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What does a Sales person need to Know?
After reading through another thread about where to buy a new camera, I came to the conclusion that Photographers expectations are too high when it comes to the specialist knowledge of sale personnel.
The primary function of a sales person is to sell
To do this they need to have a sufficient understanding of a customers needs and how to satisfy them. They need to have the skills to engage a customer and sell, be it a box of matches or an aeroplane.
In the case of Photographic equipment the required knowledge base is now vast. In the 60’s every camera had the same few controls, and worked the same way. If you knew how to work one. you could work a vast majority of them. True, a few had their quirks, but they were the exception. A salesperson with a general knowledge of photography was the norm. Selling was easy.
Since that time cameras and accessories have become increasingly complex and specialised, to the point where digital cameras now have unique ways of doing things that are all their own.
Almost every user has to go through a learning curve, to even have a basic knowledge of how to work a new model. What chance does a young sales assistant have to know the ins and outs of every model in stock, or what accessory will work with which. And by the time they have some sort of handle on them, new models come out….. Even if a sales person has a wide knowledge of photography they can soon be out of their depth on the specifics of individual cameras.
A Photographers looking for new kit has a far easier task, as they can spend time researching just a few major items that take their fancy. They can soon gather a specialist knowledge about what ever they want. They may strike it lucky and find a sales person who has also researched those particular items, and who can discuss their needs in a constructive way, but more likely they will only have a superficial knowledge of those particular items.
However a sales person has one major advantaged over a customer. He knows that anyone entering and looking around has an interest and is a potential customer and is open to persuasion to buy.. It is the job of the sales person to convert that interest into a sale. A highly skilled sales person will rarely fail to do so. However such skills are in short supply. And they do not come on minimum wages and a 9 to 5 attitude. Nor are many are found in the photographic world, and at counter level.
We the photographic customer are very much on our own, we generally have the greater knowledge and all the advantages. When we visit a store, we mostly know what we want to see, we want to handle and compare between a few possible choices. What the sales person says in answer to our few questions is more likely to cause amusement or annoyance, rather than create a sale. We are of course the superior being.
When we have finished our perusal to our satisfaction, and done our best to bully down the price. We leave with out a care in the world and buy on line, or possibly a grey import.
The poor sales assistant is left duly smashed and disheartened, only to be intimately interrogated and smashed down again by their manager. No wonder they are seen lurking, huddled and in fear at the back of the store when the next customer enters.
After reading through another thread about where to buy a new camera, I came to the conclusion that Photographers expectations are too high when it comes to the specialist knowledge of sale personnel.
The primary function of a sales person is to sell
To do this they need to have a sufficient understanding of a customers needs and how to satisfy them. They need to have the skills to engage a customer and sell, be it a box of matches or an aeroplane.
In the case of Photographic equipment the required knowledge base is now vast. In the 60’s every camera had the same few controls, and worked the same way. If you knew how to work one. you could work a vast majority of them. True, a few had their quirks, but they were the exception. A salesperson with a general knowledge of photography was the norm. Selling was easy.
Since that time cameras and accessories have become increasingly complex and specialised, to the point where digital cameras now have unique ways of doing things that are all their own.
Almost every user has to go through a learning curve, to even have a basic knowledge of how to work a new model. What chance does a young sales assistant have to know the ins and outs of every model in stock, or what accessory will work with which. And by the time they have some sort of handle on them, new models come out….. Even if a sales person has a wide knowledge of photography they can soon be out of their depth on the specifics of individual cameras.
A Photographers looking for new kit has a far easier task, as they can spend time researching just a few major items that take their fancy. They can soon gather a specialist knowledge about what ever they want. They may strike it lucky and find a sales person who has also researched those particular items, and who can discuss their needs in a constructive way, but more likely they will only have a superficial knowledge of those particular items.
However a sales person has one major advantaged over a customer. He knows that anyone entering and looking around has an interest and is a potential customer and is open to persuasion to buy.. It is the job of the sales person to convert that interest into a sale. A highly skilled sales person will rarely fail to do so. However such skills are in short supply. And they do not come on minimum wages and a 9 to 5 attitude. Nor are many are found in the photographic world, and at counter level.
We the photographic customer are very much on our own, we generally have the greater knowledge and all the advantages. When we visit a store, we mostly know what we want to see, we want to handle and compare between a few possible choices. What the sales person says in answer to our few questions is more likely to cause amusement or annoyance, rather than create a sale. We are of course the superior being.
When we have finished our perusal to our satisfaction, and done our best to bully down the price. We leave with out a care in the world and buy on line, or possibly a grey import.
The poor sales assistant is left duly smashed and disheartened, only to be intimately interrogated and smashed down again by their manager. No wonder they are seen lurking, huddled and in fear at the back of the store when the next customer enters.
but the problem is that a lot of things are just not in the shops these days so I'm forced to buy more and more on line. I'd much rather walk into a shop and buy but it's increasingly just not always possible.
