Lrsky
Again, I appreciate what I interpret to be your good intentions and sincerity here.
But 25 years later, I still cringe at my memories of fellow audio salesmen peering through the glass door to check out a customers car before deciding if they should pounce or continue reading the paper, and/or cheesey leading questions like "Is that a DAYTONA?! (watch)" or salespeople whose most valuable asset was their own watch, trying to project that they were somehow on the same level as what they assumed to be a rich customer.
And to me, this type of superficial analysis contributes to all of the worst stereotypes about high end salesmen with patronizing, chippy attitudes.
While we are on the subject, here is an anecdote for you:
A few years ago, I had a similar conversation with a guy who specialised in selling rare, low mileage air cooled Porsche 911s and Turbos.
He explained to me that one of his best customers was an African American man who drove up to his showroom in a rusty old van wearing a ripped T-shirt and dirty jeans.
The moral of the story is that after he treated this customer with SERVICE and RESPECT, he bought his first car the very same day on the spot.
As he began to trust the salesman, he confided that he ran a cable television company in NYC (made $ millions) but was so sick of being stereotyped either negatively because of his race or positively because of his job that he went shopping IN DISGUISE with the old van and T-Shirt routine, just to see which salesmen would treat him well, regardless of appearances.
To me, this simple lesson in business could cure the majority of problems in high end audio stores and has nothing to do with noticing whether or not someone's shirts are monogrammed.
Cheers
Cwlondon
Again, I appreciate what I interpret to be your good intentions and sincerity here.
But 25 years later, I still cringe at my memories of fellow audio salesmen peering through the glass door to check out a customers car before deciding if they should pounce or continue reading the paper, and/or cheesey leading questions like "Is that a DAYTONA?! (watch)" or salespeople whose most valuable asset was their own watch, trying to project that they were somehow on the same level as what they assumed to be a rich customer.
And to me, this type of superficial analysis contributes to all of the worst stereotypes about high end salesmen with patronizing, chippy attitudes.
While we are on the subject, here is an anecdote for you:
A few years ago, I had a similar conversation with a guy who specialised in selling rare, low mileage air cooled Porsche 911s and Turbos.
He explained to me that one of his best customers was an African American man who drove up to his showroom in a rusty old van wearing a ripped T-shirt and dirty jeans.
The moral of the story is that after he treated this customer with SERVICE and RESPECT, he bought his first car the very same day on the spot.
As he began to trust the salesman, he confided that he ran a cable television company in NYC (made $ millions) but was so sick of being stereotyped either negatively because of his race or positively because of his job that he went shopping IN DISGUISE with the old van and T-Shirt routine, just to see which salesmen would treat him well, regardless of appearances.
To me, this simple lesson in business could cure the majority of problems in high end audio stores and has nothing to do with noticing whether or not someone's shirts are monogrammed.
Cheers
Cwlondon