Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

It's pretty hit or miss for me. When the Chicago Battle Bunker first opened, my friends and me went there fairly often as there was no FLGS near us. The staff was cool with us, never bothered us and were pretty cool all around. The current staff there isn't pushy, but they're not as cool as the old staff. Of course that could be because we're not regulars there anymore.

As to the smaller stores, it leans more toward pushy than not. I avoid them at all costs, but since there's no FLGS near me, if I want to just run out and pick up a kit, one of the GW stores is the only choice. My last trip into a GW store was rather nice, as the one employee working was not pushy at all, and we actually had a conversation about our motorcycles as I made my purchases.

malfred wrote:

PirateRobotNinjaofDeath wrote:I was in my local GW talking to the manager when I started making fun of those ridiculous skull pits on the new realm of gaming board. The manager made a comment about how much he loved having his own little Auschwitz, then spent 20 minutes trying to convince me to buy the board.

Wait a minute. What?

I hope you're exaggerating, because that would just be awkward.

nnnnnnnnnope. pretty much verbatim. He made the same comment to pretty much all the rest of my gaming buddies when they've been in the store too, so looks like it's a joke that's worked its way into his repertoire.

I mean, I'm not going to lie and say I didn't laugh. Mostly just because it was so ridiculously inappropriate, I couldn't help but NOT laugh. It wasn't until afterward that I really started to think of just how easily that joke could go wrong and like REALLY offend someone. The real funny thing was just the whole package though: the akward joke, followed by trying to sell me on something I clearly had no interest in purchasing.

Infact, about 2 hours after creating this post I went into Town to go to college and went to a burger stall where a Games Workshop employee (he's one of the around 5 who ramdomly appeared a bit over a year ago) and he is probably the only guy in the shop he doesn't go for the jugular. In fairness they're starting to recognise me a bit more and it's dying down but one guy STILL insists on selling me everything, he'd have the same conversation with me for around 3 days in a row (i've start to go there when I have alot of time to kill between lessons).

It's not even age that stops them patronising you as though I'm 18 I look alot older yet they talk to me the same way as they do the 8 year olds, offering me starter packs and such.

My new tactic is to 'debate' with them on the stupid things they give me rather than being dismissive and saying 'Yeah, it's ok but I don't need it'. I'll tell them how it's useless compared to such and such, though that'll give them an oppertunity to sell me something!

I've just learnt to accept now that the manager of the local GW will tow the party line whatever, it gets alittle lame for me. I wonder though, how much leeway do staff and managers really get? Is voicing one's dislike of a model a sackable offense? A mark against you for your permanent record? I've learnt that if I just shrug when he starts overblown defence, he'll leave off and just process my purchase through the till and bid me a nice day.

I work in complaint investigation, I ensure the multinational, multibillion pound corporation I work for is acting within the legislation and guidelines set out for us by the external trading legislators, I sit in on meetings with our customers (some of the largest companies you can think of), so, I understand that the zany shouty wavyhands "I'm just maaaad me, MAAAD!!!" style is one that kids will love, it's the wrong tactic to be using on the older customer, I want a bit of flattery, camaraderie from a guy who is about my age, some nostalgia.
Instead I seem to be presented with two options, either have indepth interaction that involves the 'GW Saturday Morning Madhouse Challenge!!1!' or a very minimal contact? Can there not be a happy medium that involves politely chatting and so on.


But... maybe that's my fault, maybe that is the way a GW shop is going to have to operate, I do try to understand I'm at the older end of the playerbase, the staff do have to cater to the majority. I just wonder if such an aggressive policy will prove the downfall of the shops, kids have phases, my cousin collected warhammer for all of 3 months, spent a fortune of his parents money and promptly ceased being interested, older hobbyists have already decided to stick with the hobby, have usually got disposable income of their own and will commit to playing for several years.

Holy ****, a salesperson trying to make a sale. Call the better business bureau, bub...because this just got real.

Seriously, I'm no fan of it either, but it's hardly worth getting worked up over. The staff are PAID to sell you stuff you don't need. Just like a car dealer or a stripper.

As for the Holocaust joke...if you laughed, you empowered it. I don't care, but I would have lied and said my great-grandparents were lost at Dachau (more believable that way). Just to see the look on his face.

They don't bother me at all at my store, but they still try and upsell. It's their job.

That is OK.

