Box Store Sales Jockey

[howie85]

Perhaps some of you could share your stories of how you held your composure while some box store hero tries to tell you something that you know for a fact is not true. I happened to stand too long in front of one of the new Samsung DLP televisions that was on display and was assaulted by someone asking me if I needed any help and could he interest me in a extended warranty etc.... He then proceded to tell me that I was standing in front of A TRUE 1080P DISPLAY and then went on to tell me that the demo video was recorded in 1080p. At that point I had to ask if the set was receiving a input signal of 1080p and he smiled knowing that he had me just where he wanted me and actually puffed up a bit and proceded to tell me that indeed it was. I asked what model it was and if it was the first one released to actually accept a input of source 1080p and was he sure it was not just upconverting a 1080i signal? NO SIR...a little less sure of himself...it is a direct digital input bla bla bla. I asked to look at the owners manual and verified that it was not stated anywhere that any inputs were capable of accepting this but did not tell the sales jockey, I just thanked him and left.
Did I handle this right. I was bursting with the need to educate this person but he was soooo sure of himself and HE had talked to the rep and so on even when I questioned him directly on the idea that I was pretty sure there was no tv currently available with that capability, so I just left it alone and gave him that yea sure smile as I left.

 

[nav]

If I'm absolutely sure I'm right, I'll correct someone. Well, that is, assuming they're not the violent-outburst prone kind-of person; just not worth it in that case. That's happened to me before...

Then again, I'm normally the one selling the product (although, as I may have pointed out before, I'm the worst salesman ever since I like to point out what a product will not do just as prominently as what it can). Maybe I should go into home audio/video sales? Might be funner, which might stir up more lucrative customer interactions . I don't know everything (far from it!), but I know what I don't know .

 

[CaliHwyPatrol]

I hate it when people try and correct me because usually they are wrong. If I don't know something, I just wont answer it or I will do what I can to find out the right answer, so I guess I wouldn't really fall under this situation. If I am wrong about something, then I will thank the customer for bringing it to my attention because I don't like giving false information. But for the most part, the customer is always wrong, not the other way around!

If I were in your position, I probably would have notified the manager instead of trying to correct the sales jockey. That way you keep the sales guy from getting all up tight and offended because you are trying to correct him and you let the manager know so they can do something about it. I think you did the right thing as far as not correcting or arguing the point with him, but I would have taken it a step further and gone to the management.

A few weeks ago I had an "argument" with a customer who was swearing up and down that lcd rear projection and crt rear projection were the same thing. I was trying to be polite with him until he called me a punk and I promptly removed him from the store. Some people take this stuff waaay too seriously!

~Chuck

 

[howie85]

I think what it came down to is that he thought he could bs me and that I did not know better. I have before corrected a different sales person in this same store but they looked at me like I was from mars. I advised them if they wanted to stay current or even ahead of the curve they might want to spend a few minutes on audioholics or HTA and they could get some real world feed back.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I like to test their knowledge a bit more...

"Really? 1080p? What's that?"
"Wow! Can you elaborate on that some more?" (after getting a completely wrong explanation of 1080p)
"What player do I need to output 1080p if I get this?"
(more incorrect BS from sales guy)
"That's incredible. So, what other choices do I have for 1080p?"
(dude, you are a moron)
"So, what you are saying is that this product, has the first production HDMI boards that accept 1080p, and that despite NTSC being the format DVDs are produced in, that you have some special ones that are actually 1080p native, and that while Texas Instruments has only released 1080p using wobulation technologies, this set doesn't use that?"

No arguement at any point - just questions that may leave the sales person asking a lot more than what he came in with.

We were all clueless at one point.

I have had VERY good conversations with the guys in the Magnolia section who tend to just agree that there is a lot of good stuff from a lot of manufacturers and they only represent one small portion of the A/V game.

 

[j_garcia]

Most of the time I end up asking questions they can't answer, so I just don't talk to them usually. It's rare to find someone who knows what they are talking about. One time I was in Magnolia and there was a cute chick there, and she knew her stuff! "Will you marry me?" LOL

 

[BMXTRIX]

Yeah, I did one install where the housewife was like:

"Yeah, I know there is a 60" CRT and we also have 2 27" TVs above it for watching the games on Sunday, but do you think we could add a projector and screen that drops down in front of all of it so we can watch movies also?"

"I know you are married, but your husband can have my wife, I'm taking you home."