Do you prefer a employee to come up to you when you are browsing or do you prefer to go to them for

I'm not bothered. I use to work in a very large retail shop and we were constantly made to wonder around and ask if the customer was okay. Of course, I didn't mind doing this. The only problem was that by the customer got to the back of the store they had already been asked if they needed any help about 5 times from 5 different people and were usually quite irritated by the time they got to me.

Even if I could see one of my employees ask someone if they were okay and I let the customer go past me without being asked AGAIN, my manager would come up to me and tell me to go and ask them and i need to get better at my job.

So I really don't mind, I know they are just doing their job

 

I prefer to be left alone and if I want help I'll go get it. I can be a grouchy person but I try my best not to be rude, I understand sales people want commissions but if I say "No, not right now" or "No thanks" please leave me alone. The worst part is that I feel like whenever I do want help no one is around or can offer anything helpful, or worse, they act condescending. The latter mainly applies to computer hardware, before I did more research on processors and graphics cards I would get this a lot, which still irritates me because it can be a very daunting task deciding what type of card or cpu to get when you still cannot make heads or tales of socket types, sli or whatever. I guess I shouldn't expect an employee to explain all that to me but years ago I just remember having to deal with very snide employees. My general attitude with anything computer related though is to take a purely "do it yourself" approach.

To cease deviating from the topic more though, I prefer going for help. I do not want someone breathing down my neck or acting concerned, 9 times out of 10 I know they want a commission but if I say no please leave me be.

 

I only want to have a salesperson follow me when I need their help about a product or I can't find what I'm looking for. Other than those instances, I would just prefer to shop in peace and by my lonesome. I don't like someone looking over my shoulder when I'm shopping.

 

I felt the same about car-lots, and furniture stores, but the customer service in our area is almost non-existent in stores for groceries, clothing, office equipment, etc. I'm old enough (61) to remember the days when people would greet you when you walked in, I mean, they actually seemed to be glad to see you. Not like the employee that doesn't even look at you, as if to say, I really wish you would go away. I also understand many employees don't get treated well by their employers, but I just believe that doing a good job with people, serving them as best you can, is going to benefit a person.

I would definitely be thrilled if I walked into Walmart, and didn't have to chase an employee down to get there help. No exaggeration here, I have had to do that. I have had them walk by me as fast as possible, heaven forbid any eye-contact because they know they are stuck if they look at you, LOL!! Is this true or what??

I say, be glad they have a job at all the way things are nowadays! Work hard and move up the ladder if you don't like your job. I know I am rambling, but yes, I much prefer friendly, customer service. If I'm going to buy from you, which pays your wages, then have some respect.

Good topic, thank you for it, I got to vent a little, lol!! denise

 

I'm a little of both. I do like the employees coming up to me, but they come up a bit too quickly for me. I'd rather be given a bit longer to be allowed to look around myself, but obviously I know they're doing it because they get paid more if they make the sale, and their managers make them go up asap to try and get more sales.

 

When you guys do have to ask an associate for help, are you usually polite? Some rude, silly cow at Walmart yelled at my daughter for not asking her if she needed help.
My daughter was wearing her school uniform and doesn't work at Walmart, so why should she ask people if they are being served?

After we walked away, we agreed that it's not appropriate to yell at anyone ,whether they are a real employee or not. People at Walmart work hard and it's wrong to act entitled and demand service in a loud voice.

 

I can't agree more with you ACSAPA, anyone that would do that doesn't deserve good, customer service in my opinion. I am friendly to everyone when I go into town. I'm so isolated out here that it's a real treat to go in, and actually have a chance to talk with people. I do think people today lose their tempers a lot easier than they used to. Kind of like "the whole world's gone crazy", it seems true at times.

I'm sorry that happened to your daughter, I've often mistaken folks as employees because of the color of their shirt etc. But one thing I have fun doing nowadays, is actually helping people, even though I don't work there. Especially the elderly, I know my way around our stores so I'll help someone find what they need. Again, in my area at least, it's almost as if people that are working truly hate their jobs. I mean I'm not talking about all people in our stores etc., but I hear people griping a lot about the poor, customer service.

Still, I wouldn't be rude to someone I am hoping is going to help me. If I'm lucky to snag an employee I am way nice to them, make them glad the helped me. And if I can get them to laugh or even smile, it makes my day denise

 

I'm always, always polite to the people in shops and stores that ask if I need help. I understand that they are trying to help, and also that if they get the sale, they get a commission off of it so it's a a good thing for them if you say yeah, you do actually need help. Even if they're saying that they can't do something for you, whether it be in store or if it's customer service over the phone, it's just best to be polite to them. They're just doing their jobs, and they don't have all that much control over things when it's actually their higher ups that set the rules.

 

I prefer to just get help if I request it. I like browsing sometimes and I don't intend on buying anything when I'm in this mood, and I always feel bad whenever I have to tell an employee that I'm just browsing. I do get that it's important as a practice for shop owners, though, since they want to appear as friendly as possible, so I still don't mind it too much whenever this happens. It's just a personal preference anyway, and I'm sure lots of others prefer it the other way around, so I just go along with the system as it's not really that difficult for me to shoo them away in these occasions, just a bit inconvenient.

