I went today and spent under 30 bucks. A miracle, for me, and only because I had someplace else I had to go in a massive hurry.

Hm. Must train Barnes & Noble to offer silly-looking bags. Because even at my height, a lady does eventually run out of arm-length to hold her books!

And you’re right, “I can help you [in this way]” is a lot better phrasing than “can I” in a situation like that. A little understanding goes a long way.

Later…

Best experience? Chapters book stores. I tend to… um… buy a lot of books. So here I am, juggling about 50 pounds worth and still wondering how many more I can pile up before it becomes dangerous and…

“That looks heavy. Here, let me help you put these in a bag.”

Every. Single. Time. I think they train their people to say that.

1) Acknowledging I’m in trouble without making me feel stupid, because obviously I’m doing JUST fine on my own… oy…

2) Taking charge. Don’t make me think. Of course I need the damned bag. Don’t ask me if I want help. Take charge and do it for me.

I’m TOTALLY relieved every time. More than happy to take their silly-looking bag and be stared at. And now I have more space to buy more books.

Awesome.

One girl even offered to take them to the counter and hold them for me but I felt bad for her. She was tiny.
James Chartrand – Men with Pens´s latest blog… Are You Freelancing the SMART Way?

OMG, I’m never going shopping with you. Sounds scary. My dad does that. Capricorn that I am, I make a list of what we need, we decide the two stores in the one town that we need to go to, I give it an hour and half max and tell Mom we’ll be right back.

She doesn’t even hold dinner for poor, hapless Kelly, off on an unintended day-trip with my father the oooh-looky-there shopper. And then it’s months before I’m back, I forget, and we go do it again… aaargh!

People always compliment his distinguished expensive tastes. Yeesh, your same charming salesgirl is in the software department at his electronics store!

On your side note, agreed. I wish they’d redeploy the greeters to halfway into the store when shoppers finally do have a question. No stocking racks so they look too busy to disturb, just that same friendly face, positioned better to catch folks when they’re really needed.

Until later,

Kelly

That’s one of the biggest wastes of money I’ve seen stores make. Way, WAY to early in the process and the automatic response that I’ve seen happen 9 times out of 10 (other people, not me) is a polite smile and a “no thanks, just looking.”

And Ms. Just Looking ends up never getting helped again, even when she’s walking around with three pairs of pants in her hand looking for the dressing room.

Also, there’s the “do you want to try those on?” girls. I always have the urge to say, “No, I want to wear them on my head.”
James Chartrand – Men with Pens´s latest blog… Are You Freelancing the SMART Way?

You can see how it’s very, very easy for me NOT to buy. How the hell can I buy when I’m totally enamored with everything else going on?

Here’s what I’ve done to cope:

1. When I have NO NEED to buy and simply want to go to shopping-mall-disneyland for the stimulation it provides, I block off the WHOLE DAY. I have no plan. I know what time I will leave, and that’s it.

No purpose. Nothing. I just… go. And wander. And do a lot of impulse buying, which means that I do spend money but without goal. It’s whatever catches my eye or looks cool – and that means I go into a LOT of stores, explore TONS, and walk out with my hands empty.

Until something catches my eye. Kind of like the store owner has to win the lotto that day.

OR.

I know what I want, like Grant, before I even get in the car. Before I leave the house. DAYS before. And when I am ready to buy, I go with laser focus (so as not to get distracted by stimuli, ads and shit I don’t need that day).

I walk in the store. Head down. I am BUSY FOCUSED. I want one thing – whatever it is I’m there to get. Don’t distract me. Don’t ask me if you can help me at this point – you will only hinder my sale. I KNOW what I want.

I get to the item and only then can I relax a bit and explore different models. And I do.

COME TALK TO ME. That’s the key point where you can, and should, notice that I’m just about ready to buy and hesitating over subwoofers or five-disc ability or something silly like that.

Do not wait for me to choose. (Best brand name at lowest cost). Upsell me. (Best brand name, longest life, most expensive). Convince me. (Yes, I really do want to spend that much money). Make me love you. (That girl who sold me the accounting sofware was SOOO sweet to me.) Make me happy about my choice. (Tell me I’m not an idiot for spending all that money. Compliment my distinguished expensive tastes!)

That, darlings, is what makes ME a loyal customer.
James Chartrand – Men with Pens´s latest blog… Are You Freelancing the SMART Way?

Glad you enjoyed it.

Exactly… If he’s going to be such an Easy sale, we have to be an Easy buy, don’t we?

Andy,

Y’all, I can’t grin any further than ear-to-ear. It’s nice when you decide to go all-out and folks get it. Thanks.

Yes. The dreaded homepage is the bane of everyone’s life. I think I’ve only worked with one Internet site where it wasn’t a major factor, so don’t take it too badly.

The neat thing is, it’s only one page, and a large improvement there can give most folks a moment to breathe while they make the many smaller improvements on interior pages. Get the customer in the door, and they’re much more open to whatever they find. But if the door’s not enticing… oops!

Tony,

True, you can’t control what they search for. (My own experiences here bear that out comically!) But oh, many sites can do a lot better job. And looking at those logs is an eye-opening first step.

Sounds like your eyes are open, lol.

Until later,

Kelly

First, you can’t control how smart Mr. E. is about searchin. Far too many people have not a clue what to put into a search box.

That means it’s much harder to control the results he sees. THAT can be very frustrating, particularly when you review logs as I do and see some bumbling person trying to find something and failing miserably through his own ineptitude. You, as a human, can look at those attempts and know EXACTLY what he wanted, but your search software was completely confused and useless.

Aaargh!!
Tony Lawrence´s latest blog… How to prepare and plan for Incident Response by Michael Desrosiers