Well to clear a few things up:


No GW staff don't get bonuses for selling stuff-
Yes GW staff members can get fired for not selling enough- thats part of working in retail- you don't hit targets you don't stick around...

Now having said that does that make some staffers "aggressive" as some people put it- yeah- I have met many in my time.

But seriously- why paint us all with the same brush? Some staff members prefer the idea of the person getting whats best for them- and work well towards that goal- regardless of what may appear to be the "product of the week"

This kind of thread leaves me with real mixed feelings- negative because I know there are such feelings and stories out there- but positive because I know thats not what I do or what is done at the store I work at!

If anyone who works in GW can help me understand your sales logic in this example, please do.
I wanted 9 Basalisk tanks quickly and it was at the time you could buy 3 in a box for £50. I know I could buy them off Fleabay for £46 each inc P&P, so £138 total. As I needed them quickly, I was happy to pay the extra £12, and buy the 3 boxes from my local GW store. Unfortunatly, they didn't have any, and the Manager said they'd sold out, and were not expecting anymore stock, as they were discontinuing the box sets. But he had 9 single Basalisks in the store for £20 each and I could have them.
"For £150 you'll sell me 9 Basalisks?", "No, for 9 that will be £180". "But I can buy 9 off Ebay for £138. I have £150 in my pocket, its yours for 9 Basalisks, just like you were selling the other week, do you want £150 in the till, or do I walk out of hee and order them from Ebay and wait a few days for them to arrive?".
I walked out the shop, after buying nothing, and bought them £42 cheaper from Ebay. I just couldn't understand that. Do you want any business GW? Seeing as GW's sells to retailers at 40% and would make profit on that, lets assume another 20%, the manager could have had £120 profit for GW, instead of the £30 from selling to the independant, who then sold to me making £60 profit for himself.
And another thing, you can't just walk in a GW store for a mooch anymore. As soon as your through the door, your pounced on. The best one is my Girlfriend going in the store to buy me something for Christmas, and the pratt staff member assuming she's a dumb blonde and knows nothing about the hobby, attempting to sell her a load of crap she doesn't need "Well if you're buying this, then you definately need this this and this to go with it or its useless etc etc etc". Seeing as my dumb blonde knows more about the hobby than most regulars, told the stafff member he was talking ******, gave examples of why he was talking *****, and then walked out the store, and ordered the stuff online instead. Apparently the guys jaw went through the floor upon realising this apparent girl knew more about the game than he did !
There is being helpful, and then there is being a pain in the ****. I went in over Christmas, I wanted to paint up some Space Marine Characters. I wasn't interested in what it was, I just wanted to mooch through the blisters and pick a few models I liked the look of. But would the guy leave me alone to look? No. After explaining what I wanted, why I wanted, for no specific army, just to paint a nice Character model, all the guy could do was shove the new £30 Techmarine and Cannon under my nose. "Buy this, its an awesome model to paint".

TheSecretSquig wrote:If anyone who works in GW can help me understand your sales logic in this example, please do.
I wanted 9 Basalisk tanks quickly and it was at the time you could buy 3 in a box for £50. I know I could buy them off Fleabay for £46 each inc P&P, so £138 total. As I needed them quickly, I was happy to pay the extra £12, and buy the 3 boxes from my local GW store. Unfortunatly, they didn't have any, and the Manager said they'd sold out, and were not expecting anymore stock, as they were discontinuing the box sets. But he had 9 single Basalisks in the store for £20 each and I could have them.
"For £150 you'll sell me 9 Basalisks?", "No, for 9 that will be £180". "But I can buy 9 off Ebay for £138. I have £150 in my pocket, its yours for 9 Basalisks, just like you were selling the other week, do you want £150 in the till, or do I walk out of hee and order them from Ebay and wait a few days for them to arrive?".
I walked out the shop, after buying nothing, and bought them £42 cheaper from Ebay. I just couldn't understand that. Do you want any business GW? Seeing as GW's sells to retailers at 40% and would make profit on that, lets assume another 20%, the manager could have had £120 profit for GW, instead of the £30 from selling to the independant, who then sold to me making £60 profit for himself.
And another thing, you can't just walk in a GW store for a mooch anymore. As soon as your through the door, your pounced on. The best one is my Girlfriend going in the store to buy me something for Christmas, and the pratt staff member assuming she's a dumb blonde and knows nothing about the hobby, attempting to sell her a load of crap she doesn't need "Well if you're buying this, then you definately need this this and this to go with it or its useless etc etc etc". Seeing as my dumb blonde knows more about the hobby than most regulars, told the stafff member he was talking ******, gave examples of why he was talking *****, and then walked out the store, and ordered the stuff online instead. Apparently the guys jaw went through the floor upon realising this apparent girl knew more about the game than he did !
There is being helpful, and then there is being a pain in the ****. I went in over Christmas, I wanted to paint up some Space Marine Characters. I wasn't interested in what it was, I just wanted to mooch through the blisters and pick a few models I liked the look of. But would the guy leave me alone to look? No. After explaining what I wanted, why I wanted, for no specific army, just to paint a nice Character model, all the guy could do was shove the new £30 Techmarine and Cannon under my nose. "Buy this, its an awesome model to paint".

