Never go to Mattress Warehouse!

[mcsluggo]

After thinking about this what I'm trying to say boils down to this:

Customer calls store A gets a quote on a thingamajig for $100 salesman says we have that in stock.

then calls store B and gets a quote on a thingamajig for $125 salesman says we have that in stock and......

Anything that comes after the "and" is falling on deaf ears. What is really there is the reasoning behind the $25 price difference.

Sounds to me that most of the people that are responding to my post dont want to deal with a salesman, you all want a clerk, an order taker, someone to give you a price and take your money. There's no skill in that. My daughter can do that, I want you to understand what you are buying, why it costs what it does and why you should buy my thingamajig over the other guys. And all of that can only happen when you are standing in front of me!

/rant

ok.. point taken. However, I assume you are selling something more advanced than a bottom of the line mattress for an 8 year-old. in this case... Price is really the only variable.

if i am ever in the market for an f-14 or somesuch...

[Capt. Kaos]

ahhhh - but see my earlier quote about the Gym memberships. A GOOD salesman would handle it based on their customer.

How it should have gone

"Hi - I'm looking to see what inexpensive mattress you have in stock:

Salesman "I'll be happy to help you with that. We offer many different types and price ranges. What are you looking for in a mattress"

right off -The sales guy now has a way to discuss. Now - I could then answer "Nothing special, My son spends 4 nights a month with me and I just need the most basic mattress"

Salesman could now start discussing what I should look for. He could also go "How soon do you need it? "

It could then lead to a nice conversation where he says "I would recommend Mattress XXX - It is $$ and I have it in stock" or perhaps he would say "the best mattress for you is XXX but I would need to order it. "

There is a chance I could have said "Really - All I am looking at for is price. It will hardly be used so anything that will last me 1 year and is cheap will work" then the sales guy knows that price is the ultimate factor. At that point he should still ask when I need it so he can say "Since Price is what you need, I have a inexpensive one for $129 that I can order. You also said you needed one now. I do have one in stock for $150 but you could get it today".

Now I have a choice, and most likely will pick one of those.

that is VERY different then

"Hi - Looking for a inexpensive mattress. What do you have in stock"

Salesman "I can't give you a price over the phone. Just come in"

I'm sure you can see the difference.

Oh I can see the difference. I never was saying that the way it was handled was the correct way of hadling the situation, I certainly wouldnt have handled it that way. I was just trying to look at it from a different perspective, maybe I worded it wrong or it came across diffeently than I intended.

Either way I'm glad everything worked out and you got a mattress for your son.

[TMK9973]

Oh I can see the difference. I never was saying that the way it was handled was the correct way of hadling the situation, I certainly wouldnt have handled it that way. I was just trying to look at it from a different perspective, maybe I worded it wrong or it came across diffeently than I intended.

Either way I'm glad everything worked out and you got a mattress for your son.

And I'm glad you jumped in this tread... Would have been really boring without you....

[mjah]

You want to bargain shop thats fine but I'm not gonna do the leg work for you while you sit at home. Get in the car and come to the store.

No.

Do the legwork, or you're guaranteed not to get my business. Do you want my money or don't you?

Not a shot at you personally, but my expectations as a customer long ago left behind your preferred delayed-information sales model.

I'll always come in to try out a mattress before I buy -- IF you give me the information I need to determine whether or not it's worth coming in at all. But I'm not going to make a special trip and show up in your store on a lark, just because you don't feel like telling me what I need to know ahead of time.

Edit: To be clear, you're playing the role of a mattress salesman. Presumably you're actually selling something more sophisticated.

[Dictator]

you aren't the only one TMK

http://www.extremeskins.com/showthread.php?t=252544

[Drop]

i'm not sure i understand why someone has to be physically in front of a salesperson for them to "sell" them something, as Capt. Kaos keeps putting it.

You can explain the differences, advantages, cost and anything else just short of giving someone a demonstration of the product (which lets face it, most salespeople won't and don't do) just as easily over the phone, as you can in person.

As far as my comment about what exactly are sales people getting paid to do if not do some searching for the customer when it's requested....as far as i'm concerned, answering questions on the phone IS part of the selling process. You're being paid to sell things, and dealing with customers on the phone is part of that. Wether you take the order over the phone or not is irrelevant. If the person orders it over the phone, great. If not, they come in to buy it. That's great too. I don't know too many retailers who get selective about the manner in which the product was sold. Bottom line is that the product was sold at all, and the company has made a profit by selling said product.

And in all honesty, the idea of a saleperson anymore IS simply a clerk or someone to go fetch the product for the consumer. Anymore if you want someone to explain something to you, the dummy who calls themself a "salesperson" has to go get the manager or someone who's been employed there longer than them to answer the question. No one walks around selling vacuums or brief cases door to door anymore like they did in the 50's. The "salesman" went out with that....unless you're a car salesman or something like that. And those guys are a whole different, sheisty, breed anyway.

[IbleedBnG83]

I did....

I even sent a link to this thread! :cool2:

if you give me their email, i too will email them telling them that your advice has steered me away from ever doing business with them again

[Elessar78]

Then you simply need an order taker, no salesman needed. Go in, grab what you want and be done with it.

A good salesman is never trying to sell you anything. The salesperson should be giving you all the information that you need to make an informed buying decision. If I do that part of my job correctly then you want to buy my product and I didnt have to "sell" you anything.

You're right. I prefer order takers.

So what if you're the salesman of an inferior product? Would you give me un-slanted info about your product?

[Capt. Kaos]

...

I hear what you are saying and I dont disagree as long as the customer wants to hear all of that over the phone.

I think in this case I didnt dumb down my thinking to a simple mattress and that has caused me some confusion in what I was trying to say and the way that it actually came across.

[Capt. Kaos]

You're right. I prefer order takers.

So what if you're the salesman of an inferior product? Would you give me un-slanted info about your product?

That would never happen. I have been selling to long to get in bed with a dog. I found out the hard way a LONG time ago that is never a good idea. Sell the best or atleast the equal of anything, nothing inferior, it causes nothing but pain in the long run.

[Slacky McSlackAss]

My guess is it was commissioned sales. They wanted you to come in so that they could try to up sell you on another model.

[Drop]

I hear what you are saying and I dont disagree as long as the customer wants to hear all of that over the phone.

I think in this case I didnt dumb down my thinking to a simple mattress and that has caused me some confusion in what I was trying to say and the way that it actually came across.

lol, yeah i hear ya. there isn't really a WHOLE lot of explaining to do when the item being sold is a simple mattress.

you've got your basics, like firmness, support, thickness, brand name and material quality. other than that, lol, i don't know how much more in depth you can get over a mattress.