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Why do dealers do this?

I'm an old fashioned guy. I like to make my audio purchases from a store and have a person I deal with, establish a relationship, and know that I have someone I can call when I need things. That is why I went into one of the larger stores in my area the other day, ready to audition a couple of things and buy my system. I had a very clear idea of what I wanted, asked to listen to a component with a view to buying it.
The dealer had a completely wrong approach from the start, and it is not a unique situation. I know many good folks in the business are on these forums, so I want to ask why this happens.
From the moment I set foot in the store he created an atmosphere of fairly intense pressure. He started with "you know, I only demo for buying customers". Throughout the visit, I felt continuously pressured to buy on the spot. I was forced to cut my visit short and I was unable to fully appreciate the component I was auditioning. I went from wanting to buy to wanting to run away - who feels comfortable buying something when pressured and rushed to do so right away? So I left the store unsure that I would want to do business with him. Had I had a good experience, and a knowledge that I can go to the store any time and have a good experience rather than have to find a way to "escape" the pressure I would not only have been happy to buy what I wanted, but would have been back often for other purchases. I cannot for the life of me understand where this comes from. One argument I heard is that store owners don't want to have people audition things and then buy online. Well, first off short of refusing to have a show room I don't see how you can make completely sure of that. So, wouldn't making the customer feel comfortable in your store be a better strategy? For me, I now want to shop online rather than go back. And here is one more twist. All online dealers for the product I was looking at make it clear they will not sell to anyone who has a dealer in their area. So I could not buy that online anyway!!
Can anyone enlighten me? Why can I not go to a local store and have that be a pleasant experience any more?
roc_doc

Showing 1 response by weiserb

weiserb's avatar
weiserb
477 posts
 
I am in sales (printing and packaging in NYC). My job is to develop relationships with my customers not push for an order. I have some customers for almost 20 years. Your retailer needs to look at it that way too. Can my customers get a lower price if they shop around and around. Maybe. But I am selling more than price. My expertise is worth the few dollars more I might be. In many cases my experience and skill can get the customer a better product for less overall cost. So I am not afraid of the cheap print shops. You get what you pay for. This bums rush dealer does not sound like he has the right stuff to win you over so he resorts to pressure tactics in place of skill and knowledge.

If I sold audio, you would walk away from a meeting with me with some new information and ideas, a plan on how to make your music sytem better today and down the road, not just a price etc.
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