Well first with the bassies.... Sure they'd be 25 each.... and the apoc box set was 3 for 50.... now I understand your logic however the shop isn't able to operate that way, your basically asking the guy to write off £75 worth of stock, which could have got him in alot of trouble- especially given the much lower profit margins than you seem to think GW makes... . Now having said that- I know some staff have sorted out similar such thing for people before in the past- it depends on the staff member, what your trying to achieve- If you went in and basically used the "ebay" reasoning- the staff member probably wouldn't take too kindly upon it- or even if he is abit human like me- probably though "fair play to you mate- go for it"


As for the being "pounced on" What did they do? Say hi? Or something more aggressive?
The guys in stores are supposed to be there to help- hence the reccomending things that may be needed-- glue, paints, codex, rulebooks etc.... or maybe cool things- a landraider for a dedicated transport for some termies or similar- is offering those things worse than someone getting you something that you can't use for whatever reason?

Bignutter, I wish you worked in my shop!
They're nice guys, I went in today and didn't get any recommendations to buy anything, it was good but he still seemed like he just wanted to get over and get the sell, there was an awkwardness there.
In the middle of this 2 guys come into the store and played the game where they need to get to the back without being greeted/talked to.
After making them lose he instantly dropped his guard, and there was only me him and an older guy in there and he explained how he played the game in the Disney Shop and then called them nobheads.
I loved it, he had emotion in his voice, he wasn't fixated on getting you over. He doesn't need to swear infront of people, i'm not saying that, i'm saying being more human and less of a salesman. I'll listen to a fellow hobbyists advice over a salesmens advice any day.

I want to work in my local GW at some point and when I go I'll go through the protocol (greetings, asking how they are and if theyre looking for something and the classic line when they look or pick up something "Aaahhh, so you're a ___ player") but i'm gonna be a hobbyist talking to a hobbyist, not a salesmen.

I understand a lot of the aims and such but its such a dramatic change from just a year ago, it makes the experience a lot less fun. Everyone should make an oath that if they ever work in GW they'll not turn into a salesman! Just sell stuff as a hobbyist!

Bignutter wrote:Well first with the bassies.... Sure they'd be 25 each.... and the apoc box set was 3 for 50.... now I understand your logic however the shop isn't able to operate that way, your basically asking the guy to write off £75 worth of stock, which could have got him in alot of trouble- especially given the much lower profit margins than you seem to think GW makes... . Now having said that- I know some staff have sorted out similar such thing for people before in the past- it depends on the staff member, what your trying to achieve- If you went in and basically used the "ebay" reasoning- the staff member probably wouldn't take too kindly upon it- or even if he is abit human like me- probably though "fair play to you mate- go for it"


As for the being "pounced on" What did they do? Say hi? Or something more aggressive?
The guys in stores are supposed to be there to help- hence the reccomending things that may be needed-- glue, paints, codex, rulebooks etc.... or maybe cool things- a landraider for a dedicated transport for some termies or similar- is offering those things worse than someone getting you something that you can't use for whatever reason?

So instead he wrote off 200 pounds of stock by not selling them at all, and pissing off a customer in the process. The cost of each basilisk is the EXACT same to produce for GW, whether you buy 30 at a time or 1 at a time. It pains me to see people support the GW stores, when you can buy stuff online for 20-40% off (not including ebay), or at your FLGS.

