Why Won't They Buy?: The Dark Side of Commission-Based Selling

Selling things is no easy job, I think we can all agree. Job performance is not ultimately determined by how hard or well you work, but whether a complete stranger decides based on their own agenda whether or not to spend money. It used to be that "level of service" was a major subjective metric that salespeople in my company could excel in and compensate for lower sales figures. In a surprising turn, we decided to begin evaluating salespeople purely based on their sales per hour. Service is still a priority, but now it is viewed as a given rather than a redeeming asset. This pressure to perform financially is further exacerbated by customers taking time to shop for and try on merchandise, only to shy away from the trigger and leave empty-handed. This is frustrating for commissioned salespeople, some of whom colloquially refer to this practice as "stroking," as it is effectively a waste of time. Besides the obvious financial loss, what frustrates me is I continue to fail to understand why people in healthy position to make a purchase ultimately decide not to.

With nearly two years of retailing behind me I am hardly a veteran, yet I have conducted hundreds of shopping experiences with customers of various ages, genders, nationalities and bank accounts. I have had countless instances of being "stroked" and yet remain puzzled about the spending habits of people in general.

1. This past Saturday a female in her twenties picked a tie she loved for a Christmas present for her boyfriend. I suggested she enhance the gift and pair it with a shirt. She loved the combination I put before her and we even had his size in the shirt! She gushed at how the colors and patterns were perfect for his style and that he would love it. Done deal. Let's ring, box and move on. "I just really need to think about it," she tells me. "Can you put these on hold until Monday?" "Sure," I say. But WHY? It is Saturday afternoon and we have just spent twenty minutes extolling the virtues of this gift-set. These are both moderately-priced items, relative to the department (Side note: the vast majority of customers enter our store understanding full-well we stock middle-to-upper end merchandise, provide renowned service and therefore exhibit a higher price-point than, say, Wal-Mart). The tie, which she is madly infatuated with, is nearly the last in the company. Yet, she must think. Waste. She leaves. She comes back Sunday. I am off. She wants to LOOK at the shirt and tie again. She asks her salesperson to - on my behalf - extend the hold until TUESDAY. This does not get done. The items are put back Monday when she fails to show up for them. This evening she appears, desperately seeking her precious tie-shirt combo. The tie is nowhere to be found. In the company. She is crushed. Crushed. I am beside myself with a strangely unmoving combination of frustration, apathy, and contentment. Ultimately we decide to go in a different direction and she purchases a watch, wallet, and men's style guide. Gifts for men are always better when you don't have to pick a size, anyway.

2. A man in his thirties walks in to the department. He is not looking for shirts and ties, but dress pants for work. Pants that fit. Great. I walk him into the proper department and start to tell him about the particular brand we're looking at, why it will be good for him, etc. He is on board. Great. He said he needs a couple of colors. Greater. We look at a different, higher-end brand as well that would give him the fit he's looking for. He tells me these are out of his price range. Less great, but no problem. He says nothing about the price of the original pants. He wants to try pleated so we try pleated. He doesn't like the look or fit (nor do I) so I suggest we do the same pant in a flat-front style. The size on the FF is small so I grab the next size up. It needs to have the waist taken in just a tad but the fit is great otherwise. The girlfriend mysteriously shows up as well. It is about seven o'clock in the evening so this is clearly not a lazy weekend afternoon time-wasting activity. The girlfriend approves of the pants. Done deal. Let's pick out some additional colors, call the tailor and mark these puppies up. My customer comes out of the dressing room fully dressed and carrying all the pants. "I'm really going to think about these," he states, while looking the label of the pants in the seam, appearing to make a mental note, "Thank you for all your help." Seriously? Half an hour wasted for me. Probably moreso for him. I was already at the store. Doubtful he lives across the street, he and the girlfriend had to spend some quality down-time to go round-trip for this fruitless escapade. He expressed his approval and like of the pants numerous times. "Just what I'm looking for," may have been uttered. Again, I have literally nothing to show for my time and effort other than the man's gratitude, though after hearing the same line from hundreds of men I consider it a mere formality. Again, I am perplexed as to why a customer who has taken the time to come shopping during ever-shortening leisure time for a specific set of items finds said items at what are noticeably acceptable price points still will hesitate and back down at the point of sale. I have read stories recently of retail guilt, that customers nationwide are spending less, not because they have less, but because they fear what other will think of them. Maybe this was a case. Maybe the pants were still too expensive. There are always plenty of unknowns when someone strokes you.

As salespeople we try to ask questions and eliminate as many of those unknown buying factors as possible so we can tailor our suggestions and selling techniques to best facilitate finalizing sales. Even if every condition provided is met, plenty of customers still choose to back down. I would love to conduct exit polls of each "stroke" customer. Though I never take it personally, I constantly find myself not understanding what went wrong. Even if everything from a sales standpoint was perfect you can still emerge uncompensated and frustrated. Such is the commissioned retail life. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a couple "easy" pops to showcase the flip-side of brief, unbridled and unexpected spending.