Businesses realize that it is extremely important and vital for growth and continuing customer loyalty. The way salespeople personally deal with customers can literally make or break a business. That's why hours and hours of boring customer service training programs are provided to a staff to ensure that they are friendly, polite, helpful, informative and apologetic, if necessary. I want the same from my employees at my business. They should greet clients warmly when they walk in, ask them if they need help then...LEAVE THEM ALONE. Why is the last part of this statement in caps AND italicized you ask? Because i believe it is just as important as the first two. I know you're reading this, scratching your head thinking, "this doesn't make any sense...I didn't read this in ANY section of my customer service manual." Well, I personally think it is possible to provide too much, overbearing customer service, which eventually pushes the customer away. Let me explain...
I have spoken to many friends about how going to the mall is starting to have the same feel as going to buy a car at a dealership. We all know the scenario. You pull into the parking lot and park but, before your feet even touch the ground, there is a swarm of commission hungry sales people circling you like killer sharks. No, I wasn't waist-high in the dangerous waters off the Australian coast. I was, however, walking around in the Nordstrom's shoe department observing the over-staffed, eager employees walking around. It took less than 10 seconds for one salesperson to say hello and ask if i needed help. I said "I'm just looking" politely and moved away only to be cornered by another one asking how I was doing. "I'm good," I said with a half smile as I headed in another direction in the hopes of being left alone. I'm actually one of the lucky ones. My shoe size is a 6 and that is normally the one on display. So i don't waste any time and just slip on one of the shoes quickly. In doing so, this action sent another employee into my direction to see if they could be of any assistance. I said "no thanks...this shoe is my size." As I continued to browse the department without any disturbance, I could still see the eager staff lurking in my peripheral vision.
Finally, I find the perfect shoe, turn around and head towards the least annoying person on the floor. Notice I said, "least annoying". Not the one who said hello to me first. I sat down and, after a few minutes, see the young salesman in his well-pressed suit emerge from the back not bringing one box, but 3 boxes of shoes out with him. Ugh. "I want to show you some other great styles too" he said as he clumsily started unpacking them. This is when I really start to get annoyed. I just looked down at him silently, glaring like Medusa, hoping to catch him looking at me in the eyeballs so i could turn him into stone. "You know, I think I only want to try on that pair" I said. After all, I really didn't want to waste his or my time. In the end, I did not leave with any shoes. Maybe it was because they just didn't look right, or didn't feel right, OR maybe i just wanted to get the hell out of that department.
Being both a customer and business owner, I can see from both sides. I understand that commission sales in any business is difficult and cutthroat at times. People have bills to pay and there are certain daily quotas one must reach to earn more. However, when you walk into a store, you want to be acknowledged, not bombarded. You want your own personal space, not someone following you around. You want to pick out your own things, not have things picked out for you. Part of being a good salesperson is having the ability to read a customer's body language (cues for if they really do need your help) and understanding the difference between providing good, quality customer service or being just plain annoying & pushy......In the meanwhile, i will just get a t-shirt made that says, "Please Don't Speak To Me. I Bite." and wear that to the makeup counter next time.
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