Sofa analytics No. 274. Rudeness in stores, lack of a smile and conflicts

Hello.

I remember very well how one of the advantages of the lifestyle in America in the 90s was called that people

constantly smiling at each other in the streets, andshop assistants go through life with a smile. In Russia, they quickly learned that positive emotions in the store work wonders, the buyer is more willing to purchase your goods, come back to you again, and in conflict situations, a smile can level out problems. Training salespeople and not only them always includes an explanation of how to turn on emotions. For example, in a taxi driver training goes back to the same statement: the most important thing in your job is empathy, feel your passengers. And this is the most difficult thing you can ask for, because empathy requires the expenditure of mental energy, it is not always possible and probable. Smiling and liking the other person are huge benefits, but what happens when they don't?

Let me give you a few examples that are goodcharacterize the role of the seller in the life of the company. Sevkabel Port is a place where weekend fairs are held, the other day we were looking at tables with soap, candles, clothes, local cheese dairies are located in one corner. I stumbled into a tent, where various cheeses lay open, apparently, there was a cut to try them, empty boards spoke about this. I like to try something new and I wanted to buy cheese, I looked at a couple of options for testing.

Saleswoman talking on the phonecomplained that there were too many visitors at the fair. My hovering figure did not bother her, she simply turned away so as not to see her. At some point, she finished, then a very short dialogue took place:

Hello, can you give me a piece of this cheese to try?
What?
Hello, I want to buy cheese, but before that, try this one.
Not.
Sorry?
No (this was accompanied by a gesture, as if getting rid of an annoying fly, driving it away from the counter).

He shrugged his shoulders, smiled and walked away, good at threemeters there was another tent, where people crowded and bought cheese. Chatted with the seller, he turned out to be a cheese maker. We discussed how and what he does, where he gets milk, what kind of cheeses he is ripening now and when they will appear on the shelves. A very nice conversation, which turned into the fact that I tried different cheeses and left almost two thousand rubles in this shop.

I caught myself thinking that for a very long timefaced situations when the seller does not smile and is busy with his own business (the woman simply left the tent after our conversation, she was gone for fifteen minutes, and she returned or not, I don’t know, she went on). I returned to the tent for one thing - to remember the name of the cheese factory and never again buy their cheeses in principle. The cheese factory of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra is proud that they have monastery cheese. I carefully wrote down the name of the cheese factory in the notes on the phone, remembering the logo. For me, it was this cheese factory that ceased to exist forever, since my experience of a short communication with their representative turned out to be extremely negative and falling out of the experience of a buyer over the past decade in Russia.

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Anything can happen in business, but when youhiring a non-empathetic salesperson who doesn't want to interact with customers is a failure. And these failures are converted into real money, and they play a role not just in the distance of the weekend fair, they add up to sales in the long run. He shared his observation in another tent that a strange salesman was working in the corner, falling out of the context of the fair, he heard in response: “Ah, this unpleasant woman who hisses at everyone.”

It seems to me that there are no more people who do not understandthat smiling and empathy in retail is a must. Buyers are different, including boors who do not know how to behave. Depending on the company, they are treated differently, in most places this behavior is simply not tolerated. And in recent years it has become less and less, the degree of adequacy has grown a lot (once every six months I go to electronics stores to work as a salesman for a day and I know what I'm talking about, the changes are visible, they are clearly visible).

It so happened that I have about the samea set of shops that I visit more or less constantly. In the grocery store next to my house, I know sellers and cashiers by face (but not by name), we get to know each other, greet each other. The connection to the store is ideal, since it is precisely such “little things” that shape its perception. And exactly the same story with all the places where they create a pleasant, inviting atmosphere.

I firmly believe that it is necessary to encourage those with the rubleplaces where communications with the consumer are built correctly, and never leave your money where it is not. For me, this is an important part of life from the point of view of the consumer, and I explain what was wrong with this or that store, why I refused their services. Today we do not have a shortage that forces us to bury ourselves in a particular store and buy only in it. Moreover, there is a huge competition in the market, and it forces you to maintain a good level of service.

