Aggressive Selling in shops

haminka · 20-03-2012 12:29PM

Paparazzo wrote: »

That's what the nazi's said.

Godwined a sales thread, nice!

yep and adolf hated smokers and rarely drank, so what?

Paparazzo · 20-03-2012 12:35PM

haminka wrote: »

yep and adolf hated smokers and rarely drank, so what?

"Just doing my job" isn't an excuse to be a cúnt

cynder · 20-03-2012 12:37PM

I was in getting running shoes from elverys there about 2 weeks ago, so i got the runners and i also got the insoles (i intended on buying both) when i was ready to pay they insisted on telling me all the stuff that they have on offer, i spent €150 in the shop and they wanted me to buy more....

I said no thanks and left it at that.

I know when i worked in the hotel trade as a receptionist we had to upsell aswell, you could tell when someone just wasnt interested so i never pushed it. some will go on and on and on and all the person wants is to go to their room.

LisaLee · 20-03-2012 01:02PM

Abi wrote: »

That might be so, but it's turned me off shopping in places like that. For every extra pound of sausages or whatever he's pushing someone into buying they're pissing me and about five others like me into not coming back.

Signs about special offers around the shop is sufficient, I feel like losing the plot anyone comes near me in a shop, I'm fcuking sick of people dictate how I spend my money.

I know it can be really annoying, but with a lot of retail outlets the company hires a mystery shopper. You have to upsell, be polite and impress them in order to get a good report. If you don't then there are consequences, warnings etc.

As someone who has worked in retail, I couldn't give a flying crap if someone buys phone credit etc. off me, I've covered my side of the sale and if someone starts being ignorant towards me "If I wanted it then I would've asked for it." Then they're the one with the problem, if being ignorant and rude to someone is a natural reaction to some people then that speaks volumes about the type of person they are.

There are some people in retail that go beyond upselling granted, but a firm 'no' can dissuade them. Not by being a prick, that just makes a show out of you, not the staff member.

garysully1986 · 20-03-2012 01:28PM

I hate going into a shop and being approached by every member of the staff to see if I need help. This happens alot in Game. I purposely wear my headphones when shopping to avoid this contact but half the time I do be listening to my music browsing away and out of the corner of my eye there is a staff member right beside me talking to me. I have giant headphones on my ears!!! I havent a clue what you are saying!

I would never be rude to them and I know its a bit rude wearing headphones in a shop but in fairness I'm your average gamer in a game shop if I needed any help I would have no problem asking you!

This really gets on my nerves more than upselling. I was always told that if a customer is wearing headphones they obviously are not approachable, However if they are holding two games in their hands and looking at both then approach them.

thebostoncrab · 20-03-2012 01:43PM

Paparazzo wrote: »

haminka wrote: »

yep and adolf hated smokers and rarely drank, so what?

"Just doing my job" isn't an excuse to be a cúnt

Jesus if asking you if you bought petrol today because my job could be on the line if I don't makes me a **** then it's not me who is the one with the problem.

Paparazzo · 20-03-2012 02:46PM

thebostoncrab wrote: »

Jesus if asking you if you bought petrol today because my job could be on the line if I don't makes me a **** then it's not me who is the one with the problem.

You're no better than the gestapo.
But asking someone if they bought petrol isn't agressive selling.

kfallon · 20-03-2012 03:29PM

Dravokivich wrote: »

Bought a pair of headphones a while ago for about 30 quid and was asked if I wanted to insure'em against damage for 3 quid for the year. Bloody hell I thought, the damn thing comes with a warranty for fecks sake.

Bet they fell apart on the 364th day :pac:

NiallFH · 20-03-2012 03:34PM

kennygg76 wrote: »

Then later on I went to xtravision and got a dvd, only to be asked 3 times did I want the popcorn and drink deal, when I said no she said "are you sure". This is starting to p*ss me off.

I worked in XV part time during first year uni and you are basically forced into all that carry on.

At times our upsell was to ask for:

GTA Pre Books
Hagen Das ice cream offer
Movie Offer
Some charity Bandana

This all had to be pushed to every customer even if all they bought was a bottle of water.

The training DVDs we watched were horrible, they basically tell you to be pushy and ignore what the customer says and offer/explain offers anyway

Dravokivich · 20-03-2012 03:47PM

kfallon wrote: »

Bet they fell apart on the 364th day :pac:

Leap year buddy, get a free day.

OneArt · 20-03-2012 05:06PM

Not really upselling but I went into an H&M in Dortmund and one staff member greeted. That was fine. But as I walked around the shop I was greeted by four separate staff members, all just standing there and grinning.

Was kind of creepy and I didn't want to go back.

TwoShedsJackson · 20-03-2012 05:08PM

Paparazzo wrote: »

"Just doing my job" isn't an excuse to be a cúnt

If only they'd thought of that at Nuremburg.

grundie · 20-03-2012 05:56PM

Corruptedmorals wrote: »

Some shops go overboard and drive customers away. The prime example is Lush (very smelly soap/toiletries shop bottom of Grafton Street). You literally have three perky people flinging themselves on you and getting you to sample stuff, it's really overbearing though again I get it that they have to do it.

