Am I the only one that tells sales people what I want?
I dislike browsing, I know what I want and I want to make my purchase and leave with the minimum amount of fuss. Whe it comes to clothing it goes like this:
“Can I help you?”
“Yes, I’m attending an afternoon wedding next weekend and I’m looking for an appropriate dress in this price range.”
“Great, let me direct your attention to this rack of dresses”
Usually there ensues a discussion of specifics, color, length, style, size, now there are two of us looking instead of one and one of us knows where everything is.
The sales person will put my selections in the changing room for me and hang them back up when I’m finished. It’s all quite a bit quicker than me browsing every dress rack in the store looking.
Ditto buying a car. When I decided that I needed more cargo space than I had in my Honda Civic I visited one of those huge tent sales put on my multiple dealers.
“Can I help you?”
"Yes, I need something that’s big enought to haul my musical gear, possibly a mini-van or SUV, I’m looking for something in the $X price range.
The sales man knew where the various vehicles that fit my description were and I found a mini-van that was perfect for my needs in very little time. Managed to buy a car in about an hour.
The only time I use the “I’m just looking” line is when I really have no intention of making a purchase. I’m really just browsing. Of course this almost exclusively happens in department stores or the mall but you get the picture.
What company do you work at that when people say they are “just looking” you are STILL expected to follow them around, show them all the features, explain everything, etc.? And where are these customers who want you to do that? Everytime I say “just looking” the salesperson understands that to mean that I want to LOOK for a while without being followed around by a salesperson. I have never experienced, nor ever heard of, someone who wants to both “just look” AND have the salesperson follow him around while he’s looking and to answer dozens of questions for a couple of hours.
You must work at a very unusual company in a very unusual location.
If I’m just looking, I’m looking. Not listening to you. Ignoring you, in fact.
I hope you don’t come off in person as you did in your OP. That would drive me away pretty quickly, if I said I was just looking and you followed me around.
You have to understand the product I’m selling. Because the windows are so high off the ground, you can’t possibly see inside the vehicles. What happens with the ‘just looking’ types is that they immediately want me to unlock a vehicle so they can look at the interior. Then the next one in line. Then ‘that cute one over there’ in the next lot, then the 200K diesel pusher at the other end of the lot. They don’t want me to tell them anything, they just want a tour. If someone just wanted to walk around the lot by themselves looking at the outsides of the vehicles, it wouldn’t be a problem. But what the vast majority want is to have a non-interactive experience with a guide. No can do.
Great. Why do you wait, then, to be asked if you can be helped? I assume that you don’t, actually. I assume that you seek out the sales people. I do the same, but often after I have made some determination about what I want. Generally, that involves an estimation of how one of a few possibilities makes me feel when I am standing next to it, or holding it, or so on and so forth. I prefer to do this without help, taking as much or as little time as I would like and focusing my attention where I want to.
Then I tell the sales people what I want, making it so that you are not in fact, the only one who tells sales people what he or she wants, just the only person who assumes that they are.
Sometimes, but only rarely, I am purposelessly browsing. I can tell you that if I am doing so, the very last thing I want to do is have a conversation with a sales person.
I say “I’m just looking” when I have no intention, or no likely intention, of making a purchase that day, right then and there. I probably fully intend to buy but I want to “look” around first and form my own unbiased views about the merchandise instead of having the salesperson give me his naturally skewed opinions. If I feel they offer good value at competitive prices, then I start discussing specifics with the salesperson.
I hate “browsing” if I know I will never ever buy. I hate “window shopping” too. Why look at a bunch of stuff I know I can’t have. I’d rather stay home and do nothing.
Chefguy, there will probably always be a few people who say “just looking” and REALLY mean they will never ever buy. I can understand it’s annoying to have to give them a free tour. They should just go to the RV show. But most people who say they are looking are using it as a euphemism for “I want to look and I am interested in buying this type of product BUT I DON’T WANT A SLEAZY SALESMAN HOUNDING ME RIGHT NOW SO BACK THE FUCK OFF.” “Just looking” sounds so much nicer.
I understand the frustration. I have no problem with people who are just looking.
I kinda feel bad when I start to approach a customer and they cringe at the mere sight of a salesperson. One peeve of mine is customers who refuse to treat salespeople as people. Buying or looking, show at least the minimum of manners please.
My other peeve is people who are indeed just looking but still want to occupy all your time by asking question after question after question. That said politeness and good manners can pay off. Customers may be just looking for months and months and then finally buy from you because you were nice and answered their questions politely. {In other words you treated them like a person too}
It amuses me how “I’m just looking” has become so programed into us.
