Kube

I missed it and couldn't find it.....

marty888

Don't know if this is the one you mean .... published August 18th:


As Retailers Go to Self-Service, New Products Raise Questions


Electronics retailers like Circuit City and Best Buy say customers prefer a low-pressure sales environment with staff trained in product details.


By SAUL HANSELL

Nearly all of the major electronics dealers have moved to a self-service format with hourly workers. The reasoning is that commissioned sales clerks, who could make as much as $100,000 a year, are overkill if they are selling $50 DVD players or $250 digital cameras.
But the next hot consumer electronics product is digital television. There is a growing demand because of the advent of high-definition broadcasts and sleek new flat-panel display formats. With prices from $500 to $10,000 and technology that is still confusing, digital TV's might well be tailor-made for a traditional sales floor with personal service.

"As the top players become more similar, here is a great opportunity for people like us with a trained sales force," said Kenneth R. Weller, chief executive of Good Guys, a West Coast electronics chain. The chain can doubly benefit, he said, because people who buy big televisions can be talked into buying new surround-sound systems and other services.

TV makers are mourning the move to self-service, even as they ship more and more products to the mass retailers.

"I went to Circuit City because I was waited on" before it changed its sales strategy, said Rick Calacci, senior vice president of Sharp Electronics, a unit of the Sharp Corporation. Sharp Electronics is the leading maker of LCD, a type of flat-screen television. It now gives its latest models first to dealers with "assisted sales floors" that know how to talk customers up to more expensive products, he said.
To cope with fewer commissioned sales clerks, Panasonic, a unit of the Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, has put more product information on its Web site and even in its cartons. "We want to make our television box so attractive and appealing, with all the features easy to comprehend, that you can make a decision even if it is piled on a shelf in a Wal-Mart or Costco," said Merwan Mereby, Panasonic's director for sales planning.

Best Buy and Circuit City respond that their hourly employees are still trained in product details and that customers prefer a lower-pressure environment. Both are rearranging their sales floors to make space for flat-screen televisions so customers can see and decide what they want for themselves.

"We are going to have such a large assortment of televisions that people will say, `I can't shop for a television unless I come here,' " W. Alan McCollough, the chief executive of Circuit City, said.

POWERBOMB

A whole lotta article which doesn't say much. Except what I have been saying for the better part of the last 2 years. Customers don't care about service, they only care about the price.

PalmerJoss

Gotta agree with you there powerbomb. I couldn't care less about service(just as long as there is a cashier). I absolutely hate it when I get approached by a salesperson asking if I need help--I've walked out of stores for having pesky salespeople. The price is what compels me to go to a particular store.

Groucho

Obviously, most of us here in this forum don't want to talk to the salesperson when buying electronics...since chances are we know more about what we are buying than anybody working at the store.

nekobus

Yeah right. I think they mean their staffs are well trained in pushing extended warranties.

They can print all the product info you want on the box, but if they sit in the back room, it doesn't do them any good.

In addition, commissioned sales clerk DOES NOT always equal knowledgeable sales clerk.

folgersnyourcup

NONE of the employees at my local Circuit City know any more than the absolute bare minimum basics of the televisions they are selling, many of them know much less than that. The MANAGER I purchased my HD set from was clueless. Best Buy is even worse. Something must be done to stop the misinformation employees are giving their customers. It's just sad.

UAIOE

When i worked at Best Buy i never, ever got any proper training on any of the portable radios/portable CD players/keyboards/headphones/CD/MP3 players that resided in the Media Department. The only actual "training" i got was how to "recommend" various expensive accessories to someone who was buying a portable CD player.

I would have felt a whole lot better knowing SOMETHING about these items instead of having to read the info off of the little paper sheets that have the prices on them.

nekobus

Exactly. This is what bothers me the most, the amount of misinformation given out to customers. I overhear the most amazing amount of crap being made up by clerks when they don't know the answer to a question.

Yeah, it cracks me up when I ask a clerk at BB a question and he reads the tag (which I'v already done myself) and looks at me like "there, I've answered your question" and launches his sales pitch for their service plan.

UAIOE

"well, its got 88 keys!"

"It has 20 seconds of skip protection!"

