How knowledgeable are the sales people in your area?

[Bahawolf1]

The general reason for low knowledge salespeople is due to the fact that most of them are paid only minimum wage. If someone is truly tech knowledgeable, they won't stay long at a job that pays only minimum wage because they are over qualified (or underpaid). Why should a competent tech person stay at a job being paid minimum wage when they can get paid more at a different job?

This is a good point. It comes down to, "you get what you pay for". If you're only willing to pay someone $10.00/hour or less, then how could you expect them to be an expert in the field?

The other thing to remember is that most retail outlets (I won't say all.. but most) put a lot of pressure on the sales team to bring in numbers. Regardless of their reasoning in doing so, the reality is... you won't continue to have a job if you can't compete with others in terms of numbers.

This is why time and time again I've gone with friends and family if or when they need a PC and don't want to buy it online. They don't need the assistance from a sales guy and they then don't have to worry about being up-sold.

The same is true for most sales positions. If they're working for commission, it's even worst because that commission is their bread and butter for their own family.

 

[Hameister]

Have a look at the age of most sales people, they are young teenagers to early 20's and mostly just shop assistants which would explain their limited experience.....no fault on them but the stores attitude in employing cheap labour.

A true sales person would know his job quite well with experience.

A sign of times I suppose.

I've been reading through this thread. Didn't think it would generate so many responses, I thank you.

I guess the quote above says it all.

When I was in my late teens and early 20s, I worked at an electronics store called Lafayette Electronics. They were a huge chain much like Best Buy today.

I had to take a test, that was about 6 typed pages long. I had to be able to explain speaker impedance, basic Ohms Law, understand frequency response. I needed at least a Citizens Band radio license, but a Ham Radio license was preferred. I had to know the fundamental concepts behind tape, and wire recording, and explain in fundamental terms, the television scanning process.

All this for a sales job that was only about 25% above minimum wage, and a small sales commission.

Today, they take a young person who was working at Mc Donald's last week, give him/her about 8 hours of training, and they're electronics salespeople. It's a sad commentary on our time.

Like I said earlier, I feel sorry for people that rely on sales advice to make a purchase.

 

[~Darkseeker~]

Have a look at the age of most sales people, they are young teenagers to early 20's and mostly just shop assistants which would explain their limited experience.....no fault on them but the stores attitude in employing cheap labour.

A true sales person would know his job quite well with experience.

A sign of times I suppose.

Im 18 and i regularly school middle-aged 'experts' in these places

 

[cb600fshornet]

Indeed.

Fresh new graduates in my opinion seem to perform far worse than 17 and 18 year olds who have just finished their apprenticeships.

 

[MMM]

Im 18 and i regularly school middle-aged 'experts' in these places

Read my post carefully..........
"A true sales person would know his job quite well with experience."
May be I should have added knowledge to experience.


Note: one thing every one forgets is that a salesperson will push a product line that will give him/her the best commission of sale to themselves & store.

 

[Hameister]

...one thing every one forgets is that a salesperson will push a product line that will give him/her the best commission of sale to themselves & store.

I hear you, and you're correct in that statement. However, that's a separate issue indeed.

I was referring to total incompetence. Sales people that lack even the fundamental knowledge to answer even the most basic questions.

Here's another perfect example. I was in a large electronics store a few weeks ago. They have a huge computer department. I needed to pick up a 2.5" 500GB 7,200rpm HDD for a neighbor's laptop. I asked a sales person. A man in his early 20s. He said he wasn't familiar with "specs", and suggested I speak with the department manager.

The manager was a man in his 40s. I asked him for this HDD, and added, any brand would be fine. Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, Hitachi, what ever. The manager said..."we don't have 7,200, we only have 500GB". I said, "what??? you're mixing up spindle speed with capacity". I know 500GB is common, but I want a 7,200 rpm drive".

The idiot repeats, in a very annoyed tone of voice,..."sir, we only have 500GB, they don't make 7200."

That's the kind of annoying ignorance I run into all the time.