Thai Sales Techniques

[howtoescape]

On the plus side of Thai service if you ever go to the dentist for a few hours worth of treatment you got a selection of young beautiful size 6-8s running around looking after you, almost making going to the dentist a pleasureable experience.

Is it the same in hospitals as there is bound to be some treatment i need?

IMO sales people are far more pushy now then 8 years go when i first visited.

[andyadam]

OP is spot on!!!!

But, the wost one for me is shoe shopping......

I ask for a size 10 because that's what size my feet are and have been for years, and when they don't have a 10....try a size 9 sir.... THEY DON'T FIT I take size 10.....rant...rant....rant.....

[technocracy]

Having just returned from Udon for what was purely a shopping trip and I thought I just share a few 'highlights' (lowlights?) from the day trying to spend money . . .

First off - Tesco - one of the items which was on the list to buy was a Microwave - just a very basic manual timer thing purely for reheating food. Strangely it's the only 'whiteware' item I've seen that is cheaper in Thailand than Laos. Anyway me and the wife were looking at the what there was and basically we were looking at the one with the cheapest price (1990 baht). Which was a Samsung 800watt job - just what we needed. However 'som chai' started trying to dissaude us from buying it by pointing out it had a push button to open the door and started rattling the door with his hand trying to show it wasn't built well! Opposed strangely to the one next to it which was nearly 3000baht and had a pull open door! I didn't have the heart to point out to him the model that was one special offer at 3500baht at the end of the aisle had exactly the same push button and a door that rattled when shook as our 1990baht one!

Next - Index - A very Hi-so furniture and housewares superstore - we are currently looking at adding fancy bits and bobs to the house so are looking for numerous items like small sofas, TV unit, small tables etc etc. Basically I am expect to spent 30k baht upwards to get what we want. Anyway we had a long walk around this store kind of marking down the big things which we could well buy (a two piece sofa, a couple of units and few other things). Since we are in Laos we need to get them put them in a van take them up to Friendship bridge and get them taken over - so today really was a day to check out the big stuff and buy some small things.

Anyway by the end of it we were buying a couple of tables, a few vases and other odds and sods - not hugely expensive about 5-6k baht. This morning I was lazy to go to our bank downtown Vientiane so I said I'd just use my UK bank card to get cash for any purchases. So I nipped up to the ATM at the front of the store tried to withdraw cash - it reported the transaction was cancelled and I should contact my branch. I wasn't a happy chap since the account is an international account - but I was also confused since the previous week I'd used my card in South Africa then Malaysia without a hitch. So at this point the customer 'service' in the store completely lost them all sales they could of made! We went to the customer service desk and explained the problem and I just need to make a quick call to my bank to check what the problem with my card was, I was a happy to pay for the call, even better we ask if was there a pay phone in the store (since we aren't from Thailand we don't have a Thai Sim card).

The upshot was there was no pay phone and no we couldn't use the shop phone. My wife asked if anyone had a mobile I could use and we'd obviously pay them for the call . . . with much hassle and total lack of concern of customers a mobile phone eventually appeared with 62 baht credit!

In them meantime the staff were all chatting around about us 'not having money' etc - not that they could even comprehend international banking a anti fraud checks made on card transactions. So we ended up walking out with nothing and won't be returning - might be a fancy shop with big prices but there understanding of how to help a customer just doesn't cut it. Summary Nice shop, shit service - not even a bloody payphone!

So next HomePro - now in my previous post I have mentioned here not in good terms - however this time we went with our nearly 2 month old baby and for some reason you are treated so much differently! No one hassled or trailed us - sure they came and looked at the baby but they didn't pester . . . it was actually positively enjoyable! Ended up spending 6k baht . . on just impulse things as well as required stuff.

Also another kick in the <deleted> for Index was I went to a ATM in Homepro using the same card and hey presto money came out! So not only was there customer service shit - there ATM doesn't even work!

[toret]

the indian tailors in Phuket are the worst, i was followed about 100 m down the street by one bloke saying all sorts of crap.

No problem, he is not the tailor, just a guy trying to get you inside.

A polite but firm question will make him vanish into thin air.

The question: Do you have a work permit?

[Datsun240Z]

Do have to admit there is a serve in anything in Thailand. Even cleaning your *#$$$#* after the mission.

A few examples of how we westerners have to do it ( no lovely ladies here ):

[shiatsuman]

This whole thread makes me wonder how you people actually survive in Asia without having a stroke or heart attack from exasperation. This is not the western world, learn to live with it.

