In-Your-Face Marketing Inside Retail Areas (credit, buyers, organic)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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Yeah, the kiosk people in malls are the worst. Excuse me...and I say "No" and then they say "can I ask you a question" to which I reply "you just did, and blew it". I swear the same 3 or 4 guys and girls work at EVERY mall kiosk in NC! Do I look like I need perfume, hair products, a massage, a ponytail holder, or a radio controlled helicopter?
Location: Sodo Sopa at The Villas above Kenny' s House.
2,492 posts, read 3,021,371 times
Reputation: 3911
First of all I don't put the kiosk people in the same group with friendly cashiers. Those ppl are annoying and aggressive. I've noticed the majority of them are foreign seasonal workers, many of them are from Italy,Eastern Europe etc ..the companies ship them to different cities frequently. What's customary in NYC is different in say,Raleigh. These are usually teens or young adults that are just doing what they know and what they have been told to do. I doubt they live here long enough to learn any different.
Now for the overly inquisitive cashiers. Harris Tester really stresses the conversation with the customer spiel. These are young people with very little real world experience trying to follow company policy by talking to customers. I can see where there might be a problem with appropriate conversation and reading social cues. These are nervous teens, it's something they get used too but for many it's probably like talking to someone else's parent. They haven't developed a filter or matured enough to conduct business socially.
First of all I don't put the kiosk people in the same group with friendly cashiers. Those ppl are annoying and aggressive. I've noticed the majority of them are foreign seasonal workers, many of them are from Italy,Eastern Europe etc ..the companies ship them to different cities frequently. What's customary in NYC is different in say,Raleigh. These are usually teens or young adults that are just doing what they know and what they have been told to do. I doubt they live here long enough to learn any different.
Now for the overly inquisitive cashiers. Harris Tester really stresses the conversation with the customer spiel. These are young people with very little real world experience trying to follow company policy by talking to customers. I can see where there might be a problem with appropriate conversation and reading social cues. These are nervous teens, it's something they get used too but for many it's probably like talking to someone else's parent. They haven't developed a filter or matured enough to conduct business socially.
They are also scored on customer experiences. Those survey calls you get where you rate them. Therefore they are over friendly sometimes.
Once I was buying 2 kids t-shirts at Old Navy, same size, same color (my kid is conservative, what can I say?). Cashier asked me if I had twins. I said no. She stopped scanning and reminded me that these shirts were the same. I said I was aware. She very reluctantly proceeded with check out. For a moment I thought she was going to call police or social services.
Nosy cashiers at Trader Joes - don't get me started. Don't mind friendly chit-chat, but why can't I buy buttermilk without explaining what am I going to do with it?
Once I was buying 2 kids t-shirts at Old Navy, same size, same color (my kid is conservative, what can I say?). Cashier asked me if I had twins. I said no. She stopped scanning and reminded me that these shirts were the same. I said I was aware. She very reluctantly proceeded with check out. For a moment I thought she was going to call police or social services.
Nosy cashiers at Trader Joes - don't get me started. Don't mind friendly chit-chat, but why can't I buy buttermilk without explaining what am I going to do with it?
Not saying you have to tell people your life story, but it's pretty easy when someone asks if you have twins to say "nah...my son just likes multiples of the same color shirt."
Ditto the buttermilk scenario. Saying "I'm making (whatever, or hell, make up something simple)." Will usually result in a shorter conversation than continuing to throw up conversational roadblocks.
Or...shop online and just avoid everyone.
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Most cashiers are told to push credit cards, memberships, and taking email addresses and phone numbers. No store is worse at this than Kohl's. I won't shop there now because they tend to have one register open, and even with 16 customers waiting to check out, the cashier tries to talk every customer into signing up for their rewards program or a credit card to get 10% off, and this process takes several minutes! The register is neither the time nor the place for these things to happen.
saturnfan, you hit on the real problem: FAKE interest. A question that pops into the cashiers mind because he/she is genuinely interested, or even trying to make their own day more interesting, is great. It's just when employees are TOLD to act interested, or to engage the customer, or to pretend they are small-town-friendly that it drives me crazy. It is usually clear who is who(m).
And then the product salespeople in the store. They annoy me most because I KNOW they are simply trying to make a living so I hate having to be mean to them. But on the other hand I hate that they are interfering with my shopping. So it makes me feel doubly awful having to cut them off. Not fair! And it makes me want to avoid that store in the future if I can.
Not saying you have to tell people your life story, but it's pretty easy when someone asks if you have twins to say "nah...my son just likes multiples of the same color shirt.
It might be a cultural difference, but why should it be acceptable to take such strange interest in someone's purchases? Good thing I wasn't buying condoms, I guess...
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