Nothing makes you feel more idiotic than having to read a sign the person asking for info can read.

What i lacked in info on those items i made up for in customer service (answering music questions and generally being helpful) and knowing release dates for DVD's far in advance of what the computer in the store did.

C_Fletch

Personally...I have yet to find a sales person that knows more than me. I just gave up asking questions. They just don't know or they read the little tag and go...uh....uh....I gues I don't know. If I want REAL info I come here or the HTF. At least then I can count on the info to be correct and not misleading or even worse... wrong altogether. How can it be that a bartender can mix a drink but a sales person can't explain simple options on a TV?

nekobus

It's not just BB, CC and the other "big box" electronics stores. I was recently in a mid-level A/V chain store with commissioned sales people who always boast about how much monthly training they get on products. I overheard a customer come in to buy a dvd player and the saleman asked "what brand of TV do you have?" The customer replied, "Sony". The salesmen then proceeded to tell him that he should buy a Sony dvd player because you should always try and get a dvd player that's the same brand as your TV because you will get a better picture. The poor guy bought it and left with a Sony dvd player.

scroll2b

I have to agree. I remember the HDTV guy wouldn't stop about the Monster power strip, and how clean it is. But ask him the hard questions, and forget it. Most of them at the dvd section don't bother you much, though. But, when you do need help, some don't even want to check the computer for you. How hard is it to do that?

MrE

I can count the quality service I've had asking about av components during the last 20 years on one hand.

Come to think of it, I don't even need a hand.

Deftones

yep. Best Buy's claim of no pressure only applies that the sales people aren't on commission. They still pressure the hell out of you for PSPs, PRPs, Netflix, BB credit cards and other ****.


I never got specific training either when I worked part time in Media, but it wasn't a big deal. I managed a video game store for 5 years, so I knew everything about games.


Very true. I heard some of the most idiot things come out of the mouths of sales associates when I worked at Best Buy. Fortunately I took over the reigns of the video game department when I worked there, and made sure the people working with me knew their stuff.

UAIOE

Its fine when you have previously worked around certain things but i have never had to/needed to work around keyboards and karaoke stuff.

During those times when idiots arent playing the keyboards or gracing the store with thier "best" singing voice...people have asked me about these items.

1. i cant answer questions about these items because i dont know squat about either of them.

2. (not that bothers me) How does one sell a service plan on an item you dont have any info on? I'm sure others bumble thier way through it but i'm not that kind of person.

Nobody in our department knew anything about these items because they were put into the Media Department after opening a new store. If you are going to add some items to a department that didnt carry them previously, and expect the employee's to attach a load of crap to each item bought, it would help to train above the usual "here is how to sell a PSP".

Chrisedge

Trust me it's a no win situation. I sold consumer electronics for 10 years at The Good Guys and Circuit City. I was VERY knowledgable, nice and honest. Rarely does that pay off in commissioned sales. Guys that lied, or were "slick" were usually the ones that made more money. On top of that, any customer asking enough questions that a "average" sales person couldn't answer either, was just testing the employee, or just a total time waster to begin with. A good sales person knew to drop these losers quickly. They weren't gonna buy anyways.

Now for all the folks on here, of course you don't want a commission sales folk. You know better than they do on products and such because you can find much better info on the internet, and they don't pay sales people enough to bother learning about everything anymore. Look at the average worker now in Best Buy or Circuit City. They are just out of high school, working for little money and are trained more on how to keep the store neat, than the latest plasma set. Get used to it.

menaz

I found a sure fire way to get rid of these people offering me all that garbage. Every trip I take to Best Buy, I end up using one of the following quotes:

For extended warranties: "I am sorry, I dont need one, if the item breaks, I have enough money to buy a new one and replace it." They just look at me kind of puzzled, but say "OK" and they shut up. How I wish that quote was true and not a lie to get them off my back, hehe.

Netflix: "Thank you for the offer, but I am already a member." Then they just say theres no need for them to talk to me then and to have a nice day.

BB Credit cards: "I have enough bills I cant pay and my credit rating is in the negatives." The look they get on their face with that one is priceless, truly a kodak moment.

I suggest you guys try that one of these days, its the best way to walk in and out of best buy in record time.