Why salespeople should not act like stalkers.

Do you know that feeling when you haven't even set foot in a shop and a salesperson is already up in your face to 'help' you with your needs but in reality just wants to slam us much money out of you as possible? They do not seem to take "No thanks, just having a look around." as an answer. They will kindly tell you that they are just around the corner if you need help. And they literally are. You can feel their eyes burning in your back and more often than not, it will result in you fleeing from the store.

I know sales techniques. I work in sales. The key to it all is to be subtle and honest. Most salespeople fail at this aspect. Today I was in a shop to check out cameras. I know what I was looking for, I didn't need any help. I wasn't offered help either. Instead, with every step I took, I had a salesperson taking two. I was being watched and basically stalked as I looked at cameras. It made me feel so uncomfortable that I left and as I walked away, the salesperson followed me until the end of the aisle.

Perhaps he thought I was shoplifting. Which makes sense of course, because nobody will notice me trying to pull a big ass camera out of the display while 2 employees were watching me. Especially when looking at things like cameras, it shouldn't come as a big surprise that people want to take their time and try out a product before buying. Rule number 1 of not scaring away customers: Don't make it too obvious that you are keeping an eye on them.

Also, don't lie to customers. That's something which happens all the time in clothing shops. I tried on jeans which made my ass look like a skippy ball and it looked like my crotch was only inches away from the floor. The girl who was supposed to sell it to me said it looked AAAH-MA-ZING! She had never seen a pair of jeans and a person who meant to be together like we did. Luckily my cousins were around to assure me it looked shit. So we left without buying anything.

I like to take my time to look at products, consider my choices, check reviews online (even for make-up). I sometimes take ages to make up my mind. One time I was in London, at Boots, when a woman came up to me after I had been walking around the shop for quite a while just to kill time. "You look lost," she said, "Can I help you?" She startled me so at least she did the 'keeping an eye on the costumer without them noticing' well.

I guess I'll just resort to shopping online.