Recently chose tiles for the bathroom, floor andwent to the Kerama Marazzi store to ask the price and look at the options. By default, I thought that I would buy tiles in this store, I did not want to look at something else. Very nice sellers, I needed to see how the design would look like, asked me to draw 3D. The service costs decent money, a nice girl explained that the money will go towards offsetting the tiles, but if I don’t buy, they will remain at the store. A common sense approach is to cut off those who are not going to buy anything.

No design project, ordinary 3D pictures,which give an idea of the tile and layout. Usually such pictures are made for free in most countries of the world. In the end, we decided to replay, pick up a different combination of piping and another panel with a different pattern. I came to the store to choose options, was surprised to find out what I was not told the first time. Each "design" option costs the same money, and only one option counts. It turns out that my common sense failed, since the system is arranged quite differently. And then for the first time I was shown a leaf in a laminate, where all this is described in detail and carefully. For the first time, the girl did not do this, because then I would have refused this service in principle, she does not look reasonable.

Picking tiles by eye is definitely not mineoption, I need to at least approximately see the final result. Spending money on a certain number of options is pointless. He calmly explained why I did not consider the store's approach to be correct and why I would not buy anything in it. I left the store, got a call from the manager in the car, who offered to make the following options for free, or the store was ready to return the money for the already made option. The cost of these pictures was not a penny at all for me as a customer.

The whole situation came out of the blue, metried to sell a service that is not well thought out in relation to the client, a kind of scam. And according to the reviews of my friends, they also encountered this, they also did not like it. I decided to wait for the pictures that were supposed to be made for me in the store. They sent options that did not reflect what I asked for at all. I called the store, explained in detail why it was not what I needed, why they didn’t hear me. And he calmly motivated his decision not to buy in this store anymore, as this is a waste of time. For a particular store, this is the loss of one fat client who would pay for the existence of at least two managers for a month from the profits from the placed order. But it didn't work out.

I remember this story becausethe manager girl did the trick, at first she smiled at me, but then she was sad during my second visit, as she understood that now there would be problems and clarification of all circumstances. Weaned in stores of a good level from the fact that they are trying to somehow petty deceive you. And this story illustrates well that, in addition to empathy, you also need to be able to speak honestly about your services, about their limitations. You can sell something with a smile, but then all this is converted into negative, since the truth still comes out.

The smile itself is good, but it must beas sincere as possible. I always say a simple thing - if you can’t smile, then don’t force yourself, be natural. This is not a bunny parade where everyone should be happy, a store is a place where you buy something you need and want to get professional advice. It is possible that I personally am lucky with people, but over the past few months, while studying certain things for repair, I constantly come across sales consultants who describe in great detail and well what they sell. Professionalism builds trust, brings a smile, and leads to everyone being happy with each other.

My other principle is that I always recommend places andpeople I choose. I like them, and I believe that it is necessary to support a business that is built right. A sort of word of mouth that allows people to develop.

The buyer is not always right, buyersare different. But it is necessary to build communication with the buyer in such a way that the latter does not climb the wall from the fact that a person who is trying to deceive is communicating with him, or a person who is contraindicated in communicating with other people. And the last well demonstrates the very setting of the business. If such people are released to the public, then nothing good can be expected from the company as a whole. We have a huge market, the competition is off scale, and the buyer can easily choose someone else, not you. Therefore, it is necessary to teach people empathy, no matter how hard it may be. And do not hire as a seller those who do not want and cannot communicate with buyers, do not know how to do this and are not going to learn. And I like that we have a lot of young guys who start their careers as salespeople, who are interested in showing the product, explaining its features. You can consider me an incorrigible optimist, but the rare negative stories that happen to me only confirm that we have learned how to sell and work with people. Moreover, the quality of personnel working with people is growing. And it seems to me that only one principle can be preached here - treat the buyer exactly the way you want to be treated.

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