I see a customer with a Maine T shirt and because I’m from Maine I ask “Hey! are you from Maine?” They respond “I’m just looking” or the ones who say I’m just looking and as you turn to go they say “Wait I have a question” Just looking has become a knee jerk reaction to lots of folks.
I understand people not wanting to be pushed into a sale or lied to. I don’t want that either when I’m shopping. It is possible that the salesperson has valuble information that will help you make the right choice. Sometimes it’s something you haven’t even thought of. Give the salesperson a shot and if they turn you off you’re free to not deal with them. I see it as offering helpful information, and trying to make what might be a pain in the ass experience a pleasent one.
Like the shopper above I usually have an idea of what I want and am let the salespeople help me find it or answer questions to help me make a choice. I trust my instinct about their honesty.
I understand. I really do. As mentioned earlier, however, ‘just looking’ in my line of goods means I have to be involved, if only to unlock the doors. It’s just a waste of time.
Why not? Talk to your boss about hiring a part-time person for the busy times. Said person’s sole job would be to open the coaches for browsers. Any questions on features/price/recommendation etc would be answered with, “I’m sorry, I’m not a sales consultant and I don’t know the answer to that, but let me grab one for you.” Then the guy goes outside and yells “Recco” and all the salesguys come running. (Okay, I’m joking about that last part) Meanwhile, you are spending your time with someone who wants the guided tour.
Now THIS is something I have absolutely no problem with. Ask all the questions you want. You need to be informed before you buy, and I’m a good source of that information. And many people take many months to reach a decision. GOOD! I am unfailingly polite and professional. I only ask that you are in return.
askeptic: I can’t help you in your cluelessness. Be an idiot elsewhere.
It sounds like the RV world is indeed much different than the car world. We are in the process of buying another car, and I have gone to quite a few different car lots in town and just looked at quite a few different cars. I’ve test-driven all the cars I’m interested in; sometimes I go back to a lot to check something about a possible car that I forgot to check before, or I got a different idea about something. I don’t need the salespeople to help me with anything; I probably know more about the mid-size economy class sedans at this point than they do.
If I were buying an RV, though (and we probably will someday), I will take your good advice and let the expert help me with my purchase. Of course, knowing me, I will probably research RVs for a year before buying one.
(One word of advice about sales - I don’t know if you do this or not, but it is in your best interests to not get in the habit of discussing customers with other salespeople. It can be tempting to have a “who had the worst customer” bitch session, but it really puts you in the wrong headspace to think of the customer as sheep or the enemy.)
Not a bad idea, actually. I suspect that customers would view it as a sales ploy, however. Heavy advertising might help. I’m going to mention it to the GM next week.
“I’m just looking” is polite, social code for “leave me alone,” or in some cases “fuck off out of my face.”
I can’t stand being hassled by salespeople. I hate being hovered over. I want solitude and privacy and I have no interest in the advice or the conversation or the company of a salesperson. I don’t trust them anyway.
Plus, sometimes, I really don’t know what I’m looking for or I may not be looking for anything at all. I’m just looking at because it amuses me to do so. If I want something, I’ll tell you. Until then, I would prefer it if no one even said hello.
Nothing personal against Chefguy and I’m making no judgement on his ethics or whatever but I want to stay in my own private little “me bubble” while I’m looking around. I don’t want to be guided. If I make a bad decision, that’s my business, not the salesperson’s.
As with anything, there are good dealerships and bad dealerships. If you get the typical car sales pressure at an RV lot, walk away; they’re not interested in helping you, only in helping the profit margin. The internet is your friend in becoming an informed customer.
Based on what you just wrote, you actually don’t understand. You are a salesperson. You’re supposed to show people the product. Many people use the line “I’m just looking” when they really mean they are probably interested in buying but want to look around first. In your type of sales, there is, granted, more effort required from you. You can’t just say, “Okay then, go ahead and call me if you have questions.” You have to unlock the doors and let them inside. A bit more work than a clothing-store clerk who can just walk away.
But do ANY of these “just looking” people ever buy? You aren’t really going to claim that NONE of them, ever, have bought after claiming they were “just looking,” are you? Because if NO ONE has ever - NEVER - really bought, then frankly your sales technique just need a lot of work. Or you are rubbing people the wrong way.
What’s the commission on a $100,000 RV anyway? I bet it’s worth opening a few doors and answering questions. You could always try telling someone, upon hearing “I’m just looking”: “Okay, fine but my time is very valuable and I only deal with people who are seriously planning to buy so I’m afraid I cannot let you into any of our motorhomes, nor answer any questions.”