TheSecretSquig wrote:If anyone who works in GW can help me understand your sales logic in this example, please do.
I wanted 9 Basalisk tanks quickly and it was at the time you could buy 3 in a box for £50. I know I could buy them off Fleabay for £46 each inc P&P, so £138 total. As I needed them quickly, I was happy to pay the extra £12, and buy the 3 boxes from my local GW store. Unfortunatly, they didn't have any, and the Manager said they'd sold out, and were not expecting anymore stock, as they were discontinuing the box sets. But he had 9 single Basalisks in the store for £20 each and I could have them.
"For £150 you'll sell me 9 Basalisks?", "No, for 9 that will be £180". "But I can buy 9 off Ebay for £138. I have £150 in my pocket, its yours for 9 Basalisks, just like you were selling the other week, do you want £150 in the till, or do I walk out of hee and order them from Ebay and wait a few days for them to arrive?"..

Wouldn't selling them at a different price have messed with his bookkeeping?

malfred wrote:

TheSecretSquig wrote:If anyone who works in GW can help me understand your sales logic in this example, please do.
I wanted 9 Basalisk tanks quickly and it was at the time you could buy 3 in a box for £50. I know I could buy them off Fleabay for £46 each inc P&P, so £138 total. As I needed them quickly, I was happy to pay the extra £12, and buy the 3 boxes from my local GW store. Unfortunatly, they didn't have any, and the Manager said they'd sold out, and were not expecting anymore stock, as they were discontinuing the box sets. But he had 9 single Basalisks in the store for £20 each and I could have them.
"For £150 you'll sell me 9 Basalisks?", "No, for 9 that will be £180". "But I can buy 9 off Ebay for £138. I have £150 in my pocket, its yours for 9 Basalisks, just like you were selling the other week, do you want £150 in the till, or do I walk out of hee and order them from Ebay and wait a few days for them to arrive?"..

Wouldn't selling them at a different price have messed with his bookkeeping?

Not to mention it's extremely doubtful that he even has the authority to sell anything for a price different than what is listed in the computer.

@The big mek- thanks man- there are alot of us hobbyist types about, sadly we just never really get limelight as bad things seem to attract more attention.
And I do understand the whole "salesman" approach- its something I've seen people fall into- I can see the reasoning- sheer exhaustion- but i guess thats a reason not really an excuse.
Having said that- seeing people doing the right thing helps give everyone a real buzz and gets everyone working in the same direction.


Just as a little experiment- try talking to your local GW staff members as hobbyists yourself- - have a proper hobby convo like you would with someone at a tourney or similar- you'll be surprised how different your experience will be!

brado wrote:
So instead he wrote off 200 pounds of stock by not selling them at all, and pissing off a customer in the process. The cost of each basilisk is the EXACT same to produce for GW, whether you buy 30 at a time or 1 at a time. It pains me to see people support the GW stores, when you can buy stuff online for 20-40% off (not including ebay), or at your FLGS.

Huh?
Why does it pain you to see people supporting their local GW store... especially when in some cases it is their FLGS-
As for the cost being the same- for GW as a whole- sure- but each GW store has to be profitable and be accountable for what they sell or write off-

A good salesperson will quickly recognise the type of customer and adjust his style to their age, personality and mood.

Some of them aren't as good.

There are worse things in the world than GW sales staff.

The new GW recruiting policy (especially with Managers ) is that 'You can always teach someone the Hobby, but teaching them people skills is a lot harder'.
But it's meant to be centered round the Hobby! Just 'cause theyre not a people person doesn't mean they'll be the worst salesman, infact, it'd probably be the opposite!
It should be centered around people who're good hobbyists and are enthusiastic towards the hobby, not serving people, but keep the current serving policy but leant more towards customer service rather than incenting customers to buy, as service usually gets more sales anyway.

Sorry but maybe its me, but I think its a no brainer. Take £150 from my pocket and make the same profit margin you made last week on the smae item, or, make nothing. As a manager of any type of store, I know what I would choose, knowing, that in a month I probably wouldn't shift 9 Basalisks.

I remember 10 or so years ago, the feeling was different in the shops. I sat down with the manager of one shop, and explained that I wanted to do a complete company of Legion of the Damned, including all their support vehicles. We did a deal. I bought everything from him, he gave me every 3rd vehicle free, free pot paints, free brushes and glue. That one day he sold more Space Marine stuff than he had in the last 2 weeks.

GW are so inflexiable with their pricing. What insentive is there for me to shop at GW? I get nothing for my loyalty, other than overpriced stuff. GW need to bring back something like the Skulz promotion like they did 10 years ago.

