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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think if a customer tells you they're in a hurry you should serve them quickly?

28 replies

BridgetBidet · 24/07/2013 13:36

I've been for an interview this week with a major high street brand and they had the following scenario:

You have a customer who wants to buy a pendant for her daughter's 18th. She says she's in hurry and refuses your offer of a drink and seat, you show her four pendants and she doesn't like any of them and leaves without buying. What went wrong?'.

Well I didn't get he job because basically I said that the assistant serving her hadn't been efficient enough. The customer had told them that she was in a hurry so they should have been able to find out more efficiently what she wanted in a short amount of time and ensured that the pendants that they had shown her were more likely to be those she'd want.

I didn't pass because the company thought the problem was that not enough 'rapport' had been established and the salesperson should have insisted that she sit down, have a drink, have a long conversation about her daughter and what she might like.

I'm not sure about this because I think in 90% of cases if someone tells you they're in a hurry and you start pressuring them to sit down and have a drink they're going to think 'What part of I'm in a hurry didn't you understand?' and it would be the worst possible service.

I'm not worried about not getting the job because I don't think it's the culture for me and they're too pushy. But I'm wondering about going to other interviews and if it's just me who thinks this and what I should say if this question comes up again?

So what would you think in that situation? If you've told an assistant you are in a hurry would you want to be served like this or in a fast efficient manner?

OP posts:
CocktailQueen · 24/07/2013 13:37

You're right - they're wrong! If I was in a hurry I wouldn't want to sit and have a drink! Bonkers. Mind you, nor would I shop for a pendant if I was in a hurry...

Poledra · 24/07/2013 13:38

Fast and efficient. Don't flannel me with drinks and sits-down, I'm in a hurry so please, get on with it.

Basically, I'd rather be served by you Smile

NinaHeart · 24/07/2013 13:38

What Cocktail Queen says.

CajaDeLaMemoria · 24/07/2013 13:39

I get what you mean, but you are thinking about it from the wrong point of view.

The shop want you to say what is better for THEM, not the customer.

In this case, forcing the customer to sit down, talk about her daughter, look at a lot of jewellery - you might have made the customer late, but you maximise the chances of a sale, which is what the shop wants.

As a customer, I'd want to be served quickly and efficiently, so would anyone.

CailinDana · 24/07/2013 13:39

So they reckon the best customer service comes from ignoring what the customer says? Bizarre. If i went to a shop and they made me sit down etc i'd be mighty pissed off. No one likes pushy selling.

Gruntfuttock · 24/07/2013 13:41

No one would tell an assistant that they were in a hurry if they didn't want the assistant to take that into account in the way they behaved would they? Therefore fast and efficient is precisely what is required and disregarding what the (potential) customer had said is far more likely to result in an annoyed and frustrated customer rather than a sale.

Snot rocket surgery, is it? The company's attutude is wrong IMO.

londonrach · 24/07/2013 13:44

You right they are wrong. Customer said was in a hurry therefore you try to be quick to help her out. Okay this time there was nothing suitable BUT as you listening to her she might return/ recommend the shop to friends. Sometimes its not about selling at that time!

alwaysinamuckingfuddle · 24/07/2013 13:50

What a complete load of bollocks! If they tried to make me sit down with a drink when I was in a hurry I would leave and never go back. Idiots!

There is a lot of jumping through hoops at interviews these days. Just feel glad you didn't get the job.

Picturesinthefirelight · 24/07/2013 13:54

If I told an assistant I was in a hurry it would probably mean i had to pick my daughter up at a certain time. If they tried to get me to sit down/have a drink etc I would or

Picturesinthefirelight · 24/07/2013 13:54

I would probably leave without even looking at anything as I didn't have the time.

Picturesinthefirelight · 24/07/2013 13:55

I'd love to know which brand this was.

MissStrawberry · 24/07/2013 14:00

Any assistant who insisted on anything from me would be seeing my back as I left the store and my face as I asked for the manager to complain too.

