“No thanks, I am just browsing!”

We all feel that awkward tension when we walk into a store and are confronted by a seemingly “sale-hungry” sales rep. As soon as we walk into the store, we are expecting someone to come running up to us with a billion questions and strategies to help them make a sale and therefore commission. Due to this, we cower in fear and give the answer we have given a hundred times over, “No thanks, I am just browsing!” This response is understandable and easy, a quick way to ward off the evils of sales. I would personally recommend that every customer would give the salespeople a chance to do their job and hopefully do it well! You never know what kind of connections you could make with them and therefore turn that into a wonderful situation for everyone! These people are (hopefully) well trained and educated on their products and want to give you the best experience possible.

Some salespeople do lack effort and do not deserve your attention and time. In these circumstances, it is alright to ward them off with a quick phrase or two. I was in sales for about a year at an outdoor retailer and I had to learn how not to scare people off. I was quick to learn that confronting customers with the routine, “Can I help y’all find anything today?” was not going to cut it. These people were looking for someone to step in and make things quite personal and intimate. I began to ask questions that would develop a relationship between me and the customer(s). Questions like these were, “Where are y’all from? Beautiful day isn’t it? How has your day been so far?”. I would ask these questions and then follow it by giving them my name and telling them about what the shop has to offer them. A wonderful way to make a sale is by making a friend first. People like to buy, they do not like to be sold!