I completely agree...I mean, talk about having petty complaints. I guess it's just that most of these people got so used to no service staff in stores (as well as gas stations, restaurants, cafes, etc.) back home and they can't get used to the idea of businesses actually employing service staff to SERVE their customers! I mean, what an original idea Make you wonder why some people choose to live in Thailand/Asia if this stuff bothers them...talk about no cultural understanding.

I guess it was the best day of their Thai existence when Starbucks came to town and they were allowed to pay the most expensive price in town for lousy coffee beverages AND had the privilege of busing their own dirty tables and self-serving it to themselves For me, I prefer my local Thai coffee cafe that does a fine latte for B 35 (and about 2x size of Starbucks to boot) AND they bring it to my table with a glass of water (in a glass...not self-serve water I pour for myself into a paper cup) and a couple small cookies. Oh, and they also have a buy 9 and the 10th is free card (that doesn't expire in 30 days)!

All the "hovering" doesn't bother me in the least...I just consider it good and (trying) to be helpful service. Of course, some of the following around in stores is to prevent shoplifting (but I'm sure if you were financially responsible for any losses in your department you would keep a good eye on the customers too). In department stores, I also like the fact that I can get most basic alterations done on the spot...and an ironing for free too. I also don't even have to move to pay...just hand off the goods I want to the clerk with the money and in a few minutes it comes back all bagged and with my change. What's not to like.

All you complainers... Get a life!

Is Starbucks really a pigsty ? never been in one so I dont know, but we all know anglo saxons can't make coffee.

Love having personal service in thailand thats having a life

[Texpat]

If I know I'm going shopping, I'll usually wolf down a couple beef and bean burritoes and a fizzy drink before heading out. Keeps the sharks from circling.

Edited June 26, 2009 by Texpat

[yabaaaa]

This is a constant chore for me also. I hate it when they linger. Its not just the fact that they linger, its the way in which they linger.

Think about it. A store in the UK for example will have the same 'followers' clacking at your heels.... but they do so in a more discreet manner. They may pretend to tidy up the area in which you are browsing, or 'adjust' something in the area what doesnt really need adjusting. They do so in a manner that makes you feel less 'watched'. The Thais however just stand there. Looking at you. Gorping at you. With a totaly bored expresion, arms folded.

And what is it when they pick up a T shirt, 3 sizes too small for you, shove it in your face and say 'you like this' when you have been looking at <deleted> shoes!!!!!!

I was in the Paul Smith shop in BKK last weekend and developed a stratagey that may work for me again.. Iritating Thai chick stands three feet from me, looking at me while i browse, arms folded. I was about to walk out, as i usualy do, but i really wanted to fish around for something cool, so i had an idea. I randomly picked up 4 shirts, 2 pairs of shoes and a jacket and said 'please can i try these in xl and size 10'. While she was hunting around the stock room, i browsed uninterupted for 10 minutes, picked up a shirt, tried it on, and paid just as she was walking out of the stock room.

Ask them if they have a red t shirt and watch them produce a black one!! I also like to walk too quickly for them and it kind of confuses them so i leave them with the "blank braindead look" on their faces. Just turn it into a game.

[Jungian]

I agree with you 100% I can not count how many times I have walked away from buying a sponge or car wax just because I was being pressured to buy air freshener. I have mentioned to my wife on many occasions how this bothers me when I just want to have a look around and see what they have. The good news is I have stopped impulse buying, I have a peek around the corner to see if the sales staff is looking I grab what I need and run. On a few occasions I have pointed out to the sales staff that the product information was in English not Thai thus I may have a better clue what it is all about, and once with a really pushy sales person trying to sell me "STP Stop Smoke" for cars that burn oil I pointed out that I drove a BMW and maintained it myself and the average Thai wouldn't know how to change a flat tire, he walked away and left me in peace (it was right when I quit smoking and was in a snit anyway).

[JohnGotti]

I prefer the Thai style, probably because I am not one of those people who spend 40 minutes choosing between one item and another. Most of the time, I just end up buying whatever is most expensive and that is the end of it. Then I usually suggest that they carry said products to the register and then to my car for me.

Personally, I find Thailand a difficult country to spend my money in. No, really. I have a policy of not spending my baht anywhere where I'm pestered, pressurised or cajoled into a transaction, even when it's a bargain and to my detriment. This means I spend 99% of my time looking for the 1% of shops, restaurants etc that leave me to browse in peace. I can't stand the "wellllcome" refrain. I can't stand the "hello sir, how are you" bull. I get fed up with waitresses leaping on you as soon as you even slow to catch a glimpse of a menu. I tire of having a shop assistant hovering on my shoulder as I peruse the goods or waitresses that wait expectantly while I try to find something to eat.

