(photo credit: pexels.com)
Just a few days ago, I was having my usual lunch break. I had wanted to visit the boutiques near my workplace for quite a long time but only managed to visit one because of time constraints. So on that day, I decided to drop by another boutique near my office. My visit to the previous boutique was great. The sales person was very friendly and helpful. However, this other boutique I visited gave me the worst experience ever!
When I stepped into the boutique, the sales person who attended to me asked me what I was looking for. I genuinely was looking for a presentable formal winter jacket for work. So that was what I told her. She seemed helpful in the beginning by helping me find a coat. However, the coat was not warm enough for winter! Then, she started introducing me to her trousers, woolen poncho, summer blouses, high heel shoes and winter leggings. She said she wanted me to get the whole idea on how to get the ‘look’. Another sales person later on accompanied her to attend to me. And they were trying to convince me how good I look in those outfits, which I found very annoying!
After trying on the clothes, I felt that they were not suitable for me as they did not match my taste. The main sales person made me feel bad by making me feel that I am not looking at the bigger picture. I mean, really – can you just change somebody’s style overnight?
The overall experience in their shop was rather unpleasant. When you shop for clothes, you would want to feel relaxed and free to browse through clothes with no extra pressure to buy them. My experience in that boutique was the opposite. It was as if there were two hyenas attacking their prey! Yes, I really felt like a prey in that boutique.
So my conclusion to all this is to say that there’s a clear difference between providing excellent customer service vs. being pushy. When you show your desperation for something, you usually push people away. Great customer service would mean being helpful and approachable without the expectation of getting anything else in return. Customers can sense this straight away.
In the case of this boutique, if their clothes are really awesome, people will buy them anyway. They shouldn’t act super desperate to sell their clothes. Being like this only drives away potential customers. I would never ever like to be pressured into buying something. Even if I really liked those clothes, I would not have bought them because of how they approached me as a customer. Would I ever go back to their boutique again? The answer is – NO! I’ll be too afraid to walk into their shop again.
However, if they had not been so pushy and desperate, I may actually pop in their shop over and over again until I find something I would like to buy.
Have you ever had a bad experience at boutique or any other shop before? Do you think that being pushy drives away customers? Share your thoughts here.
(Please note: The photo at the top is NOT the boutique I visited. It’s just for an illustration only.)