I describe being 'pounced' on, meaning as soon as walk through the door, the first question is, "What army do you collect" followed by "Their awesome, have you got one of these" and straight into a Sales pitch. Or when I'm looking for a random Character to paint, they always seem to pick up the most expensive one.

TheSecretSquig wrote:Sorry but maybe its me, but I think its a no brainer. Take £150 from my pocket and make the same profit margin you made last week on the smae item, or, make nothing. As a manager of any type of store, I know what I would choose, knowing, that in a month I probably wouldn't shift 9 Basalisks.

I remember 10 or so years ago, the feeling was different in the shops. I sat down with the manager of one shop, and explained that I wanted to do a complete company of Legion of the Damned, including all their support vehicles. We did a deal. I bought everything from him, he gave me every 3rd vehicle free, free pot paints, free brushes and glue. That one day he sold more Space Marine stuff than he had in the last 2 weeks.

GW are so inflexiable with their pricing. What insentive is there for me to shop at GW? I get nothing for my loyalty, other than overpriced stuff. GW need to bring back something like the Skulz promotion like they did 10 years ago.

I describe being 'pounced' on, meaning as soon as walk through the door, the first question is, "What army do you collect" followed by "Their awesome, have you got one of these" and straight into a Sales pitch. Or when I'm looking for a random Character to paint, they always seem to pick up the most expensive one.

I do have to ask where you draw the line then?

I want 4 bottles of coke at tesco... am I allowed to get 4 lots of the flavoured stuff for the same price as the pre-packed 4 bottles of classic coke? GWs pricing is just as inflexible as anyone elses-
As for getting nothing for your loyalty- most of the cost factored into what you see as overpriced stuff is to pay for the stores and staff that you seem to dislike- They are literally there to help- what other store can you go into and get the same level of help that you'd expect from a GW store. Yes the staff are also there to sell things- some take that to heart- but thats not all they do.

Just out of interest how do you respond when the staff member asks if you've "got one of these" for an item from your army? Often this can be just a question to spark a conversation- heck I've used it myself to a guard player- asked if he had any russ'es- he said no- turned out he was doing drop guard and from there we worked out where he was going next (In that case it was to our vets night he didn't know about where he has become a regular player)

The tesco coke this has 2 responses;
1) Stores do alot of 'buy 1 get 1 free' or some form on multipack deals
2)Gw is a Hobby shop, as such it should have the extra care and detail, like model train shops do. I'm sure the manager could strike such deals as he won't be firing himself.
If it means they'll make much more of a profit then it's worth it, it's just good business. Even Tescos has a reward scheme as do other major firms such as mobile phone companies, starbucks etc but because GW know you HAVE to come back, they don't reward you or bargain (they used to do deals like that). We are ripped off for the sake of the shareholder, its went from a hobby business to PLC and ran as any other business. Shame on GW, but it'll never change!

buy online

cheaper and 100% less redshirt

TheSecretSquig wrote:Sorry but maybe its me, but I think its a no brainer. Take £150 from my pocket and make the same profit margin you made last week on the smae item, or, make nothing. As a manager of any type of store, I know what I would choose, knowing, that in a month I probably wouldn't shift 9 Basalisks.

I remember 10 or so years ago, the feeling was different in the shops. I sat down with the manager of one shop, and explained that I wanted to do a complete company of Legion of the Damned, including all their support vehicles. We did a deal. I bought everything from him, he gave me every 3rd vehicle free, free pot paints, free brushes and glue. That one day he sold more Space Marine stuff than he had in the last 2 weeks.

GW are so inflexiable with their pricing. What insentive is there for me to shop at GW? I get nothing for my loyalty, other than overpriced stuff. GW need to bring back something like the Skulz promotion like they did 10 years ago.

I describe being 'pounced' on, meaning as soon as walk through the door, the first question is, "What army do you collect" followed by "Their awesome, have you got one of these" and straight into a Sales pitch. Or when I'm looking for a random Character to paint, they always seem to pick up the most expensive one.

To be fair I recently was in GW Newcastle and wanted the washes set, they had none in so the manager offered to sell me them individually for the cost of the set. Of course thats a lot less cash but its the same principal.

As to being pounced on, it only seems to happen with noob staff in Newcastle, I actually quite like winding them up, sending them off to check the stockroom for genestealer hybrids or chaos dwarf blunderbusses etc.