 

I hate it as well. It puts you on the spot to buy something, even if you would have otherwise decided to refrain for now and look around elsewhere. If the salesperson spends like 10 minutes yapping to you about the product and you don't make a sale with them, then it makes you look like the jerk for wasting their time - even though you didn't really want their help in the first place, they more or less forced it on you.

I wonder if they could simply come up with some sort of app to work with people's smart phones, whereby a salesperson could introduce themselves, then sync up with my phone in some manner then I could page them when and if I needed their assistance. I had a problem with a pushy salesperson at a local furniture store, breathing down my neck the whole time I was trying to look at the different couches and tables. I was going to make a large purchase at the time since I had moved and sold off all my previous furniture, but it was so distracting having them pummel me with questions and comments. Plus I was trying to discuss what I wanted to spend with my other family members who were with me, and I didn't need to have the salesperson right there listening to everything I was saying - some of that stuff was none of their business.

 

It seems like whenever I need help, I can never find an employee and when I'm just browsing, I'm all of a sudden the most important in the world.

I don't mind being approached by an employee asking if I need help, but it gets annoying when 3 or 4 people come up to me in a 5 minute window. Sort of like when a waiter/waitress comes to your table asking if "everything's alright" every 2 minutes. It gets to be excessive at a certain point.

 

I personally don't really like when employees come up to me and ask if I need help, but I understand that they have to. When you work retail or any sort of customer service, you HAVE to go and ask customers how they're doing and if they need help. As long as they aren't being super overbearing (Looking at you Home Depot employees) I really don't mind. Also, if you get mad because you've been asked if you need help several times by several different people, just remember, they don't know you've already been asked. They have to make sure to greet and ask every customer who comes in if they need help, it's part of many companies policies.

 

Here in Ghana, it's customary for an employee to greet you and try and assist you as soon as you come into the store. Some will follow you the whole time until you need their help. I know that it is ingrained into our culture, but honestly, it drives me insane! I would much rather go to an employee when I need help than have one come up to me when I am browsing, but it is just one of the nuances of my culture that I will have to learn to deal with.

 

I prefer to browse and ask for help when I need it, however I used to do secret shopping and I had to wait for a sales person to approach me as they were evaluated on how long it took and how they did it with an open or closed question. They also get bonuses for good secret shopper reports so many will approach customers as they know they are being mystery shopped.

I know when I worked in retail I was mystery shopped and approaching the customer was an essential part of the job or the initial eye contact or follow up. So I do understand why they do it, but they should know when to back off and be available when and if needed.

 

Being experienced as a customer and a customer service employee a few times in my life, I rather have myself ask a customer agent than have him or her bother me. I really do not like customer reps start asking me a load of bullshit general questions, because in my own experience, they're profiling me and questioning my intent, which is insulting to I. Some times, I just ignore such people and continue browsing whatever I wish to observe - I don't owe them nothing, because they're the ones who obligated their selves to have a duty to the customers, not I.

I just think, it's much more ethical, to allow a customer to ask a customer rep instead, because I remember many times in my experience involving mentally challenged, deaf, and blind people did not understand my questions to help them at all, so I decided from such experiences, it was better to let customers come and ask me questions instead.

 

I prefer to make a connection with someone rather early in my visit and then I can let them know what my intentions are. If I want to just browse for a minute, they can give me a second, while keeping an eye on me. If I am pressed for time, then they can speed up the process by already being there for my questions.

 

I prefer when store employees make themselves findable, but don't approach me. I really don't like to be approached and sometimes have avoided stores where they do that. I would not call myself an anti-social person in general, but I am an introvert and sometimes I am very socially fatigued and do not want to interact with people at the moment, or I am just browsing and thinking and don't really want to be disturbed. I don't like it when I am looking for something specific and can't track down an employee who isn't working the cash register, that's really annoying.

 

It varies, there has to be a balance. I don't want to be completely ignored, but I don't like the feeling of being followed around the store, being followed tends to happen in the higher end stores, where employees are on commission. For instance, I really like COACH handbags but I hate going into their stores because one feels like they can't look at the merch in peace, there's always someone breathing down your neck.

 

This post is intriguing. I have worked in retail, and they really do push employees to give a persuasive sales pitch from the moment someone walks in the door. It was really uncomfortable for me to do my job sometimes, because I could tell people just wanted to browse and find their own way most of the time. As a shopper, I really do not like an aggressive approach. I have replaced items I had planned to buy back on the shelf because I wanted to get away from an aggressive clerk. It's interesting to me that so many people prefer to have a less pushy approach. Why does it seem like all companies pressure employees into aggressive tactics if customers dislike it?

 

I just need to know that there is someone around if I have a question. When I used to go to Home Depot, I found that if I went around lunch time there were no employees but the cashiers (and only a couple of them) hanging around. I started going to Lowes and there are people all over the place, all day at any time asking me if I have found what I wanted. They don't hang around but they are at least there if I need help.