For those who’ve worked sales / retail

[Rakehell]

I’ve recently just started a retail sales gig, and I’m fresh on my learning curve. Turns out it’s alot more nuanced than I would’ve thought heading into the job.

There are a lot of parallels between the job and cold approach, but the approaches you’ll make are quite different.

I’ve been experimenting with my approaches to customers and i’m not gonna lie it’s been a real blow to my ego (nevertheless knowing its not personal).

I’ve found that coupled with the mask, and the the loud music, my vocal projection sucks ass so alot of the time customers can’t hear me. I worked diligently on making my voice attractive but i’ve found it to be useless in store.

The trainers I have want me to be more animated like them but it just comes off very entertaining like. They speak in uptones and are very apologetic and supplicatory. But nevertheless I guess it works for them.

Are there any loop holes around behaving this way? I’ve found myself slipping into this behavior (surely coming off incongruent) and needless to say i’m a little annoyed. I’m well aware how this behavior comes off to women and i’m not trying to form any bad habits.

I’m still strong and congruent with my coworkers but I’m having trouble interacting with the customers.

If you guys that have worked these kind of jobs have any tips with interacting with customers let me know.

If I should just suck it up and condition myself into behaving this way at work let me know.

Can you be strong/sexy and work in the sales/service industry?

I’m glad for the opportunity, I feel like in the long run it’ll help my social skills overall, and my receptiveness when approaching strangers.

My fundamentals are top tier in my opinion, but there are definitely some technical aspects that need work, such as timing, vocal projection, and communicating my intentions more efficiently with the customer.

It’s only my second day on the job so I think i’ll improve a little more rapidly once I have the general tasks outside of service down so my brain can focus on one thing at a time.

Once I get over this hump i’m gonna be on fire.

 

[Starboy]

I worked in retail,but I wasn't on the sales team so I didn't interact with a lot of customers or have to sell to them. The times that customers had asked me for help or assistance I would just take that as an opportunity to be assertive and tell them what I know. If I was feeling up to it i'd even make a light remark or comment in the elevator sometimes. Working retail can help you improve your social skills as long as you try. That's all you have to do try and be open minded and socialize with as many people as you can.

 

[Fuck This]

I’ve recently just started a retail sales gig, and I’m fresh on my learning curve. Turns out it’s alot more nuanced than I would’ve thought heading into the job.



Can you be strong/sexy and work in the sales/service industry?



Once I get over this hump i’m gonna be on fire.

Every store/company has its own style and culture, and you have to do it their way first....Once you are doing it to their satisfaction , then you can add your own twist.

For me it's not about selling a product but solving or preventing a problem.

 

[Rakehell]

Every store/company has its own style and culture, and you have to do it their way first....Once you are doing it to their satisfaction , then you can add your own twist.

For me it's not about selling a product but solving or preventing a problem.

I mean I wasn’t gonna disclose the nature of the store I work at for privacy reasons but I think I can keep it discreet for a better understanding.

They specialize in urban apparel, the customers from what I saw are really diverse in age.
I don’t have enough information to know if this is how everyone interacts but he’s definitely the most bubbly and talkative from what i’ve seen.

The only real expectations are approaching, conversation starting, making your presence known, being approachable for assistance.

You think I should just model after this guy and remix it once I have it down?

 

[Chase]

@SunKing,

I'd test out the up-tone. I've known a few guys who used them very well in seduction; it's not an automatic "if you use up-tones everyone will think you're low status." However, there is a way to use up-tones that sounds... considerate, but also almost mildly condescending? This is the note you want to hit, so part of the person's brain is saying "He seems nice" and the other part is saying "Is he higher status than me?"

Try being animated, too. Most of the students I coached in-field in my in-field coaching days were not animated enough. A lot of the time guys think they're being animated and engaging but they look stiff. Even if it's a bit excessive the way they're doing it in the store, if it works for persuasion and gets you sales it's worth toying around with. You can always dial it back once you've got the sales rolling in.

As @Fuck This says, emulate the guys who've already got it working, and iterate from there.

Also, on the mask-muffle, focus on annunciation and articulation. That'll help you get around the muffling effect. It's annoying, I know.

Chase

 

[Rakehell]

Thanks @Chase , i’ll give it a shot.

I try not to play around with my character too much.

But then again i’ve never been in sales so, obviously it may need a different approach. I’ll try to keep an open mind about that.

Thanks to you too @Fuck This @Starboy