I certainly understand why we would be told to be vague, and let the salesperson ask us questions to find out what we need. But, what do you do when the salesperson doesn't ask ANY questions--open-ended or not!

"I'm looking to buy a new worblemacker."

"Here are our worblemackers."

Dead silence. More dead silence. What can I say that doesn't 'lead' him? I was supposed to be vague as to what price I want to pay. I guess I could just jump to: "Which one would you recommend?" At that point, he should either recommend one, or, hopefully, ask me questions to try to determine which one he SHOULD recommend. And, if he just recommends one, I could ask him what makes it the best one.

Are there better techniques for dealing with the situation?

That happens to me on every cell phone shop :/
I just put that I looked at the display for X amount of minutes and they did not ask me anything or show me anything.

I guess I just say I am doing XYZ which is best? They either do or don't sell, that is why you are mystery shopping them. It isn't up to you to get them to ask for the sale, it is up to you to do your best in playing out a scenario of needing a recommendation.

Yep. For instance I had a lady recommend a paint sprayer the other day. I asked about them, she said here they are, I asked what she recommended, she said here's the one I have, it works great for me, don't know what you're doing with it but it's the only one I know about and it works. So that's what I put. Made for a pretty quick report.

I once did a dealership and the salesman did not try to sell me this car I was standing beside and drooling over. It was red, fast and sporty. Well? He shows me a few sedans and this is after I told him I was looking for something hot and sporty.

I reported it as it happened. He did nothing.. He just sat in the sedan with me playing on his cellphone while I stared at the steering wheel.

Canuck Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I once did a dealership and the salesman did not
> try to sell me this car I was standing beside and
> drooling over.


That's amazing!

"I'd like to buy something hot and sporty."
"Well, here we have something really dumpy in a drab color."

Maybe he got a higher commission on the sedan?

And thanks everyone for the pep talk. Looks like I might be worrying too much.

Wait. Aren't women SUPPPOSED to drive boring sedans? Unless they're hot, busty, and blonde.

Or hot, busty and brunette.

I thought those drove motorcycles.

bgriffin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yep. For instance I had a lady recommend a paint
> sprayer the other day. I asked about them, she
> said here they are, I asked what she recommended,
> she said here's the one I have, it works great for
> me, don't know what you're doing with it but it's
> the only one I know about and it works. So that's
> what I put. Made for a pretty quick report.

We must have shopped the same DIY for the same Paint Sprayer! The EXACT same thing happened to me!

Oh the paint sprayers have become my favorite for this round of shops. I actually had 2 that were incredibly good and I learned a bunch about paint sprayers. Then I had the lady I mentioned, a guy that said just buy the cheapest model because I didn't know what I was doing and I shouldn't waste much money, and another guy that said I should only buy a professional grade because anything less was just crap.

I had one lady tell me not to buy them, they all did a crappy job, and I just needed to use rollers. She also inferred that anyone who used sprayers was just lazy.

I did a cell phone shop that I was supposed to be looking for my first smartphone. I gave him the story and he grabbed one off the shelf and said "this one". I tried so hard to get him to say more but he wouldn't--it was so painful. In my report I stated what happened and that I finally started asking open ended questions and they said I shouldn't do that.

siamese5555 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I did a cell phone shop that I was supposed to be
> looking for my first smartphone. I gave him the
> story and he grabbed one off the shelf and said
> "this one". I tried so hard to get him to say
> more but he wouldn't--it was so painful. In my
> report I stated what happened and that I finally
> started asking open ended questions and they said
> I shouldn't do that.

But did they tell you what you SHOULD do, instead?

I've only done a couple of 'sales shops', and I've already gotten one who didn't ask me any questions at all, and one who pointed to a shelf-full of laptops, and said, "any of them will be fine for you,' and refused to commit himself further on the subject.

I know. It's ironic. I've spent my entire life not wanting to have anything to do with salespeople, and now I'm sulking because they don't give me a sales talk!

Oh, I had posted about this before. The sales person could not be bothered selling me the cell phone because he was texting while talking to me, telling me, "Just get this. Look at the screen." Then showed me his texts.

These can be painful, especially on unforgiving software programs such as MarketForce whereas the expectation is that a full interaction will take place. If not, the error messages often prevent you from submitting a full report.

What KathyC said! I hate when the report doesn't allow for anything other than a full interaction! Grrr!

KathyC Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> These can be painful, especially on unforgiving
> software programs such as MarketForce whereas the
> expectation is that a full interaction will take
> place. If not, the error messages often prevent
> you from submitting a full report.

MF's software (the old Shop N Chek software with some mostly cosmetic changes) used to be one of my favorites. I only tolerate it now because MF has too many shops I really like.

