Saturday, March 7, 2009

Problems of a shopkeeper


This morning I had two of the recurring problems of a shopkeeper. You see my wife sleeps in on Saturday morning because she is there opening all week long. I open up and usually have a girl in the store to help me out. I mean I can sell the clothes with no problem but there are certain things I can’t do, like bra fittings. And sometimes a new customer might be shy and not want to come out of the dressing room to discuss the fit with a guy.

But to compensate for that I have my Saturday morning regulars who always come in after they go to the gym or go shopping. If I am not there, they ask for me. When you pay as close attention as we do to the customer’s we have a pretty good idea what your gig is.

So here’s one of the problem. There is this woman who works two doors down at the insurance office. She is about a size 14 which means we have tons of cute stuff that she looks great in. And we are having a 50% off sale and there are some great dresses that are about $60 or so. Great for work. But the problem with this nut job is that she never buys anything. Ever. She has been in the store about 30 or 40 times and has tried on tons of clothes and never buys anything. So what do you do? I mean she might buy something. But she didn’t again. Do you ask her to leave? Can’t do that. Do you ask her why she comes in and doesn’t ever buy anything? I mean my wife could do that but not me. She can talk to her on a woman to woman basis and find out what the story is and what is really going on. I mean the customer is always right. But if you never buy anything are you a customer? Trying on clothes puts wear and tear on them. All of our clothes are in pristine condition. After someone tries something on we often steam them to refresh them. Do I need to go to that effort for someone who never ever buys anything?

They don’t give you a store owner’s guide for these situations. I have to just calm down and use common sense. I can’t go with my natural first instinct. Which is to beat her to death with a shovel and feed her to Mr. Wu’s pigs. You just have to be professional without letting her take the real expensive garments into the dressing room. It is still a work in progress.

The thing is the shovel is handy because it snowed this week.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I open up and usually have a girl in the store to help me out. I mean I can sell the clothes with no problem but there are certain things I can’t do, like bra fittings.

I could go a couple of places with that snippet, but I won't.

I mean the customer is always right.

I don't agree with that sentiment in running my business. I ask people to leave, if I need to. My crew is the best in the business--they know how to get the job done, they're friendly, they're good-looking kids--the best. I watch out for them like they're my own kids.

If a rude customer wants to fuss at them, okay, everyone has a bad day, and it doesn't hurt to be somebody's whipping post (go, Allman Bros.) once in awhile. It even helps you build patience and character. However, if a customer becomes abusive, time to invite them to leave. My crew isn't there for strangers to dump on and curse at.

The guy who runs Southwest Airlines was giving an interview and mentioned that one unruly customer ruins it for the others on the flight, so in that instance, that customer is wrong and needs to be dealt with. That comment made a lasting impression on me. The other day, my manager asked a guy to leave, who was talking/yelling on his cell phone, dropping f-bombs left and right. He was pissed off, but he left, then came back when he was calmed down and we took care of him.

I hope you had some people in the spending mood today.

Trooper York said...

We did Windbag thanks. The problem is you can't throw someone out who doesn't really do anything wrong. I don't stand for nasty people either. I throw them out immediately. I tell them "Hell only I can yell at my employees and only my wife can yell at me, everyone else gets their ass kicked." But if someone is polite and just shops or pretends to shop what can you do?

I can give you an example. This woman comes in and my wife starts to work with her bringing her dresses and styling her the way she does. Now this woman had bought stuff before, not a lot but a few things. My wife was occupied with her and the worker and I had to handle the rest of the customers which is fine. What was funny was that I had two Muslim woman who came in to buy gowns and had special requirements. I mean they were fully assimilated but needed their arms and bust covered much like the orthodox Jews. It's really funny how the Muslim and the Jews have almost the same cultural requirements. Anyway this fat half mick half wop dealing with these muslim girls was something to see allright. They both had big tickets and spent a lot. The woman my wife spent four hours with? Didn't spend a dime. She said "I am just not feeling it today." YOU"RE NOT FEELING IT! HERE FEEL THIS RIGHT HERE!!!
(That was the word bubble that was over my head which I of course kept to myself).

Anyway what can you do? You never know if it is going to be feast or famine. Sometimes you have a pretty good idea so you don't waste your time. Other times they fool you.

Anonymous said...

"I'm just not feeling it"...

The older I get the more I understand The Flood.

Michael Haz said...

Whenever she comes in, ask her for an insurance quote, but never buy.

Pick something different each time; life, auto, commercial, boiler, hole in one insurance for a golf outing you've sponsored, glass breakage, annuity, dental, etc.

When she tries to close the deal, tell her you were just checking the prices.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Swidgen. kok-sukkah

Woo. kok-sukkah.

Original Mike said...

She must buy clothes somewhere (she's not naked, is she?). So, every time she comes in ask her, "where did you buy that dress/blouse/etc you're wearing?" a) you gather information and b) maybe she'll get the hint.