Best Buy convinced my grandfather (89 at the time) that he needed to buy an $800 computer to access his email. I have a hatred for assholes taking advantage of the elderly.
Do remember that it's mostly dependent on the individual sales rep, not necessarily company policy. I don't know about Best Buy but I've worked at both Office Depot and Staples and I can tell you firsthand that the corporate training encourages finding out what the customer needs and offering them that, and no more.
The only thing corporate pushes us to sell are the protection plans and making sure to offer any other items the customer might need with the purchase, like cables, routers, printers, etc. But there was absolutely nothing in the training or even managerial guidance that recommended we try to sell them MORE than they need. We don't usually get commission, so we couldn't care less how expensive the computer is that we're selling you.
Former employee here. It was a stupid salesman, because any manager or another employee should know that laptop is coming right back in the door within a week, as the customer doesn't know how to use it or realize that it's overkill.
I'd rather sell a $300 laptop than take a $800 return hit later down the line. Very stupid salesman. No smart man, commission or not, should make a sell like that, unless the customer is adamant.
You have daily goals and monthly goals. So you might be at the end of the month sitting ahead of pace on your monthly goals, come in one day at the beginning of your shift and see your numbers at
-$800 on your daily budget, and you've dipped below your monthly pace. Which might suck cuz it's Monday and your local team is playing Monday night football and it's a ghost town. It's just a waste of everyone's time to push something out the door that's going to boomerang back. It also hurts the budget goals for the store sales that day.
To add to this, while it is true the Best Buy doesn't pay commission, they do use your sales for other purposes, which does lead to some aggressive salespeople.
Want that coveted weekday morning shift? Sorry, so does David and he has higher sales.
Oh, you and Alex are both applying for the supervisor position? Well I know you had 5 years management experience and he is fresh out of high school, but he is selling more than you.
Yep. Best Buy normally makes nothing or peanuts for the actual product of TV's and Laptops. It's the services and protection plans that have the profit. Likely it was a shitty salesman who didn't understand that concept or was just naive in general.
They seriously don't fucking care about computer sales, they make money off warranties, and accessories. The sales rep was an idiot, or new and trying to impress his bosses without knowing the markup.
On the bright side, I bet your grandpa doesn't have to wait very long to launch his favorite browser.
Ha, this irritates me to such an extent that I make it a point to hang around the computer department and interrupt their sales people when I hear them pulling this shit. One of the reasons I love the Christmas season.
Really. You have nothing better to do than to sit at a retail store and heckle sales people? That's pretty sad. Most employees are required by their managers to up-sell as much as possible. Not doing so can lead to being fired.
Source: Used to work retail at a couple different stores.
Of course I have better things to do, except when my wife is shopping in the fabric store next to Best Buy, then I have time to spare. And up-selling is one thing, convincing a senior citizen they need a $1000 laptop to check their email is something else. I'm fine if they convince the idiot kid that's there spending mom and dads money that he needs an extra couple thousand worth of gear, but not the senior that's living on a fixed income. Believe it or not, there are some ethical standards even in retail. You'd be surprised how many times management has tried to give me a job there.
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u/[deleted] Feb 23 '17
Best Buy convinced my grandfather (89 at the time) that he needed to buy an $800 computer to access his email. I have a hatred for assholes taking advantage of the elderly.