Hello everyone.. it’s one of those days… nothing going on! I thought I would talk about something that I have been meaning to talk about for a while…. good customers vs. bad customers. I talked to the guys at work about customer pet peeves… things that really bother us as retail salespeople. So… may I present to you… SirShanksAlot’s Top Ten pet peeves as a retail salesperson..
1. Customers That Think They Know More Than Us – Just because you watch the Golf Channel and play a few times a week doesn’t mean that you know more than us. We sell golf stuff for a living. We get pages and pages of product knowledge from different companies. We talk to reps and inside sales people everyday. Most of us really know what we are talking about… so try listening for a while… ask questions and we will help!
2. Customers That Talk On Their Cell Phones The Whole Time They Are In The Shop – You’re not that important… trust me. Step outside if you need to take a call… the rest of the customers in the shop don’t need to know what is going on in your life!
3. Customers That Don’t Have Any Idea About Thier Current Equipment – I’m not saying that you have to know all of your specs but at least know the basics… what type of clubs you use, what types of shafts you have… just the easy stuff. Take a few minutes and look in your bag before you come to the shop… or better yet bring it with you. I love when I ask someone about their current driver and I get.. “It’s a graphite, pretty big and the head is black”… gee thanks for all the info! Let me go find you something to match.
4. Customers That Greet Us With “What’s On Sale?” – Guess what’s on sale for people that use that as their opening line? NOTHING. Say “Hi”… it works better.
5. Customers That Try And Swing As Hard As They Can To Impress Us – Swing as hard as you can… we’ve seen faster. See how much you like the extra stiff shaft that I set you up with! Swing normal… let us fit you right and you will be much better off.
6. Customers That Just Flat Out Lie About Distances – If I had a quarter for everytime someone told me that they hit 300 yards with their driver, I’d be sitting on a beach somewhere and playing golf everyday. If you don’t know then tell us. We know what a 300 yard swing looks like. What do you use as your 150 yard club? What do you use as your 200 yard club? Give us some straight answers and we can give some straight advice. Oh by the way… if you hit 300 yards with your driver, why would you want a new one? Can I have your old one?
7. Customers That Tell Us About A Cheaper Set On Ebay – We won’t match prices with Ebay… it’s an auction. There is nothing wrong with buying stuff from Ebay but remember that you are buying at your own risk. Most people that sell on Ebay don’t have to pay for staff or rent… lower overhead means lower prices.
8. Customers That Always Think That They Can Get A Better Price – I want to give you the best deal possible. Why wouldn’t I want to sell you something? Margins on most golf stuff are not that great. If we sold everything for cost, we’d have to close the shop. Watch for an entry in the Golf Club Buying Guide section soon… I’m going to write all about what we make money on and what we don’t.
9. Customers That Use A Shop As Their Own Personal Rental Service – We have demo clubs so customers can take them out and try them before they buy… not so you can try 25 different drivers to impress your buddies. Demo a club… that’s why they are there. We know who the serious customers are so don’t think you’re tricking us!
10. Customers That Ask Us “Bet You Wish You Were Out There Playing Right Now Huh?” – Well what do you think? No… I’d rather be doing laundry at home. We get that one all the time!
Now I’m not saying that all customers are like this… most people are awesome to deal with and I have many customers that I would consider friends. We don’t usually remember the good ones… but we always remember the bad ones! Next time you walk into your local shop… say hi… we’re people too and we are here to make your golf game better. Wow… that’s better… it’s nice to finally get that off my chest! See you all tomorrow!