With paints its really easy;
You sell them the paints indivdually at the price of the box, you order an extra box, open it, and put the washes in the display, so it's as if you just came in and bought that box he ordered,just earlier.
GW don't lose money, you don't spend extra, and someone else will come in and buy it seperately when he wants to so there won't be excess stock.

Oh how I'd love to own a Hobby Store!

and now for some good news:

ventured into the local GW shop yesterday with a mate who's pansy space elves box contained a scout who's gun had snapped, the manager took a look inside, clearly identified the break had occurred due to a moulding issue and replaced without question and let said eldar player keep the original box o scouts.

and that bears out something I found years ago when as a youth i worked for an indy GW supplier, they don't quibble over returns. Good customer relations, a big tick in their favour.

Colour me impressed.

I find their selling to be extremely aggressive, most of the guys at my local store know i'm a die hard ork player, but when they see me looking at tyranid's it's almost as if they can't resist and launch a huge pitch. I used to think it was excitement until your at a store long enough and everyone gets the same flame template sales blitz, no cover saves against that!

Daggermaw wrote:I used to think it was excitement until your at a store long enough and everyone gets the same flame template sales blitz, no cover saves against that!

Haha, that's genuinely a great line.
and it's true!
The people they see in there a lot they treat the same as 14 year olds who come in once and get the Lord of the Rings boxset from their mum unless you're someone who's in there every single day. THAT guy is treated like a friend to them, a fellow hobbyist purely because he's there every day, yet we regulars are not!

I had a sour experience when I started LOTR just as it was starting to be manufactured by GW I bought a blister with a cave troll arm missing and they told me I'd have to order and pay P&P for a new arm, which cost around just £2 for the entire model. It has now changed to a different shop and completely different staff but it still left a mark.

M'yeah. Think I'll stick to my FLGS. Most of the staff there don't know a Space Marine from a Battlemech. Keeps 'em humble.

The staff at my local GW know me well and when a new guy strikes up the regular sales pitch they just tell him not to bother.

They know all the regulars and give us space and strike up great discussions when it's quiet.

The do have targets to meet. Primarily based around selling the starter sets. But they are such great deals its not like they are ripping anyone off.

The Big Mek wrote:... He didnt even suggest ANY chaos sets at all, just because there were quite alot of AoBR sets.

That's because there area extra targets for starter box sets - the AoBR, BoSP and MoM ones. Because they're products that are designed to hook n00bs and hooking n00bs is what GW's sales department believes is the only important thing in the world* there are store targets for selling them. If the store meets its targets it gets a pat on the back. If it misses them it gets a kick up the arse. All the sales rep wants is any easy life, and so as flogging AoBR sets gives him and easier life, and flogging Chaos units doesn't, guess what he will try and do?

The problem is that Head Office doesn't have a first clue about how to properly motivate staff to grow and develop their customers for the long term benefit of the company. Not a frikkin' clue!

Fortunately for GW there are a few sensible retail staff about the place who have a modicum of common sense, and genuinely want to do well by the customer, reasoning that a happy customer is likely to be a return customer, as well as having a little pride and self respect. Sadly they tend to get it kicked out of them in time by GW's idiotic and desperate middle management...

* slight exaggeration for comic effect.

The Big Mek wrote:The new GW recruiting policy (especially with Managers ) is that 'You can always teach someone the Hobby, but teaching them people skills is a lot harder'.
But it's meant to be centered round the Hobby! Just 'cause theyre not a people person doesn't mean they'll be the worst salesman, infact, it'd probably be the opposite!
It should be centered around people who're good hobbyists and are enthusiastic towards the hobby, not serving people, but keep the current serving policy but leant more towards customer service rather than incenting customers to buy, as service usually gets more sales anyway.

I don't want to meet frothers when I go in a GW.

Today lunchtime I nipped over to the Oxford Street branch to pick up a couple of pots of paint for this weekend. I'm painting some Pig Iron Kolony figures.

The staff and a couple of guys are sitting around the table painting and chatting. The manager looks up and asks if he can help. I say I just want to pick up some paint. He says "Righto, sir, when you've chosen just give me a call."

I go to choose my paint.

When I'v chosen my paint, the manager comes over, rings it up and bags it and I go away happy.

That to me is the way it should be. The manager knows I am a vet and I know what I want and don't need to be pressurised for extra sales.