47 ms·

> If you sell technology, then the last thing you want is to convince people to buy something they don't actually need. Or anything, really. When I worked sal

> If you sell technology, then the last thing you want is to convince people to buy something they don't actually need. Or anything, really. When I worked sales (non-commission, thank goodness) I was often in a situation where management wanted me to push certain products. I never felt comfortable with it, and ended up being told repeatedly that I needed to do better. Luckily, I was incredibly good at helping people buy what they needed, and so I sold a lot of product, and management didn't want to rock that boat. I even had people who would come to the store, ask when I worked, and then come back later to get me to help them instead. I attribute this to being knowledgeable about the products and, as you said, never trying to convince anyone of anything. They asked questions, I answered them with as much detail as they wanted. Super simple for me and never hurt my conscience. The problem is that very few of the other salespeople there understood the products to that degree at all. They learned everything they knew from the sales stickers, boxes, and brochures at the store. They knew nothing that the customer couldn't discover if they spent enough time reading. It was still helpful because they could get the customer to the rough area quickly, but not much beyond that. The company did not pay me enough for the service I provided. I was there until I got a better job and that was all.

mgkimsal 7y ago
> The problem is that very few of the other salespeople there understood the products to that degree at all. I'm finding this with a lot of services - from small appliance stuff, 'brand store' clothing and home furnishing stuff to ... actual houses. My wife researches. Not necessarily huge amounts of time, but she googles stuff before we look at buying. Inevitably, she knows far more than any of the sales people we talk to. Whether it's comparisons against other models, last year's model, materials, warranties, whatever - she always knows more than the staff. Now, in some cases, yes, perhaps the staff 'know' something, and can't 'say' it in public - I get that - I've been there. But this happens far too often for it to be just that. Even in large commission stuff - housing - we've been looking at housing for a while - she tends to know more - or at least, of course, from my view - stuff that's somewhat more useful. Or, even more basically, stuff that's not on the damn sales sheet. We looked at a house with a different type of siding than some of the surrounding houses. Sales guy - who's been working in that neighborhood for a while - he's the sales guy engaged by the home builder - didn't know what the difference was, why it was chosen, or what the pros/cons were. 3 minutes on google, and 1 minute in the house, we learn this siding has a big impact on sound/noise reduction. This would be a huge selling point for some people, took about 3 minutes to look up, but... the guy who makes a living at selling didn't know some of these basics (and didn't offer to inquire or find out, either).
- skosch 7y ago
  I recently walked into a Casper store to check out their new night light. The sales girl came over in her silly sleep scientist outfit to demonstrate the shake-to-dim feature. "Neat, right? That way it won't disrupt your REM sleep while you go to the bathroom at night."
  - badpun 7y ago
    Perhaps they target sleepwalkers?

mgkimsal 7y ago

> The problem is that very few of the other salespeople there understood the products to that degree at all. I'm finding this with a lot of services - from small appliance stuff, 'brand store' clothing and home furnishing stuff to ... actual houses. My wife researches. Not necessarily huge amounts of time, but she googles stuff before we look at buying. Inevitably, she knows far more than any of the sales people we talk to. Whether it's comparisons against other models, last year's model, materials, warranties, whatever - she always knows more than the staff. Now, in some cases, yes, perhaps the staff 'know' something, and can't 'say' it in public - I get that - I've been there. But this happens far too often for it to be just that. Even in large commission stuff - housing - we've been looking at housing for a while - she tends to know more - or at least, of course, from my view - stuff that's somewhat more useful. Or, even more basically, stuff that's not on the damn sales sheet. We looked at a house with a different type of siding than some of the surrounding houses. Sales guy - who's been working in that neighborhood for a while - he's the sales guy engaged by the home builder - didn't know what the difference was, why it was chosen, or what the pros/cons were. 3 minutes on google, and 1 minute in the house, we learn this siding has a big impact on sound/noise reduction. This would be a huge selling point for some people, took about 3 minutes to look up, but... the guy who makes a living at selling didn't know some of these basics (and didn't offer to inquire or find out, either).

skosch 7y ago
I recently walked into a Casper store to check out their new night light. The sales girl came over in her silly sleep scientist outfit to demonstrate the shake-to-dim feature. "Neat, right? That way it won't disrupt your REM sleep while you go to the bathroom at night."
- badpun 7y ago
  Perhaps they target sleepwalkers?