MSE News: Brits reject 'Can I help?' shopping culture

Million_Percent

Problem is that sales staff (particularly in retail) are often low paid and under-trained. Asking 'Can I help you?' is about as bad as it gets. It has a negative connotation in that it suggests to the shopper that they aren't welcome unless they want to buy something there and then. It also doesn't work for the sales person as the shopper can simply say 'No thanks, I'm just looking'. Most shoppers will say this automatically.

Best approach in my view is for staff to acknowledge shoppers as they enter but then leave them alone to browse. This makes the shopper feel that the staff are approachable but not in their face. The most important thing is for staff to be observant. Not watching shoppers like a hawk, but keeping a regular check. It's usually quite obvious when someone does want help.

If staff do approach a shopper, they should ask an open question relating to the product they are looking at. I was looking at suitcases in a department store once and one sales person came over with the 'Can I help you?' approach and without thinking I just said 'No thanks'. A little while later another older guy came over and asked me if I was going on holiday. I said I wasn't but was actually looking for a small carry-on case for business travel. His approach instantly broke down the barrier and before I knew it he had 3 suitable cases out in front of me, was asking me how often I travelled, what items I usually took etc. and based on this information actually recommended the cheapest of the 3.

This combination of an open, personalised approach and knowing his products inside-out made it seem to me for those few minutes that he genuinely cared about finding the 'right' case for me not just flogging the most expensive one.

edinburgher

Ah - floor walking - I don't miss having to do that!

I always went with the 'let me know if you need anything' approach and then went off to stack shelves or something, with a glance every 30seconds or so to make sure nobody was feeling ignored.

DCFC79

skintsaver wrote: »

I hate it when as soon as you walk into a shop they pounce on you!

If i want help then ill find you

This is my pet hate, a bit like that scene from Black Books wher ethe customer shouts at the guy.

shammyjack

I hate being pounced on as soon as i walk through the door.

My usual response is " If you want a sale please leave me alone until I request assistance and pass on what I have said to management " .

The thing that I find most annoying is this trend of trying to "upsell " at the till or counter ! The Post Office is the worst place for this . If I wanted to top up a phone or buy insurance etc I would ask . I find this so annoying that every time it happens I ask to speak to a manager and complain !

It may be a good idea for MSE to send a copy of the survey to all major organisations that sell direct to the public.

[Deleted User]

shammyjack wrote: »

I hate being pounced on as soon as i walk through the door.

My usual response is " If you want a sale please leave me alone until I request assistance and pass on what I have said to management " .

The problem being that your response will never bear fruit, because the poor shop assistant has to either:

a) ignore you
or
b) go and tell the management what you've said, be told off for trying to get out of doing what they've been told, and as a result edge one step closer to getting fired

I work in retail, and quite simply we're told from the top that we must greet within the first few seconds, ask "how can I help", stay with customers, and so on. Any deviation and we're asked why we didn't "engage" with the customer more.

shammyjack

billbennett wrote: »

The problem being that your response will never bear fruit, because the poor shop assistant has to either:

a) ignore you
or
b) go and tell the management what you've said, be told off for trying to get out of doing what they've been told, and as a result edge one step closer to getting fired

I work in retail, and quite simply we're told from the top that we must greet within the first few seconds, ask "how can I help", stay with customers, and so on. Any deviation and we're asked why we didn't "engage" with the customer more.

If you hung around me after being told to go away your manager would have his ears burning , Believe Me !

kerri_gt

callum9999 wrote: »

I'm shocked that someone even needs to ask that. Obviously the polite thing to do when someone says hello to you is to say hello back! If you were supposed to just ignore them then they could just put a cardboard cut-out at the door instead of a real person!

I would be quite happy to have a cardboard cut out at the door, I'm going to the store to shop, not stand and hold a conversation with a stranger. Of course I do acknowledge the greeting but numerous times as soon as the words 'hello how are you?' are uttered, they are asking the same of the person entering the store after me, and the next person and the next. I personally love most things about the customer service in the US - particulary the usually helpful, and polite checkout staff, but i don't quite understand the 'greeters' role... It doesn't encourage me to enter the store above others, because I'm already in the door, yet they aren't offering me any help to find an item etc as that's not their role and often they are not familiar with the stock (I know, as I've previously asked) - perhaps it's just to give us all a warm cuddly feeling and be more inclined to spend?

Money-Saving-King

Million_Percent wrote: »

Best approach in my view is for staff to acknowledge shoppers as they enter but then leave them alone to browse. This makes the shopper feel that the staff are approachable but not in their face. The most important thing is for staff to be observant. Not watching shoppers like a hawk, but keeping a regular check. It's usually quite obvious when someone does want help.

Did you not read the post directly above this post of yours? That's exactly what the person did but apparently that was wrong.

I said this before anyone who this "the best way for retail staff is....." has never worked with the public. Whatever way it is done someone won't like it. Virtually every way already suggested in this thread someone has then said they don't like that way.

I don't really see the point in debating right way or wrongs ways. It's like politics there's always going to be people who moan about a way of doing things thinking their way is best.

Mobeer

The key thing for me is that if a sales assistant comes up and asks "Can I help you", then they (the sales assistant) should be confident the answer is yes, they can actually help. Too often the answer is no, because the sale assistant knows too little about the products on sale. If I was actually confident in their abilities then I would be asking for help.

ValHaller

billbennett wrote: »

shammyjack wrote: »

I hate being pounced on as soon as i walk through the door.

My usual response is " If you want a sale please leave me alone until I request assistance and pass on what I have said to management " .

The problem being that your response will never bear fruit, because the poor shop assistant has to either:

a) ignore you
or
b) go and tell the management what you've said, be told off for trying to get out of doing what they've been told, and as a result edge one step closer to getting fired

I work in retail, and quite simply we're told from the top that we must greet within the first few seconds, ask "how can I help", stay with customers, and so on. Any deviation and we're asked why we didn't "engage" with the customer more.

Of course the downside of not telling management is that the punters go elsewhere and the employee edges one step closer to being made redundant.

The trouble with the phrase "Can I help you?" is that it is also the non-threatening way of dealing with a potential trespasser. And when a shop assistant says it to me, if I don't actually want any assistance, I begin to feel insecure about whether I have a good enough reason my presence in the shop and I feel inclined to slink out.