• Date Started: Jan 4, 2020
• Entries: 116
• Comments: 358
• Total Visits: 135,509

Help wanted: Assertive salesman with a teller disguise

11 Responses to “Help wanted: Assertive salesman with a teller disguise”

1. rob62521 Says:
   January 28th, 2020 at 09:19 pm 1580246361
   1580246361
   No, you aren't a grouch. We bank with PNC and a number of years ago one of the tellers called and asked if we could come in and meet with her to talk about our accounts. I hesitated, but then figured, why not? When we got in there, she was friendly and everything and she quietly admitted that they are required to suggest all these things in order to keep their jobs. She didn't sign us up for anything new and that probably didn't help her any. Last year when we went to another bank to pay our property taxes, we had a teller have us sit down and tried to give us the same sales pitch. We have a small savings account there, basically to get a break on our safety deposit box. I guess this is the wave of things to come.

2. crazyliblady Says:
   January 28th, 2020 at 10:26 pm 1580250369
   1580250369
   It makes me wonder if it's kind of like McDonald's where employees are told to try to upsell you. If you order a burger, they ask if you want a Coke or fries. Sometimes, if I go to Walgreens, they ask me if I want to buy a candy bar and I decline. But one time, it made me so mad that I asked what they thought of the ethics of selling candy bars to people who probably come in to get medication for heart disease, diabetes, etc. Basically, the person replied that they don't care but are told to ask. Just a thought, but it annoys me, too.

3. creditcardfree Says:
   January 28th, 2020 at 10:28 pm 1580250510
   1580250510
   Makes me glad I bank online!

4. LifeBalance Says:
   January 28th, 2020 at 11:00 pm 1580252422
   1580252422
   CLL, I'm glad you confronted the Walgreens staff. I once did that at Sam's too after one particularly pushy cashier, and it was probably the 5th time in a row I was asked to upgrade my membership to the expensive one. He just wouldn't let it go so I finally said "Geez, you must be getting a commission on upgrades!" He turned red and nodded. I avoid his lane when I shop there now.

5. disneysteve Says:
   January 28th, 2020 at 11:08 pm 1580252909
   1580252909
   This is very common practice and the pressure on employees can be significant. A chunk of their pay is often linked to meeting sales quotas. If they don’t meet them they lose money, get passed over for promotions, and even lose their jobs. I know a couple of former bank tellers who left their jobs because of the intense pressure and scrutiny they were constantly subjected to.

6. mumof2 Says:
   January 28th, 2020 at 11:45 pm 1580255132
   1580255132
   Just sell back.."now if you can give me a CC that has 0% interest for life and no fees ever with a limit of $30,000 I'm in...they can't and won't so they soon stop...we only get that over here if they have a new product out they will ask..but usually once....

7. My English Castle Says:
   January 29th, 2020 at 12:53 am 1580259210
   1580259210
   It's not the front-line employees' fault. Like Disney Steve says, they're usually nor making much. Complaints should go to management.

8. Smallsteps Says:
   January 29th, 2020 at 01:07 pm 1580303238
   1580303238
   They keep doing it because it works. Someone takes them up on some offer. I agree that I would like it to stop I just want to go in some place do whatever business I have and then move on without a sales pitch.

9. CB in the City Says:
   January 29th, 2020 at 05:48 pm 1580320097
   1580320097
   I go to Sam's quite a bit, but I always use the self checkout. I do sometimes have to dodge salespersons hovering in the aisles, but if caught I usually tell them I live on Social Security and do not have extra money for whatever they are selling. Nicely. It's not their fault. It's their bosses. If I get the upsell during transactions -- anywhere -- I find that a cheerful "No, thank you!" usually stops the conversation pretty well.
   
   My own SIL, a business owner, tells her employees to capture email addresses during sales transactions and rates their performance on that. I think she knows it annoys people to be asked for their email address, but she says the results speak for themselves. My son, who once waited tables and was an excellent customer-oriented server, got criticized by management because he didn't pressure them to get expensive drinks, desserts, etc. It's everywhere and it probably won't go away.

10. LifeBalance Says:
    January 29th, 2020 at 07:55 pm 1580327738
    1580327738
    It's good to hear of your personal accounts. I had no idea that so many workers in jobs I would consider services-related have sales quotas or incentives. I wonder if the companies were upfront about that responsibility when filling the positions.
    
    I guess Smallsteps is right though - they do it because it's effective. I'll do my part to prevent that, and next time PNC or Sam's sends a survey, I'll take it and look for the open-ended 'anything else?' question.

11. disneysteve Says:
    January 30th, 2020 at 03:01 am 1580353283
    1580353283
    "It's not their fault. It's their bosses."
    
    This may be true for a cashier or a bank teller because it probably isn't what they signed up for when they took the job.
    
    However, it's not true for the guys standing in the aisle at Costo trying to sign you up for Verizon or sell you home remodeling services or whatever. They were hired to be salespeople so they knew exactly what they were getting into. I have no issue being rude to them if they won't take a polite, "No thanks" or "Not interested" as my answer and keep pushing after that.

Leave a Reply