Look ma, no ears!!

Who am I referring to? Pushy salespeople with no EARS!! Two Prudential insurance agents came to my office this morning. Normally when someone presses the doorbell of our office, we’d ask them who they were first. Unfortunately, my colleague happily let them in before even asking who they were looking for. Since I was sitting closest to the entrance, I became prey #1.

At first they just said that they needed 5 minutes of my time to just fill out a survey form. I thought ok, why not help these nice people get their job done? Alas! Their 5 minute survey dragged on even when I stopped them. She went on and on about the benefits of her insurance policy even when I told them I’m not interested, I’m just helping them out by doing the survey. But she was super duper persistent, she wouldn’t go away. Won’t budge but went on and on about her policy and how it would be of benefit me in times of need.

I told her that I already know all about that policy. She just wouldn’t listen to me, she just wanted to talk. It doesn’t matter what the customers’ needs are, doesn’t matter what the customers’ wants are, doesn’t matter what the customers feedback to her. All she cares about is to talk on and on about the policy. Does she really think by doing that, there would be a ghost of a chance she would be able to close a sale? She’s lucky I didn’t chase her out with a broom!!

My previous encounters include one at the Ogawa shop. My parents wanted a massage chair so I decided to go and check out what models are available and their costs. I told a petite little salesgirl I am interested in massage chairs. She kept pushing me to buy a blood pressure monitor. Then I kept insisting I’d like to know more about the chairs. She finally led me to one of the chairs on display there. I asked her how many models are there and what are the differences in features/function and cost. She just said that that particular chair is the best seller and she refused to show me the rest! Then she kept asking me to try the eye-massager. I told her I wasn’t interested. She was so pushy she even pulled the massager over my head and insisted I tried it. That was the final straw, I took it off, told her “No!!” and walked off.

Have you ever experienced walking in a mall and being approached by a perfume salesperson? I have, countless times. It usually goes something like this:
Salesperson: Hi miss, would you like to try this new perfume?
Me: Sure!
Salesperson: (After spraying the perfume on my wrist) We are now having a promotion. If you purchase 30ml you will get this miniature free. If you purchase the 50ml you will get this bag free. If you purchase above RM300 you can get this 7 piece skincare set... yada yada yada...
Me: ??????????

What happened to the simplest fundamentals of asking me if I liked the scent? If I don’t like the scent, do you think all that marketing gimmicks would be of any interest to me? I remember during my own perfume-selling days I was trained by the company on how to approach potential customers and what to say although I was just a part-timer. Don't these people go through training?

I wonder what happened to customer-facing service people who actually listen to the customers before offering anything????