Am I alone in thinking they'd extract more cash from us if they'd give us a little more space to shop in peace? Or maybe people actually like this level of service and it's an effective strategy?

[JohnGotti]

An obvious solution is to wear an ipod.

[fiddlehead]

Well, I've had the opposite problem of the OP and i'm not really complaining about it.

All too often, i go into a shop looking for a particular item that i know they have.

I can't find it so go to one of the salesgirls who are usually very busy with their mirror in their face and plucking their eyebrows or picking at a zit or something like this.

I try to explain what i want and they quickly say "MY MEE"

I say, "But, i bought it here before"

Again, they say "My Mee"

So, then i go and hunt it down and find it myself.

I bring the new one back and show it to the girl (still working on her face) and say "My MEE huh?"

They just shrug their shoulders.

That used to bug me but, then i went back to the states where i went to a salesgirl who could help me. But she was at least 100 lbs overweight with no makeup and didn't even comb her hair that day (or so it seemed)

So, i realized that i prefer shopping in Thailand.

You may not get much help, but the girls sure look a lot better!

[Heng]

Non-issue. When sales folks hover -whether it's Home Pro, Homeworks, Power Buy, or Emmanuelle, I simply wave them off, or tell them that I'll call them over when I need them. When they are out of range and I require assistance, I just wave them over.

Edited June 27, 2009 by Heng

[JohnGotti]

Non-issue. When sales folks hover -whether it's Home Pro, Homeworks, Power Buy, or Emmanuelle, I simply wave them off, or tell them that I'll call them over when I need them. When they are out of range and I require assistance, I just wave them over.

Interesting technique.

[Heng]

Non-issue. When sales folks hover -whether it's Home Pro, Homeworks, Power Buy, or Emmanuelle, I simply wave them off, or tell them that I'll call them over when I need them. When they are out of range and I require assistance, I just wave them over.

Interesting technique.

Yeah, it certainly beats getting cranky because one feels one is being pressured OR on the opposite end not receiving attentive service.

[Shotime]

An obvious solution is to wear an ipod.

I'm being a wiener here, but I do the same thing when I get a massage. Otherwise, they just want to tell me their story, and forget the massage. They can easily lose their focus.

As far as Thai sales techniques, you have to adopt your buying technique depending on the situation. Sometimes, just a look will back them up. If I need help, I go into my mentally challenged persona. What do I care as long as I get what I want.

Edited June 27, 2009 by Shotime

[BigSnake]

Future TOUTs in training, yep they turn me OFF to, I make a quick exit, now why is it when you really need help no one seem to be available DARN, but this is so true. <_<I have a very very strong desire to Slap these future TOUTS.

Edited June 27, 2009 by BigSnake

[sanook2me]

Wow Oh F_uck me don't get me started on this subject i'm trying to enjoy my weekend.

I love living in Thailand and enjoying all the differences from my home country England

BUT one thing i have never got use to are the sales staff.

This is usually in Central

I do the mp3 player but they still flipping hover in my eyesight.

This is not a solution only delaying the inevitable confrontation

and there is only three possible ways this can go

"sir, you want this totally inappropriate size/colour/design/more than 1"

(huff puff and walk off)

"no have"

(yes you do you just can't be @rsed to deal with the farang)

"just a moment, khaaaa/krap"

(result bought desired item staff run to till)

Homepro is a different story.

HOW many sales staff..i hate it...its like play British bulldog to skip past the staff and if you have to take escalator for goods upstairs !

crikes! here we go!

enter top floor, now i have learnt to take a trolley or basket even when shopping for small items as you can brush them off easier with the heavy armour in place between you and the sales supression staff.

Running the gauntlet between aisles and departments must be like outlaws running across the states and passing over the county line! relief as they stop hounding you as you cross from kitchen ware into the tile department only to be accosted by another 10 staff doing F_UCK ALL! except hanging in groups and playing paper scissors stones.

"Mate just f_cking do one while i'm browsing" i must learn to say in a polite Thai manner

[yabaaaa]

Ha ha my biggest gripe here is the bloody people in whatever car park who insist on "helping" me park my car. That bloody whistle make you jump out of your skin and is more likely to make me have an accident. GO AWAY I CAN PARK FINE BY MYSELF freaking hel_l they can see the "reverse" sensors cant they?

[petedk]

I've got used to the staff following me around and don't mind it now.

