Knowledgeable Salesmen in Thailand

[TotallyOz]

I was at Siam Paragon last week and the BF needed some running shoes. We went to the store there that has the most shoes and asked for him to try some one. The salesman had zero knowledge of the shoes, which ones were for running and which ones for leisure and he didn't even know how to measure for the right shoe size.

 

I got very frustrated and left and told the BF that I would not buy something like this from someone who knows nothing about the right fit.

 

I asked around a bit and was told to try Super Sports in Silom Complex. We did and had a much better experience. The guy actually knew shoes and how to size one's feet for the right fit.

 

I guess little surprises me in Thailand anymore but I still get very frustrated when someone is selling something they have zero knowledge about!

[lukylok]

That is really not peculiar to Thailand. The wolrd over now, it is very difficult to find a knowledgeable salesman.

But it goes both ways: still fewer customers nowadays are knoweldgeable about what they buy.

The only that matters is " BRAND".

I know from experience that now less than 1% of the customers, know of the quality of the material, make, cut, ....

[Rogie]

Lukylok is right, the brand is often the clincher for many people.

 

I remember about 30 years ago suddenly everyone in Britain was wearing a Barbour jacket. As it happens they were well-made and a very useful item of clothing for the British climate, but it was to be seen in one that was important. I didn't own a Barbour as such, I had a similar non-branded coat, and one day a friend asked me "Is that a Barbour jacket?". I just muttered "yeah". But I was secretly humiliated. Later on I did buy the real thing but one night my car got broken into and the Barbour was stolen. I'd made the mistake of leaving it on the back seat in full view.

 

Anyone going out for an evening in Bangkok and other towns in Thailand will have seen the Chang girl or the Singha girl or the Tiger girl. I've yet to see a guy! I'd love to know the reaction if you were to go up to one of the girls and ask them to please tell you why you should order their beer rather than a rival brand. I think you'd just get a delightful smile followed by her eyes glazing over.

[vinapu]

When salesperson job slowly converted from lifetime carrier to part time job,  knowledge of product evaporated from people's minds.

 

Nowadays salesperson job is not to advise and help clients but to watch they don't steal and to escort them  to the cash register.

 

It's nobody's fault, it's just we consumers became less demanding and better informed at the same time. At least this is what I think.

[Guest Promsak]

Anyone going out for an evening in Bangkok and other towns in Thailand will have seen the Chang girl or the Singha girl or the Tiger girl. I've yet to see a guy!

Try Silom Soi 4. Lots of them there.

[Rogie]

This thread is about salesmen in Thailand, maybe I can be permitted to refer to the profession in general citing a few examples from outside Thailand.

 

We have a store in Britain called John Lewis and it is run in the form of a partnership. It's a traditional 'department store' - it doesn't sell food, but more or less everything else you might want to buy for yourself or your home. Quoted from Wiki:

 

"The John Lewis Partnership is an employee-owned UK partnership which operates John Lewis department stores, Waitrose supermarkets and some other services. The company is owned by a trust on behalf of all its employees — known as Partners – who have a say in the running of the business and receive a share of annual profits, which is usually a significant addition to their salary. The group is the third largest UK private company in the Sunday Times Top Track 100 for 2010"

 

 

Staff are always courteous, helpful and knowledgeable. They have an incentive to regard being a salesman as a career, and not just a phase they're going through. It has an up-market image but prices are reasonable. Their motto is "never knowingly undersold", so if you see an item priced more cheaply in another store Lewis's will reimburse you the difference.

 

So, on the one hand there are expensive department stores, Harrod's being a good example, and snooty shops selling their own branded product, the prime examples being Bond Street in London, and its equivalents in NYC. Paris, Rome, etc. (I believe Oprah Winfrey had an experience in Switzerland where the aloof assistant patronised her). On the other hand you have down-market stores selling stuff cheaply, but not always so cheerfully, often manned by offhand and badly trained staff. Lewis's to my mind tread a fine line between these extremes, and do it well.

 

As far as the buyer is concerned, it's up to him to get himself clued up. I suppose you could argue if money is no object to him he can go into any shop selling branded products at a premium price and buy with confidence knowing more or less anything they sell will be fit for purpose; and if he doesn't have much clue about what he's thinking of buying the chances are the sales assistants will be knowledgeable and helpful. So you get what you pay for. I certainly agree just about the worst situation to find yourself in is if you don't have much money to spend and you choose a shop selling a wide range of cheaply imported products, plus you haven't done your homework, only to be confronted by a clueless sales assistant. That's a recipe for frustration. 

[lukylok]

If you believe that in buying "branded products" you are buying quality, you are likely to be bitterly deceived.

The only brand I know, however expensive, is always quality,  is Hermes.

But having had the same supplier, the exact same garment was sold three times the price I was asking.

All the others, have their goods made by subcontractants, at a price. And quality control is lax, to say the least.

The margin, and the promised turnover, being the deciding factors.

You will find that one very "high-so" british brand hires a very medium quality "german" maker to make his suits for one part of Europe, while the other part is provided by an italian maker of renown.

But "défilé haute couture" and heavy advertisement obscur "people's" judgement.

And it is not the press, which usually duplicate the PR annoucements, which is going to help the buyer.

[vinapu]

There's easy way to avoid all that frustration we are discussing here. Look around your place, check your closets and ask yourself this question; " do I really need this thing? ", often works miracles both to your well being and contents of your pocket.

 

In connection with original post I noticed that buying shoes for your boy special I noticed this is highly effective way of putting long lasting smile on their faces as long as you do not try to treat  purchase as substitute for due tip. For boys with few offs a month this is really big ticket item they sometimes can't afford for  a while