I normally ignore pushy sales tactics, I buy what I need and say "Nahhhhh" to the upselling attempts. But Lush takes the piss.

I was in just before Christmas buying a present for my other half. I was just browsing their wares and was going to buy something I liked the look of. Having been repeatedly pounced on by a few of the sales staff offering me unwanted advice and getting rid of each one in turn, one member of staff turned her attentions to my two year old son.

In the distance she had two bowls of water with some soapy stuff in them and was pouring the water between them making masses of foam. She approached my son in his pram and let him dip his hands in the to the foam and play with it. I didn't notice this straight away as I was being distracted by another sales drone. I only noticed when he started screaming with delight at all the smelly foam. I was all WTF as the foam was all over hs clothes. The sales assistance looked at me with a cheeky grin and said "I think he wants to get these for his mummy" He look around at me screaming "Mummy, get these for mummy!!!!" while pointing at the foam. It took less than 20 seconds and they had my son screaming, covered in foam and hyper as feck.

I wasn't impressed by that. I should have complained, but what good would it do? Better to never go back there in my opinion.

the groutch · 20-03-2012 06:31PM

Upselling can work very well in moderation, but too many businesses don't know where the line is, and drive away customers eg. Gamestop disc protection when I'm buying a game for €3.99, or Game with Xbox Live, Trade-Ins, Pre-orders, etc.
If staff were given the leeway to make a common sense judgement of where certain upselling isnt appropriate, they wouldnt make customers feel so uncomfortable and ultimately drive them away.

Subtle things can work, like using off the cuff phrases like "anything else", or "just those two?", and often it will subconsciously remind them of something they forgot.
Or letting them know that they have part of an offer, and can get another one for very little extra (eg. they have 2 @ €4.50 each, and they're 3 for a tenner) and let them decide if they want the extra one.
It can even be in the small talk your making, and steer the conversation towards an upcoming event/occasion about which you can mention a couple of your products/offers.

tigger123 · 20-03-2012 06:49PM

old_aussie wrote: »

I try to define my purchase with "I only want the petrol on pump 6"

or, " I only want the newspaper"

If the cashier says " would you like fries with that" I just ignore them.

If they ask me a second time I usually answer with " are you f*cking deaf or just stupid"

That's a pig ignorant way to behave.

Every time I'm in Tesco I'm asked if I have or want a club card. I don't have one, and I don't want one, and the person asking me doesnt give a fiddlers whether I have one or want one ... and it's no big deal. There's no need to be rude to people working behind a register about it.

RichieC · 20-03-2012 07:14PM

Peoples level of tolerance is in the ****ter these days... people are just doing their fking jobs and probably for money these intolerant arseholes would bloody laugh at.

Pippy1976 · 20-03-2012 07:36PM

Thank God you're not in New Zealand... Shop assistants roar at you from the counter & then proceed to talk to you the whole time you're there

just feck off!!

facemelter · 20-03-2012 07:42PM

kennygg76 wrote: »

This is starting to drive me crazy.

I expect it in some large stores and fast food outlets but in a bloody butchers??

I have noticed this aswell , but in fairness to them it's a necessity thing , surely its more likely to be the smaller shops that are losing the business to larger shops

GLaDOS · 20-03-2012 07:49PM

I'd love to see a study done on the sales rate of shops upselling vs not upselling.

I hate it as well, but I know it's always orders from management. Had the same myself before, made me feel like an idiot.

chocksaway · 20-03-2012 07:58PM

MungBean wrote: »

I worked in a few shops years ago one of them xtravision and the orders constantly came down to be more forward when upselling.

You know yourself what a person wants and will possibly buy. I hated it and never did it when the boss wasnt around, had words with management over it a couple of times because more often than not you just piss customers off. But the shirts at the top dont have one clue when it comes to that and think badgering enough customers will result in x amount of profit and send down the word to force staff to do it.

I can imagine with things as bad as they are now there is huge pressure on staff to try and force a sell.

That is exactly what is wrong with xtravision! Head-office haven't a clue about what actually happens at branch level! They send out all sorts of orders about upselling this, and telling a customers about promotions and pre-booking. Ya could spend all day telling a customer what head-office want ya to say. "You know if you get an extra movie you can keep it for an extra night? Would you like the movie deal with that? Would you like to pre-book any games? We have a promotion on TVs at the moment- are you interested? Have you noticed our sale on pre-owned games?" It gets repetitive.

And if you don't tell the customer whats available you get disciplinary meetings about not reaching your sales targets! Ya just cant win!

Mollyd90 · 20-03-2012 08:04PM

fecking hair dressers are the same pushing you to buy €24 bottles of shampoo and conditioners. and treatments in your hair and trying to make you feel bad when you say no.

