Can a FLGS be TOO friendly?

[[OMENRPG]Ben]

This is completely normal for retail. Did they have microphones and radios/ walky talkies? Probably not.

If they didn't, they had little to no opportunity to give the "all clear" over the radio to the people working in different departments. If it was a slow day and they were somewhat overstaffed, chances are each guy is just being friendly and doing his job. I've worked in retail in the past for nearly ten years, and this is pretty typical stuff.

I wouldn't worry about it, and I seriously doubt it was as pushy as some people think it is. They probably just wanted to make sure you were contacted, and sounds like they pretty quickly left you alone once you told them the scoop.

I find it sad that when I walk in to most places I get a surly "Hello" from the door guard and then little to no service after that. Preference, I guess.

 

[pogre]

Pretty much all a brick and mortar store can offer above the web these days is service and community. I would have been a little annoyed too, but at least it was 3 different folks.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This is the weirdest complaint thread ever.

 

[frankthedm]

So, can a FLGS be too friendly? Have you ever felt smothered by the customer service?

Yes, I prefer to be left alone while shopping.

Yes, the smothering happens notably in stores trying too hard to reduce shoplifting or with high sales requirements for employees. I found Games Workshop stores particularly ire raising in how clingy employees would get.

 

[Ahnehnois]

So, can a FLGS be too friendly? Have you ever felt smothered by the customer service?

Not speaking with regards to a gaming store specifically, but I worked at a specialty retailer for a while. There was tremendous pressure from ownership to be exactly that: smothering. As with many scenarios in life, retailers operate under the presumption that doing something is better than doing nothing. They want your money, so every second they spend not actively interacting with you reduces the chances (in their mind) that they will get it. People who get to that position also tend to be very sociable types in general, and are biased towards thinking that everyone else is that way. There's probably a ton of research on what is the best way to treat a customer, but I don't know what the conclusions of it are.

I do know that I absolutely hate being approached in a store. If I need help, I will ask for it. If I want to strike up a personal conversation, I will not do it in that context. I routinely avoid stores with overbearing service. So when I was working in a store where everyone had to be greeted and talked to, there was a bit of conflict there. I tried to provide the most laissez-faire service I could, and to adapt to each customer. Some customers enjoy a friendly neighborhood vibe and conversation, others need help but are shy to ask, and others are independent and don't want to be bothered. Acknowledging this and acting accordingly is not the path of least resistance. Thus, my point is simply: don't blame the salespeople. They're just doing their job.

 

[SnowleopardVK]

I think [OMENRPG]Ben hit on a big reason above. Each employee is covering their own section, they may not necessarily have time to easily connect with each other and confirm that you've already said you're just browsing, so each one has to check with you.

And of course there's always other potential reasons as well. It could be their policy that the employees are supposed to talk a lot to their customers. I've worked at a FLGS in the past where my boss would always repeat the words "Talk, talk, talk" to me if I was ever not speaking to a customer while there was one in the store. It was fine if there were plenty of customers at once, which was usually the case, as you could go back and forth between them and somebody would inevitably end up wanting to talk to me, which would allow me to leave the customers who wanted to be left alone to themselves. When there was only one though, we'd end up in a situation where the customer says they're just browsing and the owner still attempts to push every employee in the store (but especially me) to go talk to them.

 

[wingsandsword]

Wingandsword, do you happen to be an attractive woman? Because that would explain it pretty fast.

No, I am male. I would like to think I'm reasonably attractive, but I also have a wedding ring on my left hand. You might not remember this, but we met at Gen Con '05. Remember that really late-night Munchkin game at the Embassy Suites?

This is completely normal for retail. Did they have microphones and radios/ walky talkies? Probably not.

If they didn't, they had little to no opportunity to give the "all clear" over the radio to the people working in different departments.

It's a FLGS in a small strip-mall retail spot. Each department I was in was only a few feet from the other. The actual sales floor might be 2000 square feet, at most (with another 1000 feet or so in the back was set up for tournaments, which was unused this day and I didn't visit). Radios? I've never seen retail employees signaling each other with little radios. I've worked retail before, even in a big department store, and we never had anything like that. I really, really doubt it was employees covering each section of the store, unless they have employees covering very small areas indeed. There were 4 employees there (the 3 that spoke with me, plus one behind the counter), which to be honest seems like a lot for mid-day on a weekday at a FLGS, and there weren't many customers.

The first time I was greeted was right inside the door, as those video games I was looking at were right by the entrance. That I had zero problem with, I even said I find coming up to and greeting customers soon after they enter to be a sign of good overall customer service. It just got frustrating that as I just wanted to browse in peace for a few minutes and leave I kept getting greeted and had salesmen wan to engage me in conversation.

 

[Mark CMG]

Sounds ok/normal.

You indicate three SEPARATE individuals greeted you with offers to help with their particular subdept/niche (board games, video games, etc) as you casually wandered thru what sounds like a rather large store; spending "several" minutes within each area - so its likely each was either unaware of the proceeding conversations and/or providing you with an opportunity to inquire asto where your particular interest might be located.

Its not like the repetitive occurrence had involved the SAME individual.

That's my take on things. The other part about selling stuff online under the same store name but not being able to access that stock at the B&M outlet seems like pointless cross promotion of the store brand though.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

There's probably a ton of research on what is the best way to treat a customer, but I don't know what the conclusions of it are.

There is, and I'm a big fan of the work done by Paco Underhill- not written for academics, but for the regular Joes & Jills out there. Why We Buy and Call of the Mall will change the way you look at architectural sales machines, a.k.a. stores.

 

[Bungus]

It might be that the store recently go hit for being unfriendly, and the employees are going through the natural reaction to this situation.