I have little patience for salespeople that don't know their product lines. The Gas Cooktop in our home is on its last legs, it was a builder grade GE Profile with a telescopic downdraft and its 11 years old. Its been giving me trouble for the past five years and I've replaced about $ 800 worth of parts on it. Now my wife has light the burners with a butane lighter since the ignition no longer works on it and I said "Its time for it to go".
I research the internet for what's out there. Acck! They're not cheap! I read the reviews, decide that another GE is the best pricepoint, but I really don't like what they build very much. Still, the GE series is everywhere. We go to HH Gregg, the big appliance and TV store in town and I tell the very nice - but clueless - salesman what I'm there for. He fumbles around and asks "Telescopic downdraft? What's that?" Oh boy....this is going to go nowhere fast. He walks my wife and I over to a computer and starts to search the GE website and says "They don't make it". I correct him and said "Yes they do, there are three models, look under VENTILATOR instead of the cooktop sections." He has no understanding of this whole 2-piece concept and I bid him goodbye and we leave. I have no time for on-the-job-training with these guys.
Next day, we go to Bray and Scarff, but I don't care to repeat the HH Gregg experience so I call up and ask the guy if he knows his product lines, because I don't want to drive 45 minutes each way for him to page through the internet catalogs with me watching as he tries to figure out what will fit into the countertop hole. He says "I've been here 20 years, I know my product lines." And he did. After explaining all the features of various units, we bought a Thermadore system from him which was more than we wanted to spend, but clearly it was superior to the GE product line. At the end of the day, I was willing to pay for knowledge and service, along with a nicer product. It was full retail, too - they wouldn't even cut me a break on installation!
Now, here's the good part....
The very next day, I got a call from a gentleman shopping locally for Hancock and Moore. He was much like me on the cooktops - said he was tired of salespeople that are clueless and wants to speak to someone that knows the brand. I told him to "Come on in, I know more about H&M than anyone in the Washington DC area". He was skeptical, but he did show up with his wife. He walks in and says "So you say you know your stuff on this furniture, well then - I have a test for you to see if you do. Explain to me what a Married Cover is in leather furniture, lets see if you know, because I do."
I laughed and said "That's all you got? That's not even a hard question!" And off we went. Well, he peppered me with another dozen questions like ground balls coming off a baseball field and I fielded them all easily. Then we got talking about cars and motorcycles and his train collection and what the best restaurants are in the area and after an hour or so felt like old friends. I enjoyed talking with him and his wife. At the end of their visit, he had to go home and measure his room for the pieces he wants. I said to him "Do you want a price quote? We didn't even discuss actual prices for the pieces you are interested in." He said " Are your prices competitive?" I told him they were indeed and he then told me "That's all I need to know. I am going to buy from you because I like the way you do business and you know your craft. That's important to me."
I had to chuckle when they left. I found myself to be the exact same kind of customer when I'm buying a new cooktop as he is shopping Hancock and Moore.