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A recent post about a camera store reminded me of a story from my last job involving my husband S (we met there).
I know some people will probably say it's wrong, but that's just it - what do you think? I'm curious.
Our PC store had a camera counter. Usually only one person stood at the camera counter because it wasn't hectic-busy all the time, but did get plenty of customers.
Sometimes we'd get people who'd come in to just test out cameras too see which ones they like, which was perfectly fine (I'd show them the difference between the various models and give them as much info as possible).
Once it was really busy (around Christmas time) and there were quite a few people looking at the cameras (they were all on display and alarmed, so someone had to be serving you to test them out with you.)
S was approached by a couple who said: 'Oh, we're not buying the camera here, we've seen it cheaper in Jessops. We'd like to try it out though.'
S: 'I'm afraid not.'
Customer: *shocked* 'Why?'
S: 'Well you've just told me you're not buying the camera here. So I'm afraid it's inconvenient for me to show you the camera when theres a queue behind you.'
Customer: 'But we want to try it out. You can't say no.'
S: 'I can. You're buying the camera at Jessops, you're not going to buy it here, and the time I spend here with you could be spent with someone else waiting behind you, who are probably looking to purchase from this store.'
Customer: 'That's not right, we were waiting here.'
S: 'It IS right - you've just told me you're not buying from here so it'd frankly be wasting my time and that of other customers. Why don't you try it out at Jessops? They give demonstrations there too.'
Eventually they just sighed and S quickly explained the reasons why. I would have done the same thing. Basically because:
1. They came in and told us straight away they weren't buying it from us. Not 'we MIGHT buy it here'. Not 'we're considering buying from here but might go to Jessops'. They said, 'We're not buying it here as it's cheaper elsewhere.'
2. In December, the store is VERY busy. So much so that sometimes there are queues to see salespeople. With the camera counter, the salesperson can only deal with one customer at a time (alarms, danger of stealing etc). Normally a customer will like to try out cameras, ask for info, buy a package - so usually it takes 5-10 minutes per customer, often more. Spending this time with a customer who is not buying from us is not fair on those waiting behind who ARE going to buy from us.
S told the manager and the manager said he was right in declining.
Personally, I would NEVER go into a store and say, 'Oh, I want to use up ten minutes of your time but hey, I'm not going to buy from you.' I know that people like to test things out and do a bit of research, we all do, but for God's sake don't admit it.
Unless of course, they wanted S to beg and plead and cling to their feet in the hope they bought from our store. If that's the case, they lost out.
What are your opinions? Was he right to say 'no'?
I know some people will probably say it's wrong, but that's just it - what do you think? I'm curious.
Our PC store had a camera counter. Usually only one person stood at the camera counter because it wasn't hectic-busy all the time, but did get plenty of customers.
Sometimes we'd get people who'd come in to just test out cameras too see which ones they like, which was perfectly fine (I'd show them the difference between the various models and give them as much info as possible).
Once it was really busy (around Christmas time) and there were quite a few people looking at the cameras (they were all on display and alarmed, so someone had to be serving you to test them out with you.)
S was approached by a couple who said: 'Oh, we're not buying the camera here, we've seen it cheaper in Jessops. We'd like to try it out though.'
S: 'I'm afraid not.'
Customer: *shocked* 'Why?'
S: 'Well you've just told me you're not buying the camera here. So I'm afraid it's inconvenient for me to show you the camera when theres a queue behind you.'
Customer: 'But we want to try it out. You can't say no.'
S: 'I can. You're buying the camera at Jessops, you're not going to buy it here, and the time I spend here with you could be spent with someone else waiting behind you, who are probably looking to purchase from this store.'
Customer: 'That's not right, we were waiting here.'
S: 'It IS right - you've just told me you're not buying from here so it'd frankly be wasting my time and that of other customers. Why don't you try it out at Jessops? They give demonstrations there too.'
Eventually they just sighed and S quickly explained the reasons why. I would have done the same thing. Basically because:
1. They came in and told us straight away they weren't buying it from us. Not 'we MIGHT buy it here'. Not 'we're considering buying from here but might go to Jessops'. They said, 'We're not buying it here as it's cheaper elsewhere.'
2. In December, the store is VERY busy. So much so that sometimes there are queues to see salespeople. With the camera counter, the salesperson can only deal with one customer at a time (alarms, danger of stealing etc). Normally a customer will like to try out cameras, ask for info, buy a package - so usually it takes 5-10 minutes per customer, often more. Spending this time with a customer who is not buying from us is not fair on those waiting behind who ARE going to buy from us.
S told the manager and the manager said he was right in declining.
Personally, I would NEVER go into a store and say, 'Oh, I want to use up ten minutes of your time but hey, I'm not going to buy from you.' I know that people like to test things out and do a bit of research, we all do, but for God's sake don't admit it.
Unless of course, they wanted S to beg and plead and cling to their feet in the hope they bought from our store. If that's the case, they lost out.
What are your opinions? Was he right to say 'no'?
He was absolutely in the right, IMO.
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