UniqueAndAmazing · 24/07/2013 14:03

you were definitely right - why would you try to take time and strike up a rapport with a customer who is in a hurry?!
i didn't mean not to strike up a rapport, but to do it quickly.

don't show 4, show her the whole tray!

if i have a customer who is in a hurry, i even apologise, and offer to look for their request so they can come back later.
but i also try to be as quick as possible

KoalaFace · 24/07/2013 14:03

You wouldn't fit in there OP. Much too sensible!

Can I ask which store? I'm very nosey.

UniqueAndAmazing · 24/07/2013 14:04

more likely to make a sale if you hurry

Original poster
BridgetBidet · 24/07/2013 14:08

I would think you were more likely to make a sale if you could find out exactly what they wanted really efficiently and make sure that what you showed them was really likely to be what they'd like. Or yes, show her more, I did say that!

Well I've decided if asked again I will say the same. If they're the kind of co I'd want to work for I think they would agree. I think this one was much too pushy.

I would hate it if I told an assistant I was in hurry and they ignored me.

OP posts:
Original poster
BridgetBidet · 24/07/2013 14:14

Incidentally I another thing got on my nerves about them. It was a group interview and they sent us out of the room to tell us if we'd got into the final interview stage. They seemed to sent us out in order from the least likely to get through to the most likely to get through. E.g. all the freaks and nutters and those who couldn't really speak English went out first.

There was this blonde dolly bird who had sat through the entire interview with her mouth completely shut and hadn't said a word. Yet she seemed to come really high up in the order. It did make me think they were wasting our time a bit. We might as well just have sent in a picture if all they really cared about was how we looked.

OP posts:
weisswusrt · 24/07/2013 14:20

Drinks, sitting down...rapport?? This just screams hard-sell to me. Most Brits hate being overly chummy with sales staff too.

Gruntfuttock · 24/07/2013 14:25

Which store please? You have nothing to lose by telling us where to avoid

Jan49 · 24/07/2013 15:04

What shop is this where they offer you a seat and a drink? I don't think I've ever been anywhere like that! I think you were right and they were wrong. It sounds like they think the customer in a hurry isn't really in a hurry and just needs persuading into staying and buying.

I once had an interview in the financial services industry involving a telephone role play. I had an empty desk, a phone and nothing else. The interviewer phoned pretending to be an increasingly irate customer, annoyed as the wrong amount of money had been taken from their bank account and they'd gone overdrawn. I politely apologised, took their details, gave them my details and my assurances that I would get right back to them. It was the wrong thing to do. I was supposed to give them an instant answer because the company prided itself in dealing with 90% of customer queries instantly without needing to phone back. Except that for me to answer their query instantly, I'd have been inventing facts as I had no information at all. So someone who had pretended to look at a computer screen and made up some information would have got the job.Confused

Crinkle77 · 24/07/2013 15:17

It seems like bit of a stupid scenario anyway. If you were picking a special present for your daughter's 18th you would go when you had plenty of time. You wouldn't choose something when you were in a hurry.

DreamingofSummer · 24/07/2013 15:20

Name names please - so we can avoid!

BackforGood · 24/07/2013 15:20

Like Jan - I've never come across a shop that wants me to sit down and have a drink before making a purchase - even if I hadn't said I was in a hurry. I'd think that was a bit odd, tbh.

Eilidhbelle · 24/07/2013 15:29

Is this a jewellery chain that begins with B? If it is, this is exactly the reason we didn't get our wedding rings from them. They messed about for AGES, sucking up about the wedding, showing us a million rings when we'd already pointed out the ones we liked, and just being really gushy and fake. It was so weird. You're better off out of it, I think!

NotYoMomma · 24/07/2013 15:44

in my job I need to call business owners, 90% of whom are too busy.

it is my job to make what I have to offer them so irrisistible that they will make a bit of time for it. Even if it is 'I have quite a few suitable tgibgs ready to show you in the back, if you just sit there for a minute I will go and fetch them straight away because I know your time is precious'

or some such twaddle. acknowledge their time restraint, reassure them that you will be as efficient as possible and try your best to make them relax and sit down

and maybe make up a tale about your neice turning 18 last week Wink Wink