Why Sales People Force Crap on Customers

[It's me]

Interesting piece on why sales people are forced to push customers to buy stuff they don't want...

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2007/05/10.html

[Kara]

We had to do this at Circuit City. We were required to meet a certain percentage of accessories and extended service plans. If we didn't, we wouldn't work there anymore. So yeah, it's not that we actually wanted to pile crap on people, but we were trying to save our jobs. Some of it people actually needed, like USB cables and ink for printers, but the high-end gold plated super cables they wanted us to push were just for numbers (they had like a 50% markup).

[counterjockey]

Reading a bit more into this, I'm reminded of a bad habit of our store's district manager. (The boss's boss, for mine and about 10-20 other stores in our little convenience fiefdom.)

The article discusses the relative merits of intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation. According to the author, intrinsic motivation, in which an employee acts on their own desire to do a good job, is considered more effective than extrinsic motivation, in which an employee focuses only on the proffered reward--money, pizza, not being fired--and might lose sight of a customer's needs or wants.

Our stores were shipped a crate of folding chairs, to sell at $12 each or $20 for two. These aren't bad chairs--they're put together well, look pretty good, and the price is about what you'd pay at Walmart or Target--and I even tried selling a few. ("Have you seen these travel chairs? Have a seat-try it on for size" and stuff.) Then our DM sent an email. This was posted on our bulletin board, until someone ripped it to shreds and buried it under old coffee grounds.

The gist of it was that the district managers were holding a contest to see whose stores could sell the most chairs. The winning DM would (this part is real, hence the quotes) "get all the beer and burgers they want at the district managers meeting." The manager of the store would get a gift card...from the store. The rank-and-file clerks who went out and hustled and sold the damn things...weren't mentioned.

Somehow I think I'll avoid focusing only on the reward being offered to my boss.

[lordlundar]

Yeah, they did something similar. A contest to see which store's Entertainment department looks the best and most merchandised.

The reward? A PSP package for the Manager. Squat for the employees who do the work.

My Manager told me about the contest. I printed out all the planos and told her "You want to win it? you earn it yourself. I make sure the department looks good so I can sell stuff better."

[Ljt09863]

our incentives are nice. costmetics has montly contests. this month, if we sell the most of a certain product, me and the other to girls get $500 cash. usually they are this good. they have had vacations, and gift cards that were $500,and all kinf of great stuff. so for me, it is worth it. and with the items i need to sell for it, i get money for it so even if i don't win, im still geting something out of it.

BUT! i am not bad about it. if i feel a product really isn't that great, i won't go out of my way to sell it. i have been known to recommend other products that i felt suited the customer better. and i don't push it down their throats. if i see a customer who is looking at it, i will talk to them about it, or if they have items that are similar, i will talk about it.

[Knightmare]

...but the high-end gold plated super cables they wanted us to push were just for numbers (they had like a 50% markup).

I remember ordering gold plated fiber-optic cables while managing my RadioShack.
The retail price (at the time) was something like $62.99 for 6 feet.
The store cost? $3.50

[NightAngel]

Most items stores want their employees to push are either high profit margin items (like what Knightmare mentioned) or instant monetary gratification items (such as paid warranty plans, etc.) They are banking on the fact that out of every 10 they sell only one or two will actually need to be serviced while still under warranty. The rest is pure profit.

I don't need to read an article to understand the dynamics of why they do this. It's all about the money and some items really don't bring any profit. Example: New DVDs are an exceptionally low profit margin item- which is why you will rarely ever find a sales person pushing new DVDs on you. The stores only make a few pennies (literally) off them.

[MadMike]

They are banking on the fact that out of every 10 they sell only one or two will actually need to be serviced while still under warranty.

And even then, getting them to do anything is like pulling teeth. At least that's been my experience.