak to or ask me if I found everything when I approach the register; or thank me for my purchase. It's becoming an "epidemic" and it's really made me become slightly ruder myself toward sales folks.

 

[Sparx]

How about being nice to me? You may truly be friendly, but good customer service is falling to the wayside. It irks me for employees to walk by customers and not speak; fail to speak to or ask me if I found everything when I approach the register; or thank me for my purchase. It's becoming an "epidemic" and it's really made me become slightly ruder myself toward sales folks.

What do you expect? Did you read this thread? People get angry when they are greeted, and then other people like you get angry when you're not greeted. And then you're rude instead of explaining why you're upset, like rudeness fixes any problem, ever.

 

[epcotprincess]

I worked retail at Victoria's Secret through my undergrad and the requirements made of us in order to keep our jobs was outrageous. If you frequent VS, you may notice that you rarely see the same girls working, mostly because the turn over is so high due to the low pay, no commission, and high demands. I always felt so bad approaching people but would be reprimanded if I didn't do it fast enough, pushy enough, with enough suggestions, etc. Also had to do credit card pitches every. single. time.

I will tell you I mostly had nice customers who understood, but then I'd get the huge range of people-- some would YELL at me to leave them alone, and others would demand every second of my time from picking all their bras to try on, to whipping their bras off right in front of me and asking for measurements.

It was a terrible job, honestly. I should have looked for something better because my wait staff friends were rolling compared to me, struggling with my minimum wage gig.

And don't even get me started on the guy who called every week asking for the available panties to be described to him in detail.

I think everyone should have to work retail/ wait tables for a month, then the world would be a much friendlier place!

 

[Disfan1]

How about being nice to me? You may truly be friendly, but good customer service is falling to the wayside. It irks me for employees to walk by customers and not speak; fail to speak to or ask me if I found everything when I approach the register; or thank me for my purchase. It's becoming an "epidemic" and it's really made me become slightly ruder myself toward sales folks.

Wow - if you always project that attitude while shopping, it's no wonder that "good customer service" is so hard to find.

 

[maxiesmom]

Talking to the store manager rarely is going to help anything either. They have people breathing down their necks about how things are supposed to be done. There was nothing they could do to "change things". Policy was policy and was something we ALL had to follow.

THIS!!!!!!!

If you are at a chain store that does this, complaining at that store accomplishes nothing! You have to write to the corporate home office. They are the ones that decide what hoops the salespeople have to jump thru. The store manager has no control over how many times their salespeople say hi, or if they ask you to open a charge card 10 times. The staff is just doing their job. I know of one chain that will fire associates if they are "caught" not saying hi to customers 3 times.

I can't imagine being rude to someone for greeting you.

 

[KimR]

I unsderstand that it is not the salesperson's fault as it is store policy but what I don't understand is WHY is it necessary for the store to have these rules in the first place? As long as there are sales associates on the floor, I am perfectly capable of approaching one myself if I need assistance. I don't need to be badgered and it seems I'm not alone in feeling this way.

I just don't undertand the point - does it actually increase sales? If nothing else, stores are losing my business because although I love to shop, I tend to choose those stores in which I know I will be left to shop in peace. If I had to choose, I'd actually rather shop somewhere where I can't find help if I need it than have to deal with overly intrusive salespeople.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Last week another customer didn't like that I extended her wait time by 60 seconds when I made a complaint. But I had been delayed 45 minutes b/c of a squatter in the pharmacy drive thru. It is not meant to be a parking spot while you wait for the pharmacy to work out the issues with your prescription. I was mortified that the customer said anything.

But had the pharmacy been functioning as it should and not allowing the person to block access to the drive through--that all could be avoided.

NOT to hijack, but... I wonder how a store could enforce this? In all seriousness - you can ask a customer to move and come back, you can tell them to come back, you can point out there are other customers waiting, you can point out it's a DRIVE THROUGH, not a SIT AND WAIT lane. But if the customer won't move, what can you do?

 

[LilyWDW]

I unsderstand that it is not the salesperson's fault as it is store policy but what I don't understand is WHY is it necessary for the store to have these rules in the first place? As long as there are sales associates on the floor, I am perfectly capable of approaching one myself if I need assistance. I don't need to be badgered and it seems I'm not alone in feeling this way.

I just don't undertand the point - does it actually increase sales? If nothing else, stores are losing my business because although I love to shop, I tend to choose those stores in which I know I will be left to shop in peace. If I had to choose, I'd actually rather shop somewhere where I can't find help if I need it than have to deal with overly intrusive salespeople.

It increases sales and decreases theft in general.

The best way to keep shoplifting down is to have an employee presence. By greeting everyone we are making sure they know we are there AND we are not singling anyone out. If someone happens to be thinking about stealing something then they now know we have spoken to them and seen them. It will be harder to get away with something.

Also, if a customer doesn't know where something is or can't find something, many of them will NOT ask. They will simply wander the store and then leave. I have seen it happen. However, if we greet them we can help them find that item so they won't be leaving empty handed. It's the same deal with following up.

I will say that 99% of the time customers were awesome. However, it just takes one horrible person to really throw you off your good mood.