Were I given a choice today for the software I could use to submit my shops to MF, and I could choose between the hacked-on, prettied-up SNC software or Sassie, I'd pick Sassie, and that's the reason why. Usually there is a way to check some combination of answers including N/A or "clear answer" such as to get rid of every last "OOPS." Whereas with the SNC software, it's often "yes" or "no" with no option for an N/A and worse, sometimes 100 characters of required narrative. Having to submit the CPI and receipts using a separate screen doesn't help. About the only feature I would miss is automatic rescheduling without having to email a scheduler (MF doesn't allow this for every client or shop, but most shops can be rescheduled twice).

The situation which requires staying with the old SNC software may be pure scalability (MF probably handles more shops per day than the 5 largest Sassie companies put together), but from a shopper usability standpoint Sassie wins hands down. I've never used it as scheduler or editor so can't speak there.

I have done four motorcycle shops and have yet to get a salesman that will attempt a sale. I ask questions...I make objections....I ask for the price, etc. Is it because I'm a girl? Maybe if I rode up on my Big Dog, that will get their attention. I must be doing something right because none of my reports have been questioned and the MSC keeps sending me offers to do the shops.

I was doing a flooring shop at home (nice shop - $20 for not even leaving the house!). It thought my wooden flooring was in bad shape, as it was all scratched up and had dark stains (discovered after ripping out the carpets). Anyway, the salesman woldn't call his manager for the "best price." He said he thought I could get it refinished - and the stains removed from this business he knew, and he gave me their number!

I did a tablet computer shop a couple months ago, and the salesman seemed to know what he was talking about, once I could get him talking.... He asked NO questions, but at least gave me the very briefest of verbal overview. No demo, no "what are you going to be doing with this?," etc. It was like, "Here are the models we have in stock, and these are the ones we don't." At least I was allowed to ask questions after giving him all possible opportunities to ask those "open-ended" questions. I got enough out of him to do the report, but it was like pulling teeth.

It was frustrating.

I am an intelligent person, but I usually become a little confused or
flustered with "I just don't know where to begin" or "I hate trying to make a choice when I don't really know what I am looking for". I don't direct it as a question, just say it s though I am talking very loudly to myself or the display we are looking at. If I direct my attention back to them, and they still do not offer the kind of help needed, then I enter the report explaining that no questions were asked, and every opportunity was given.

At one car dealership I did, the salesman told me only two things about the car: it has leather seats and a sunroof. Then he just stood there. Duh, I could see those things myself. Did not make any attempt to sell it.

I did one car shop where the salesman was more interested in the fact that I was a professional photographer than he was in selling me the car.

You have 3 kinds of salespeople.

1. Truly unmotivated, lazy and disinterested in helping the customer.

2. The old belief that the customer does not want to be bothered, up-in-their-face approach is a huge no-no, so they sit back and wait for a signal from the customer that they need help.

3. Proactive salespeople, who wait a few moments, approach with confidance, make the customer feel relaxed and do the personalization and establish rapport.

SunnyDays2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You have 3 kinds of salespeople.
>
> 1. Truly unmotivated, lazy and disinterested in
> helping the customer.
>
> 2. The old belief that the customer does not want
> to be bothered, up-in-their-face approach is a
> huge no-no, so they sit back and wait for a signal
> from the customer that they need help.
>
> 3. Proactive salespeople, who wait a few moments,
> approach with confidance, make the customer feel
> relaxed and do the personalization and establish
> rapport.

There's at least one other kind--the absolutely insane. I'm always going to remember the car salesman, (and this was when I was really buying a car,) who didn't see any reason to give me a test drive, flew into a fury when I said that, yes, for what he'd offered, I'd drive the car home that night, and then flew into another fury when he discovered that I'd gone and bought the car from another agency.

Add another--the salesperson who goes beyond proactive into annoyingly aggressive--which doesn't relax the customer or establish rapport. There's a salesperson at the department store I work at part time who is so in your face and like a bulldozer that some people buy just to get her out of their faces. Then do the return.

I love this thread. I stopped doing retail as so many times they asked nothing and I tried and tried to get them to the point of asking one or two questions and then for the sale with mild encouragement. I never thought I could just say they never did anything. But it seems this is an acceptable answer. I could never understand how people did these shops in 10 minutes. Now I know! I will have to get up my courage to go out and just take nothing and silence for an answer.

me too, Sandy! I say stuff to fill up the awkward void. I have been working on not doing this and letting them sink or swim on their own. I will ask enough appropriate questions to make my being there seem legit, but that's it. And that can only be one or two, really.

I have awful cell phone shops where the employee just points to the cell phone, tells you to check it out and walks away! Horror!

Then, I have had cell phone shops where I am warmly welcomed and the employee goes into great detail, explaining the phone in full, asks me questions and lets me hold the phone and try to operate it.