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?