…or software tech support guy:
Please do not assume that because I am female I am stupid. Do not talk to my husband about the tech specs on a flat-panel display, because he will not understand it. The reason I am there is because I GET IT.
Do not assume that because I am female I am completely clueless. Listen to what I am asking and saying and figure out that I’ve done my homework and have more than a novice’s knowledge of your product.
Ask me if I’ve taken certain steps, and BELIEVE me when I say I have and report back the results.
Do not assume that because I am female I am afraid to gut a computer and put it back together again faster and better than it was before. I have been taking computers apart for nearly 20 years, and I understand terms you’ve probably never heard of.
If you’re going to BS me, at least have the decency to do it well. Do not tell me that the $70 price difference between two displays made by the same manufacturer that are the same size is simply “chrome”. It was a TEST, and you failed.
And when you wonder why you lost the sale or I went up the chain to your supervisor, ask yourself if maybe it would have gone better if you’d have shed your bias about women and technology and just been up-front and honest. Tell me if you don’t know the answer. That’s okay. But don’t give me a bunch of crap about how they price the same product differently because it’s a sales hook. I kid you not when I tell you that the price difference represented the difference between the Sony XBRITE technology and the stock display. But you weren’t listening, preferring instead to try to BS my husband with the “silver chrome panel” crap.
Get a clue, salespeople. Listen to your customer and adjust your pitch accordingly. But above all, don’t write me off because I’m a woman.
The story ends like this: I will be buying the display I considered tonight, but not from you and not from your store. It’s back to Circuit City for me, where my favorite salesman promises me the same deal you were offering with the truth thrown in for free.
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