Remember this phrase "buyers are liars".

 

^That was my saying when I was in sales.

 

See now I avoid sales staff at all costs when it comes to something I am already educated about. Like car audio, I like to browse the different stores to see what they have and I feel BETTER when they ignore me. Leave me be. I know what I am looking at and talking about [img]smile.gif[/img] If someone asks me for help, I say "No thanks, if I have some questions I'll let you know" I do hate to shop for something that I need the assistance of a sales person. I instinctively do not trust sales people. I've seen what garbage they can spew in the car audio and auto sales industries. It's skewed my perception of them. But I can say I have had some very postive experiences with sales people and I felt I did make an informed decision on my purchase. To me, it does seem simple on how to make a customer trust you and want to buy from you. Too bad not too many sales people know that.

 

It isnt always even the salepersons fault, either.
I wholly agree with SUX, in that I prefer to just browse, and perhaps will ask a few questions regarding various things.

But the overly-interested salesman is often just trying to associate with the customer, be friendly to them, make the sale, etc. It isnt always their fault that they dont know what they are talking about. They are paid to make the sale, they are going to try to talk about whatever they are selling, even if they dont know about it, no one likes to be proven wrong, its human nature.

I was tryin to buy a 'throwbacl' jersey the other week, and the salesman tried to sell me a blatant fake/bootleg. I had said I wanted a Philedelphia Eagles jersey. He was like 'How about Ronnie Lott Eagles.'.
I am a die-hard Eagles fan. I was like 'OK, lemme see..." He shows me. Its a NY Jets jersey mislabeled. I said to him, very quietly, as an aside 'nice jersey, but Ronnie Lott never played for the Eagles, this is a Jets jersey'. He argued with me, 'No, these are Mitchell and Ness, they are always right'. I was like, 'trust me, man, its a Jets jersey, just so next time you know'.
He took it well, was like 'maybe, I am not a big football fan.'
I was like, no worries.
You cant expect everyone in any industry, from sales all the way up to ownership, to know everything. Most people 'higher up' in a business are too busy with that business to spend their entire day/nights researching product, like some enthusiasts might be prone to do. They may be out of the loop, it isnt their fault, I dont blame them. You arent buying their knowledge, usually, so what does it matter, if you know your stuff, that they dont know as much as you.

Buying stuff isnt a D*** measuring contest, but unfortunately some people, customers AND staff, like to take that approach.
I just relax and try to be as nice and fair as possible. Maybe thats just my personality, but I am not going to begrudge a guy a commission or something just because he tells me that Ronnie Lott played for the Eagles.

People should always remember that everyone has stuff they are more knowledgeable in than others. Maybe that 'idiot' who is selling/installing/promoting Type XYZ flea market speakers is a physics PHD, or maybe that guy working at Crappy Joe's House of Overblown Home Theater is a civil engineer from Tokyo whose degree doesnt transfer. Just be polite, no need to act 'holier than thou'.
Its so surprising and fun how far good manners and decorum gets you, nowadays,anyhow. A little bit goes a long way. Maybe if a customer wasnt being a pompous ***, the Salesman whose 'attitude' started this whole thread would have been more open to knocking a few bucks off the price.