Aveda salesperson makes me feel guilty

Dear Aveda salesperson,

This weekend, I visited your shop in Stonestown Galleria, and I can say without a doubt that you have a tough job. You have to cheerfully sell salon-grade beauty products in the mall, and it's not even the nice mall. But it's the one closest to the my house, and parking is easy. In other words, it's that mall. 

This means you sell products to me, a late thirty-something woman, who in her aging pragmatism is willing to spend a little more on a trusted brand. While I am still young enough to incorporate a few up-and-coming brands in my regimen, I keep your products around like some people carry their pillow onto the airplane. Your products give me confidence that my hair will at least look okay. That actually means a lot to me, even if it doesn't sound glamorous to you. 

I would encourage you to embrace this fact. It might help us avoid those awkward encounters we seem to keep having, like the time I entered the shop, grabbed a jar of Control Paste, and headed straight to the counter to pay. You unsuccessfully offered me a dainty cup of tea as if I might want to stick around. It was the nice, yet naive, gesture of a young man who may never know what it's like to be a mother shopping with two kids in tow. But know this: It will take a lot more than tea to get me to relax in the mall with my kids. 

With this memory still fresh, I returned to your shop last Saturday, once again with two kids, and this time with my sights set on the Rosemary Mint shampoo. When you rung me up, you asked, "Would you like to save a bag today?"

Would I like to save a bag today? I didn't like that question, and it caused me some consternation. If I said "Yes," I would be a do-gooder, which I'd like to think I am. But if I said "No," well... there's no way to feel good about that. And that was precisely my problem. I wanted a bag, and you left me with no graceful exit.

Before I finish my story, let me stop and make a suggestion:  Don't make customers feel guilty about using a bag because it leaves them feeling bad about the overall experience (and thus the brand) and it chastises them for making a purchase, which is the very reason they need a bag. There are better ways to encourage customers to save bags and simply better ways to ask. 

In my case, I bought a 34 oz jug of shampoo, which weighed 2 pounds (and said perhaps too much about me). My purse couldn't accommodate it, and I wasn't carrying any other bags. If you considered my purchase, you might have thought twice about asking your question the way you did because lugging that much shampoo around the mall would have been rather awkward. But it was clear that you did not, and frankly this made a face-to-face transaction feel oddly impersonal.

What's more, I was carrying in my hand a Belkin Mini Surge Protector (yes, the one with two USB chargers!) from the Apple store downstairs, where I had just refused a plastic bag knowing that I would get a paper one from you. So, in fact, I had saved a bag today, just not one of yours. It may be asking too much of you to put the clues together, but you wouldn't have had to if you simply asked me if I would like a bag, without the moral spin that forces me to disparage myself.

Young salesperson, I like your energy and good intentions. I worked in the mall and know what it can do to your spirit. But I hope if you are interested in honing your craft that you actually look at your customers and interact with them as individuals. That means noticing the details, learning to read people and empathize with them even if they are different than you, and most of all leaving them feeling good about their experience in your shop. You aren't selling products. You are Julie, this little Aveda shop is your Love Boat, and every passenger is different. Even the grumbly ones like me can find love again, right? Well, at least you have to believe it. 

Sales is one of the best skills you will ever know. If you are smart, you will use it in every aspect of your life. Even if you hate your job, take this opportunity to exercise your interpersonal skills because, as you will see, those who have them are most likely to succeed...and please others in the process. 

-joanie