The one thing I do hate however is buying shoes. I use a European size 45 or 46 and find it almost impossible to buy shoes here. The staff always say "have big size" and come back with a size 44. When I say "No, I asked for 45 or 46" they say "Sorry sir, no have. Have 44. try sir". They don't give up until I try. Usually I can just squeeze my big toe in.

[Garry9999]

If you don't like the level of service in Thailand and you are looking for really bad service, I suggest you try Mount Isa, Australia.

Any Mt Isa Aussies out there?

[calmichael]

I completely agree with the original post, it annoys me too. With a waitress I usually just tell her I need a minute and she'll get the hint. In stores I just tell them I don't need anything. If it comes to it I'll tell them to go away.

They're bothersome, but they're just trying to help. And people generally want to think that they're actually useful and that their job isn't totally useless, so I try to be polite unless they're super annoying. It's seriously gotta be boring standing in an aisle in Big C trying to sell irons or microwaves all day. And some Thai people do actually make use of them. I was at Tesco a few months ago with a girl buying a new fan, she made the clerk take her fan out of the box, assemble it, plug it to make sure it works, and then take it apart and put it back in the box.

I've bought several electronics items from Carre-Four(sp) like DVD players, fans, personal electronics, and phones. They always take the items out of the box to test them for me. Nice touch in my opinion. I know the product is working when I leave the store with it. I especially like buying phones for C.F. None of the nonsense that I get at Tuk-Com. Issues like used/missing/broken items in the box - or my favorite... taking things out of the original box and trying to sell them to me separately.

[IanForbes]

Shop at Home pro, you will love it. Absolutley, nobody will bother(help)..... you even if you ask.

How do they stay in business I wonder?

Your reply was similar to the one about the Big C.

In places where you actually DO need help there is seldom anyone to serve you. That is because they are not on commission. The small shops rely on customers to buy something but they don't seem to understand good salesmenship. The best approach is for a salesperson to ask simply... "Can I help you sir?" and leave it at that. If they hover over you then most customers will leave. I like the idea of the ear phones and I-Pod.

The biggest problem is there is no originality in the products. There will be a hundred shops one after the other and all of them will be trying to sell the exact same product with the same brand names. You have to do too much shopping in too many stores to find what you want.

[yabaaaa]

Shop at Home pro, you will love it. Absolutley, nobody will bother(help)..... you even if you ask.

How do they stay in business I wonder?

Couldn't resist a reply. P T G has 'hit the nail on the head' . I occasionally go to Home Pro and am constantly amazed at the huge numbers off staff in the store versus the customers. Must be 5 to 1. All busy stacking, pricing, dusting, sorting, but as for customer service and assistance.............................

Trying to get someone to understand what you want is a task in itself. Finding someone who speaks English is like finding The Grail.

Im sorry I think you'll find findong someone who actually understands what they are selling is the "grail"

Me,"I want some red paint"................... Them "we have this lovely blue hammer on special offer" whilst holding up a garden fork!!

[Birdman]

......................I get fed up with waitresses leaping on you as soon as you even slow to catch a glimpse of a menu. I tire of having a shop assistant hovering on my shoulder as I peruse the goods or waitresses that wait expectantly while I try to find something to eat.

Am I alone in thinking they'd extract more cash from us if they'd give us a little more space to shop in peace? Or maybe people actually like this level of service and it's an effective strategy?

Back home in the West at holidays from Thailand I stood about 8 meters in front a Pizza-take away and could not decide, if a want one or not. While I was thinking, the Pizza man stared at me the whole time like an aggressive maniac, while he beat his Pizza spatula loudly against some metal. That let me walk away without one.

Edited June 29, 2009 by Birdman

[scorecard]

The salesgirls in the men's underwear dept., at Central Silom are my pet hate. They work on commision and harrrass customers to buy 3 or 4 etc.

But several years, in the underwear section at Central Silom, I bumped into a farang who I knew vaguely and we started talking, the salesgirls started their harrassment even though they had been told many times 'no thanks', 'please, I'm talking to my friend' etc.

Eventually the other guy lost his cool. He took a g string bikini from the rack and started to make motions of taking off his jeans. and saying 'but I want to try it on to make sure it fits.' He deliberately went through the motions several times quickly with several of the shopgirls even asking them to make a circle around him.

In fact they all quickly disappeared and we then got on with our conversation for perhaps another 15 to 20 minutes. None of the girls reappeared.

[dave2]

garry 9999.

re .... If you don't like the level of service in Thailand and you are looking for really bad service, I suggest you try Mount Isa, Australia.