Peanut · 20-03-2012 08:08PM

Pippy1976 wrote: »

Thank God you're not in New Zealand... Shop assistants roar at you from the counter & then proceed to talk to you the whole time you're there

just feck off!!

Or Turkey, it's like Benny Hill here walking into a small shop. The floor staff will immediately start following you around if there's no other customer present. Hilarity ensues.

phasers · 20-03-2012 08:26PM

Don't take it personally OP, the staff hate it equally as much as you. Ugh, I hated doing this when I worked in Boots. As if I give a **** whether you have your advantage card or not. I never bothered asking people.

Once an old lady shouted at me about it for like 15 minutes. I told her that we were required to say it and if she didn't like it she should take it up with the manager. This made her even angrier for some reason.

BASHIR · 20-03-2012 08:44PM

Is it really so hard for a no thank you and a smile, people are just doing their jobs ffs.

Logical Fallacy · 20-03-2012 08:47PM

kennygg76 wrote: »

This is starting to drive me crazy.

I was in a butchers in Waterford last week, I go here every week to get my meat. I have a list and know exactly what I want to buy,after preparing my order the sale person tried to sell me loads of stuff from flavoured sausages to relish, I was very surprised with the forceful way this was done.

Then later on I went to xtravision and got a dvd, only to be asked 3 times did I want the popcorn and drink deal, when I said no she said "are you sure". This is starting to p*ss me off.

I cant go anywhere now without shops trying to sell you something you don't want, I expect it in some large stores and fast food outlets but in a bloody butchers??
I understand that the have a business to run, but this puts me off going back.

Is it me or does anyone else notice this?

I'd suggest leaving the staff alone, as they ****ing hate doing it. The head office or manager is the problem, as they seem to feel people like it.

The simple truth is that it's not enough of a customer turn off to affect people, but some do buy the extra stuff so it's generating more revenue for the business.

Cantona's Collars · 20-03-2012 08:57PM

I hate this practice in the likes of PC World & the big electrical chains.I went to PC World a while ago and was bombarded by the salesman pitching stuff I didn't want.I eventually told him if he didn't stop I'd put the laptop back and buy it somewhere else.
The craic of selling overpriced HDMI cables with HD tv's is another thing.The staff push people into buying these cables for a fortune when one from a €2 shop will do exactly the same job.

Feathers · 20-03-2012 08:59PM

Working in Debenhams during college, head office decided to implement the '3 foot rule' — if a customer comes within 3 feet of you, you should ask them if they need a hand. When you actually measure 3 feet, you realise that it's actually quite close & this just becomes common sense. If you didn't ask them if they were OK, you were essentially ignoring them.

Local management obviously couldn't measure 3 feet though as it quickly became a line-of-sight rule & you'd be given out to if you didn't make a mad dash towards a customer as they rounded the corner of the shop. You'd actually see them turn tail & go in the other direction.

It's strange, if I were middle management in a shop the rule of thumb I'd use is 'how would my staff behave if they were on commission' (& good at selling

). If you were on commission in these jobs, the times you'd even try to up-sell would be few & far between, and you'd definitely do it more subtly that the tactics they use now. Once staff are doing that level, you should be happy. Anything else is counterproductive.

Firegaurd · 20-03-2012 09:18PM

old_aussie wrote: »

I try to define my purchase with "I only want the petrol on pump 6"

or, " I only want the newspaper"

If the cashier says " would you like fries with that" I just ignore them.

If they ask me a second time I usually answer with " are you f*cking deaf or just stupid"

Of course they asked you a second time, you ignored them the first time.

Or are you just stupid ?

Feathers · 20-03-2012 09:27PM

Firegaurd wrote: »

Of course they asked you a second time, you ignored them the first time.

Or are you just stupid ?

In fairness, sometimes you just get parroted responses in shops — they're not even listening to what you tell them. I went in to McDonalds before:

Me: Can I have a large chicken nugget meal with Coke to take away.
Staff: What size?
Me: Large
Staff: & what drink would you like
Me: Coke...
Staff: & would you like that to have here, or take away?

If he already said "I'll have only the newspaper", stressing on only they shouldn't ask him again.

Firegaurd · 20-03-2012 09:50PM

Feathers wrote: »

If he already said "I'll have only the newspaper", stressing on only they shouldn't ask him again.

Either way giving abuse to shop staff is well out of order. Say No, be polite there is absolutely no need to abuse people doing their work.

Petrol stations are asking did you get any diesel or petrol for a reason. I've never worked in a petrol station but I assume there are some people who call in and get a sandwich and paper or whatever and forget to pay for their petrol.

I notice I get asked this in every petrol station I use, I assume they're not asking it for the craic. It's hardly upselling , how many people who were buying a paper thought "you know what, i'll take €50 diesel too"

With upselling, if you can't handle being asked to purchase an extra product without abusing staff maybe you shouldnt be left out on your own.

Aggressive Selling in shops

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