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The Perfect Customer

16 years ago

I have an 82-year-old lady that shops with me and I just love her. She comes in and knows exactly what she wants, and doesn't beat around the bush. Today she comes in and in her thick German-accented English says 'I need a good wing chair that is comfortable and beautiful - what do you have for me?'.

In less than five minutes she settles on a Southwood 1741 Ball and Claw, then she says "You help me find a fabric, yes?" Takes about 15 minutes, and I select a very plush blue geometric weave. knowing what she has in her house already. She says "Great!" I ask her if she wants to take the swatch home to check it out in her room and she replies "I don't think it will look any different there, no need to do that."

I tell her that this is an expensive chair. She says "Is it good quality and will not break? Is the fabric nice? If so, then good things cost money, it will be fine." And that was all there was too it. No moaning about the price, no quibbling.

After we write the ticket up, we sit down for a little bit and (as a history buff) I beg her to tell me her stories of growing up in the Rhur Valley of Germany under the Third Reich and Adolf Hitler - like I do every time she comes in. Its fascinating to hear of her life as a 14-year-old girl in 1939 Nazi Germany and being bombed day and night for five years by US and British aircraft. How many people can you sit down with and get that kind of firsthand account? She makes my day every time she comes in and at 82 - hasn't finished furnishing her house yet.

-Duane Collie

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Comments (4)

livvysmom
16 years ago
That's funny. My mother is 76 and everytime she buys something (like a vacuum) she always remarks -- "this is probably the last one I'll every buy..." I always say, gee mom, thanks for that nice thought!
mitchdesj
16 years ago
dcollie, what a lovely story, she seems like a great lady; I wonder if she was always like that as far as not trying to bargain and being so decisive.

What % of your clientele haggle, if I can venture this question ?

I have a retail business also (an art gallery) and I would say 70% of people ask for a discount.
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dcollie
Original Author
16 years ago
Mitchdesj,

A long time ago I made the decision to have no-haggle pricing in the store and have kept that in place. Having said that, I'd say 50% of folks DO ask for a discount or want to haggle a bit, and of those 5% are annoying combative about it.

Women do it FAR less than men. Men make up that vast majority of hagglers and tend to be more abrasive about it when they have their wife or girlfriend with them, as if it was some kind of testosterone-laden sports contest in front of their woman. I have expect some of them to beat on their chest, Tarzan-style.

Everyone loves a deal! But to artificially have a posted high retail that can be bartered down to a lower price unjustly penalizes those that do NOT barter (typically the elderly customers, and the gentle, soft-spoken folks). Plus the barter system creates total havoc with your sales staff unless you resort to silly codes on the tags, etc.

Price it fair to start with, tell 'em they have to pay the sales tax as applicable, and delivery if they want it right from the beginning and they can decide if they want to shop with you or not. There is a certain clientÃ¨le (again the men) who just can't buy in a store where they can't haggle the price, and I always wonder why that is? If they'd done their homework ahead of time, and price-shopped an item, they'd see the ticketed price is their best deal going.

Duane Collie
texanjana
16 years ago
That is a great story. I cannot in a million years picture my husband haggling over the price of an item. First of all, it's just not who he is and secondly he grew up in a family who owned retail clothing stores. Come to think of it, I can hardly get him INTO a furniture store. Once he is there, he sure isn't going to argue with someone about the prices because he might have to be there longer! LOL

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