Any Mt Isa Aussies out there?

if you want really bad service try teneriffe in spain .

i only spent a week there but i walked out of so many eating places coz of NO service that after a week i actually went back to the uk four pounds lighter ..... and hungry

service there is non existant !

give me the overstaffing of the clueless lovelies of thailand any day : )

dave2

[scorecard]

My adopted Thai son has a four year old daughter.

We were in Central Chidlom trying to buy black school shoes for son's daughter. Shopgirl keeps insisting she try on a pair of shoes that were clearly too small. My son and his wife keep telling the girl to get a bigger size, girl keeps on saying, 'but try this pair'.

Son tells the girl 'but she is growing all the time, we want shoes that are just a little too big because her feet are growing quickly.

Shop girl gives the usual "Orrrr". "So you don't want this pair" (The pair that are too small)

Son is trying to keep calm, and replies "NO, please get a bigger size".

"No have"

Son says "Can you please go and check the stock. Girl replies "Cannot", and says to another shop assistant "these people are rude, it's not their business to tell me to go and check the stock".

Meanwhile son's wife is now explaining the whole thing to another sales girl who listens well, then quickly disappears to the stock room and comes back quickly with one size bigger pair and also a pair two sizes bigger. This girl sits on the floor, talks nicely to my son's wife and my granddaughter, and son and wife decide to buy both pairs because there is also a good promotion price.

First girl hovers around making rude comments and asks the girl who did give good service to share her commission. And she says all of this in front my family and we can hear everything she's saying.

This sets my son off and he demands the supervisor come. Son quickly explains that the second girl has been very helpful and very courteous, and that the first girl was unhelpful and rude. Son also mentions that the unhelpful one wanted half the commission.

Supervisor listens carefully and is very apologetic and tells my son that she will ensure helpful assistant gets the full commission.

As we walk away the unhelpful rude girl is being marched to the stockroom by the supervisor.

[stiggy]

Went back to UK for the first time in years last year , hired a car went to petrol station and waited 5 mins for the unseal team of helpers .....no one turned up and we got told by a teenager on tannoy buy petrol or p&&s off ...

My favorite however ! is after being told all about the amazing Hd quality and other technical info, basically being sold an Item you are looking for... being told sorry no have stock !

Really ignore the real pushy ones, and tell the others who are just doing their job no thanks im looking and will ask for help if needed.

Then enjoy the rest of your day....Why all the drama.

[ozzieovaseas]

The salesgirls in the men's underwear dept., at Central Silom are my pet hate. They work on commision and harrrass customers to buy 3 or 4 etc.

But several years, in the underwear section at Central Silom, I bumped into a farang who I knew vaguely and we started talking, the salesgirls started their harrassment even though they had been told many times 'no thanks', 'please, I'm talking to my friend' etc.

Eventually the other guy lost his cool. He took a g string bikini from the rack and started to make motions of taking off his jeans. and saying 'but I want to try it on to make sure it fits.' He deliberately went through the motions several times quickly with several of the shopgirls even asking them to make a circle around him.

In fact they all quickly disappeared and we then got on with our conversation for perhaps another 15 to 20 minutes. None of the girls reappeared.

haha...glad to see that im not the only one who has to play cherades with shop staff.

Had spent considerable amount of time in a department store trying to find the right style and fit of trousers..finally found one pair that suited...But of course they were freakishly to long,Oh well...

In the process of returning pants from the chagerooms i happened to spy a young girl near the rooms on an oldish style sewing machine doing what looked suspiciously like clothes alterations..

Nah,couldnt be that lucky??..I approach the girl and ask her if it was possible to fix pants..to long

"Mai kao jai"...she has a quick glance to look around for nearby staff members but then goes back to what she was doing.

Fair enough, to be expected..I go looking for someone down the front who can speak English,maybe a manager or some of the others standing around looking important..

15 people and not one can speak a world of english.

I go back to the girl on the machine opting for the body language approach..

You can chop chop please..tam dee??...brrr brrr zzzz zzzz..pointing at machine and accompanying motions of what must have looked like a maniacal farang trying to chop limbs off.

Mai-dai, mai-dai...

Why not? you fix fix those..(Ok, im silly to be persisting with the english) pointing to the clothes that shes fiddling with..

So i try to speak what little thai i know..

Errr khun tam dee,...errr karuna tat-bot...I put trousers up against legs motioning that they are to long.

Still nothing!!

walked out minus trousers with mental note to self:

a. Go to more expensive clothes store ya cheap bast_rd, and:

b. Go back to thai language school

hehe, shopping may be frustrating at times but we are in LOS...you gotta love em

Edited June 29, 2009 by ozzieovaseas