Sales can be pressure-free

A few decades ago I was in desperate need of some extra income, so I took a job at a shoe store in the Dimond Center.

I can’t say I was excited to get the job, but at that point, I took whatever I could get. I quickly became good friends with the store manager and most of the other employees, which made it somewhat pleasant to work there. But you know, I can’t say I ever really warmed to the job itself.

It was commission sales, and while that’s a great gig for many, it just wasn’t my thing. They wanted you to push, push, push customers by doing things like bringing out the shoes the customer asked for plus one or two similar styles (more expensive ones, of course). If we didn’t have the shoes they wanted in their size, don’t tell them. Instead, bring out a similar pair and shove a shoe on their foot before they can realize it’s not the one they asked for and hope they’ll buy that one instead. We were expected to stand at the front of the store (the “lease line”) and say “hi” to people who walked by and be ready to assist (pounce on) them as soon as they walked in — like carnies.

They asked that we push accessories, as the profit margin for them is so much higher. And so there we were, bothering people walking through the mall and using aggressive sales tactics on people who just wanted a dang pair of shoes. I refused.

The store was slow on weekdays and there would usually only be one or two of us until the evening rush. This gave me latitude to do my own thing, which meant I left customers alone. I simply said, “Good morning. Let me know if there’s anything I can help you with,” or some such just so they knew I was there and ready if needed. If they purchased a pair of boots, I let them know we have various products available for water protection, etc. If they purchased dress shoes, I let them know we had insoles, non-skid pads for the bottom or other things people often wanted.

I never pushed. I just let them know the stuff was there in case they hadn’t thought of it. I never brought the accessories out with the shoes and tried pushing all these different products onto the sale. And when I watched other salesmen do that and get all excited when it worked, I quietly shook my head thinking about the other 90 percent of the time it hadn’t. Heck, it used to embarrass me when I would simply say “hello” to somebody walking in and get “I’m just looking!” in response. Obviously, this poor soul had been here before and expected me to go straight for their wallets like a mugger.

But something unexpected began to happen. I began to out-sell all the other salesmen. I wasn’t trying to. I wasn’t competitive about it like most of the others were. After a few months of continued top sales I was asked to speak at a monthly sales meeting. Seems they wanted me to provide some sort of motivation to everybody else about how wonderful their sales methods work.

Uh-oh. When I stood up and, in a nutshell, told them that I was doing so well by ignoring their protocols and simply making myself available to the customer instead of trying to bag them like small game, well, it was a pretty quiet room. Seems corporate bigwigs don’t like hearing that success comes from ignoring their methods.

Anyway, I did that job for a couple years and eventually moved on and up. In the years since, it has been remarkable to see the number of sales-driven businesses that have finally woken up regarding the benefits of no-pressure assistance. Seems I wasn’t the only one who got it. Likewise, I am amused at how many other places are still behind the times and feel the only way to generate sales is to tackle the customer.

Not too long ago I was driving the oldest son around Anchorage as he looked at used cars. Now, I know the rep that used-car salesmen have, but figured those days were behind us. Wrong. Time and time again we drove onto a lot and had some poor salesman following the car around as we looked. My son began laughing as I hummed the “Jaws” shark-attack ditty every time this happened. I told him of the time when I was a young boy and riding with my parents to look at a car. When we drove onto the lot and slowed down to look out to the left at a particular car, a salesman surprised us by opening up my mother’s door on the passenger side — before we had even come to a complete stop, mind you. Oh, Lord, but I thought my step-dad was going to knock the guy out. (Needless to say, we didn’t bother looking at the car.)

About two weeks ago we had a door-to-door salesman trying to get me to buy meat out of the back of his truck. Personally, buying meat off the back of a truck creeps me out, so I politely declined. But this man wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. He wanted to keep pushing the fact that his meat was better and cheaper as I stood there talking to him through an open door on a minus-10-degree day. Again, I chose to be polite and told him that I already have a resource for cheap meat, thanks. But the man pressed me to tell him where I could possibly be getting it cheaper. I finally got sarcastic and told him that we belong to a religion that only allows us to eat ostrich and emu meat. He didn’t have any of that, so he left.

Ever walk through the mall and get nabbed by the people working one of the various kiosks in the middle of the aisle? Drives me nuts. It’s reminiscent of when I visit my buddy and his wiener dogs express their happiness to see me on my ankles. Got me thinking that maybe I should handle it the same way — by swatting them with a rolled-up newspaper and yelling “DOWN! DOWN!”

If you work in sales and know the value of no-pressure customer service, please allow me to thank you. It’s appreciated and you’ll forever have my business.

Ben Compton is a Palmer resident and publishes his column as “Compton’s Corner,” the same title used by his grandmother, Phyllis Compton, a longtime Frontiersman columnist.