Aspies For Freedom

This form of "polite" behaviour is often rather annoying but silently ignored by people.

When they have those stock phrases I end up echoing them.

Staff: Would you like anything else with that?
Me: Would you like anything else with that?

It is soooo tempting to state the obvious:  "if there was something else I wanted from your store, I would have it in my cart already."

Just curious, do these questions ever actually result in additional sales?  That is, after all, the goal, isn't it?  SOMEONE has convinced the folks upstairs that this increase their sales.  So, does it?

The question, "did you find everything?"  THAT I think makes sense.  If there was something I wanted and gave up looking for, it's good to look into at the end.

Good salesman know that when a customer says no, pushing them does nothing. I've found that a salesperson who offers advice but doesn't push it tends to do better.

I must admit when I get asked these sort of things I can be unpleasant if I am in a bad mood, if I am feeling in a particularly good mood I try to politely immitate silly smalltalk back, otherwise I usually say something like "Please just proceed with the transaction I have alot to do today"

The latter seams to make them continue quietly and seams to cause the minimum ammount of offence if said politly, they probably think you actually are in a genuine hurry.

I don't often get asked anything or do engage in smalltalk with the cashier at the checkout, quite often because when I go to the checkout at the supermarket near where I work the checkout is a self-service one, thank goodness for technology  :grin:

However, in any other shop I try not to engage in any smalltalk with the cashier if possible, though if it does happen I just go along with it, and if a sales assistant asks if they can help me, I 99% of the time always answer "No thanks, I'm just looking at the moment"

cybermintz, I appreciate your sensitivity about offering confectionaries, to those who might be on a diet or diabetic, or even in my case, lactose intolerant. You have to understand though, that for most NTs the $$$ is the bottom line, morals come second.

It would appear that you and I work for the same employer; my company gives the same instructions, word for word.

Fortunately I never worked on the tills, always filling shelves, so there was not as much interaction required. There were a few times when customers accused me of being rude, but I could never work out what I did wrong. I only got told I was rude when we didn't have something they wanted, so I came to the conclusion that they were the ones with the problem on those occasions, not me. I always explained it politely, saying something like, "I'm afraid we don't have any in stock."

Now I work nights, so I get paid more for dealing with no customers at all  :grin:

I'm a cashier at a *gasp* fast food restaurant and yes, some of the things the higher-ups make us say make absolutely no sense.  For instance, we have to ask any customer if they want anything to drink with their order, even when they've already ordered a beverage.  

If we get a mystery shop and don't suggest a soda, we automatically fail it.  So here I am, asking the customer, "Would you like something to drink with that?" and they've just ordered three Pepsies and a Mountain Dew.  No wonder everyone thinks fastfood workers are idiots.  :?

I feel bad for the salespeople.  I recently worked at a store that not only made your greet people obnoxiously, follow them around and bother them, and try to add things on to every stupid sale, they actually had a rule that you were only allowed to ask customers "open-ended" questions -- "Are you finding everything okay?" or "Have you found everything you were looking for?" as well as other nonintrusive questions were forbidden.  I pointed out to them that this would require me to ask a customer, "What kind of cart would you like me to get you?" instead of "Would you like me to bring you a cart?" when their hands were full, and other such completely nonsensical questions, but it didn't seem to phase them.  >_<

Personally, I ignored the rule and my sales were better, but a lot of people got in trouble or even lost their jobs because they wouldn't do that.  I doubt most people want to bother customers, but when getting a raise or keeping your job depends mostly on following even the most insane of company policies, you don't have a whole lot of choice.

I think a lot of the fast food places make their profits from the drinks. I usually say "no" to drinks as they are this horrible post-mix and taste too weak.

It sucks that salespeople are told to say really stupid things and that's one reason I wouldn't want to work in the fast food industry. Plus, I'm slow. I got the nickname 'turtle' from my parents because I moved slowly even as a baby.

I don't mind it when shop assistants smile and/or call me "love" or "dear" or whatever if it is done sincerely. Otherwise, as long as they aren't surly or rude, it's better if they don't try and put on an act.

And when I first go into a shop, I like to poke around and look at a few things before being asked if "I'm right"? Usually, it gives me a fright and I forget what I wanted in the first place.

Of course, there is the other extreme where you need help eg. to be told where the fitting rooms are or you need service, and you're completely ignored.

It seems tricky to reach a happy medium between being too pushy and leaving the customer completely to their own devices.  :roll:

I agree and think that hardly anybody likes feeling pressured into buying things before they are ready to decide.  :mad:

A bank cashier asked me "Has is stopped raining yet?" yesterday. I didn't even blink, let alone respond. By the time I realised she was talking to me, it seemed too late to reply, so I pretended I hadn't heard her. I wasn't prepared for that, I just came to deposit some money only to be confronted with small talk - annoying! lol.