I might be missing something here, but why do you think you’re coming across that way? If someone says they want to “play games” it’s a perfectly reasonable response to ask what sort of games they’re talking about. If the customer is asking for advice on what kind of computer to buy than they’ve already accepted that they’re not knowledgeable enough to make that decision on their own.
I’ve worked retail and customer service myself and I’ve found that if you’re polite and patient, (remember that you’re the “expert”, not them), most people will be grateful and work with you. Asking them to name a game or two that they want to play shouldn’t be a big problem.
On Preview: I can understand getting impatient with answering the same questions over and over again and going through the same spiel, but people really do appreciate you spending time with their concerns.
Computers and electronics can be high ticket items. Just get to know what they want to do and work within their budget. You’ll be fine.
I always went with “what type of games?”, just resist the urge to lecture them about flash games.
I would tend to suggest that there are three main groups of PC gamer
Flash games
Single game played, usually Sims, or WOW,
Gamer
You don’t really need to worry about 3) that much, because if someone actually has experience running “proper” games on their PC they probably know at least a bit more about PC’s than your average customer. 1) is easy obviously (try and sell these people antivirus and stress the importance of keeping it updated, cause they are going to need it :D). group 2 is fairly easy as you are probably going to work hard to find a computer that won’t run WOW or Sims 2, it’s well worth making sure you know which of your computers will run Sims 3.
Your problem is -
People who know almost nothing about PC’s and are buying a family computer, hoping to be able to use it as the family game centre. If you have the option it is well worth trying to persuade these people to buy a cheaper computer and a separate console.
Parents buying new computer for more IT literate offspring, they know that their kid wants to play “games” but have no idea what this entails, these people are basically screwed and the best you can do is point them towards a middle of the road gaming/studio PC with solid memory and graphics card (if you have one).
This is why I always tell people that computers, like pets, make problematic gifts. You can give someone a PC as a gift - just like you can give them a puppy as a gift - but it’s the sort of gift you really, really need to talk to the recipient about beforehand. Otherwise, you’re gonna end up with a useless PC. Or a dead puppy.
Yeah, unfortunately working retail these days limits your options with regard to advising your customers not to make a purchase, you don’t want to find you’ve just advised a mystery shopper that they should go home and determine whether they really need an expensive gaming PC.
You sir, are correct. I consider “facebook games” more of an evil gimmick designed to prey on people’s psychological triggers than a GAME.
Also, I suggest the phrasing “What sorts of games do you play?” It has a little bit more of a casual “I’m interested in what you like” vibe and less of the “List some games you play to prove you actually play games” thing.
Of course, being a slightly more vague question, you’ll probably get a slightly more vague answer, but 99 times out of 100, it should be enough to tell if we’re talking “Bejewelled” or “Crysis” here.
That’s an interesting point, because ethically, I’m uncomfortable encouraging people to buy expensive stuff they don’t need or can’t use. Obviously, if someone walks in the door and says “I want that one!” then I’ll smile and get their laptop for them, and ask if they need anything else.
But when you’ve got someone who clearly knows nothing about computers (and doesn’t appear to have lots of cash for “The Best”) it’s difficult to explain to them that you really don’t need a dedicated 512MB graphics card to send e-mails to their niece in the UK.
I’m actually kind of mad at the guy who did this to me. He convinced 13 year old me that the faster processors “weren’t tested” and got me to buy the more expensive slower computer. And then acted like he was my friend for giving me the less expensive store brand monitor (which died more quickly and was louder. Yes, louder).
But at least it taught me not to trust sales people about things. It’s served me well. (It’s part of the reason I have trouble understanding people who impulse buy the latest gadget: they’re almost assuredly being ripped off.)
BTW, if the problem is just that you’re getting annoyed saying the same things over and over, why not just try saying something different, even if it isn’t technically better?
We didn’t need to worry to much about selling expensive computers to people who didn’t need them, because our local managers didn’t really care which computers we were selling as long as we were selling them, but advising a customer against buying at all would likely have landed us in trouble. The problem with the customer who doesn’t know anything about the type of games someone else will be playing is that underselling is likely to be even worse than overselling for them.
Remember that a substantial part of your ethical obligation is to your employer who is paying you to sell computers. You have a broader ethical responsibility not to lie to or mislead the customer, but not IMHO to stop people buying crap that they don’t need, because persuading people to do that is basically your job.
People really need to learn that Mr Salesman is not their friend.
You also have a lot of people out there selling computers who don’t have the slightest clue what they are doing, and are willing to tell the customer whatever they want to hear :mad:
