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OK well every time I go in to my local games workshop to have a browse I find I am greeted very warmly. If i look in the display cases I will get someone from the staff coming up behind me and saying "are you looking for something?" i always reply very politely no. They then go on to say things like "have you seen the new rule book just out, only 45 pounds" then i say yes but im just browsing. This pushy selling gets very irritating and I dont not wish to offend any one with this article I am just curious as to why they are so pushy. My friend Grob the immortal grot (who does not want his real name spoken) went in to buy some saurus the other day and the shop keepers where like "well do you want a stegadon with that, then youll want some skinks as well because if you are starting a new force you will neeed many different troop types" they kept doing this untill they wotked up to trying to sell him a battle force when he came in for saurus. Th is is really of putting and I no longer go to games workshop for my modelling suplies i use independent stockist like mad for miniatures, newquay gamoiing and wayland games.

A pretty common complaint for GW staff - they are trained and told to aggressively sell, up sell and push new releases.

thank you Scar!
I agree!
GW are trying and pressuring us to buy the next step up, despite the fact that the prices are already extortinate. The worst is the other day i went to get some greenstuff (£5, it actually said on the label) and they charged me £6! Why?
Because they had fired the very same guy who tried to sell me the battleforce but failed last week!

So in effect, i was paying extra for something i shouldn't of had to! because i didn't buy their massively overpriced battleforce filled with PLASTIC!

So vote with your wallet - don't shop there. If you absolutely *have* to buy from GW (ie. you can't find a similar product or proxy elsewhere) then use the online discount stores.

The absolute only way that we as consumers will ever affect change in GW policy and attitude is by hitting them in their profits. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of concerted and cooperative effort to have any real effect.

words of wisdom from grob yet again, ha. But it really does disgust me with way they try and sell you things like that, the lady that tryed to sell us the rulebook was terrible, when we went in to truro shs was giving us leaflets and telling us to come back tomorrow and by the shiny new rulebook.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
thank you filbert

Boss Scar wrote:words of wisdom from grob yet again, ha. But it really does disgust me with way they try and sell you things like that, the lady that tryed to sell us the rulebook was terrible, when we went in to truro shs was giving us leaflets and telling us to come back tomorrow and by the shiny new rulebook.

We asked to look at the rulebook, and she said yes you could, and then surprise. PUSH, PUSH, PUSH!
lady: It's only £45.
Boss scar: thats pretty expensive
lady: no its not really seeing as the old book is (really extortinate as well) is ONLY £35
christ
very annoying

Yeah, I would not advise buying any modelling supplies direct from GW. You can often buy them for significantly less elsewhere. Greenstuff is a common one to get way cheaper elsewhere. The stuff GW sells is an absolute rip off.

As filbert says, shop elsewhere. Online stores generally offer anything from 10-20% off RRP for the models themselves, and will sell model supplies from other companies which are probably 50-70% cheaper than comparable items from GW.

I have no problem with this, I'm friendly with two members of staff there and they aren't pushy when me and a mate go in there. We chat alot and they are the sort of people who are genuine 40K fans, it makes going into the store really enjoyable.
There are certain people that work there that I've just learnt to avoid, the second the words "have you seen the new..." leave their mouth i just walk straight out without saying another word. Solves the problem and they are starting to get the picture and its happening less and less now.

Pushy salespeople are annoying no matter where they work.

I was told by someone that there is no way that GW staff could be bad or pushy sales.
They said if there is any explanation its because im "socially slowed" and cant appreciate it.

I strongly disagree . but what can i do

But thinking about it , it probably explains why the "new" staff gets replaced so often doesnt it?
They get pressured by their managers that they should reach certain weekly target , if they are unable to reach that
performance , its not very good. So they get over board when "persuading" the customers.

Long story short , lack of sales experience.

IMO, they dont get enough time to learn the needed sales skills to retain customers while selling

On Scars behalf do list any examples of this pushyness you have come across

HI all.
I have found the answer to GW pushy sales men.
Simply tell them why you dont want to pay for thier overpriced product.

Pushy GW store person,' Have you seen the new WHFB rule book.'

Me, ' Yes I have, I am not interested thankyou.'

Pushy GW store person,' But its great value ALL full colour pictures and over 500 pages.'

Me , 'Thats why I am not interested, I can buy Armies Of Arcana rules for £20, that is better a better produced RULE set and includes acess to 23 BALANCED army lists for free.if I want to look at pretty pictues of minatures I can visit the GW web site for free in the internet.'

Pushy GW sore person,'Ah , ok would you like to buy some Green Stuff.'

Me 'No thankyou.'

Pushy GW store person, ' why not, have you got enough?'

Me ' Yes , I buy it direct from Kneedatite on the internet , £10 for a meter length, not £5 for 10 cm.'

I could go on , but I think you get the idea...

TTFN

I have a foolproof way of dealing with them... On the very rare occasions I enter one of their stores.

"So what army are you painting at the moment?"

"Von Gracow's Prussian Frei Korps Division from the 1813 War of Liberation..."

Usually does the trick.

I might be a little confused.

Lanrak, Big P....if you aren't buying the 'overpriced' GW products, and are in fact, playing other games, then why go into the GW store? Not trying to be rude, I seriously don't get it.

On a personal note, this is the first I am hearing of this. Now, granted, I have only been to three GW stores, (and only once apiece) but they weren't that pushy with me. No pushier than I would expect any salesperson to be. Certainly they were trying to make a sale, but that's kind of their job. The employees I have dealt with spent more time asking me what I played, what I had, what I felt I needed, and in general sussing what they could conceivably sell me (that I might actually buy) then trying to just ram random product down my throat. I do most of my buying from a local games store that is wholly independent from GW, so I have less experience than most of you.

(And as a side note, 45 pounds for the core rulebook? I wasn't that shocked till I converted that to dollars. DAMN! You are getting hosed. Get a friend to buy it in the US and ship it to you. Don't know what international postage rates are, but I wager it would wind up cheaper.)

When it comes to pushy salespeople, though, in any field, I usually just tell them 'I haven't made up my mind yet. If I have any questions, I will come to you. Thank you for your time.' Be polite, but firm. Haven't really ever had a problem that didn't solve.

I think they have a lot of pressure put on them by GW to sell at all costs. As a lot of people going in are young children (often without their parents), this approach worls quite well.

They are in a very strong position, as although there are other games out their they aren't in the same league in terms of popularity and support as 40k and WHFB so while some mistreated customers may leave the majority will stay, and keep spending.

This has led to GW lacking any interest in keeping and apreciating customers they can be far more pushy than most shops. As many customers are short term and can be abused while those staying usually have little choice. Unfortunately GW plan focuses on quick easy money now rather than long term planning.

As other games continue to rise in popularity GW will be forced to change this or their lack of interest in customers will destroy them.

I would just tell them regardless of what they're trying to sell me that I already have three of it.

"Hey have you seen the new 8th rulebook?!?"
"Yeah dude I already bought three."

filbert wrote:A pretty common complaint for GW staff - they are trained and told to aggressively sell, up sell and push new releases.

Yeah, you can basically close the thread here. They're quite simply forced to interrogate you at every chance

Don't let it get to you though. I'm sure they hate doing it just as much as you hate them for it

Also, they seem to hate walk-ins. Never go into the store without having full confidence you'll be leaving with over a hundred dollars worth of product,or else you'll be harassed. If you look really excited to be there, they might leave you alone.



Automatically Appended Next Post:

avantgarde wrote:I would just tell them regardless of what they're trying to sell me that I already have three of it.

"Hey have you seen the new 8th rulebook?!?"
"Yeah dude I already bought three."

\

good idea. I very well might try this tomorrow when I go!

"Hey, dude. Buying some paints?"<---Store employee
"Yep. I'm painting imperial guard"<---ME
"How's it going so far?"
"Pretty good, I got them all assembled last night"
"Cool, have you thought about getting a spray gun?"
"Yeah, I bought three"
"Oh, awesome. Have you thought about buying a baneblade? We have 12 left in stock!"
"Yeah, I have three"
"Wtf"

Hey, if you don't like the shop, you don't like the staff, simple solution:

SIMPLY WALK OUT THE DOOR

Its a f-ing busieness, they need to make money. At least they don't ignore you and don't listen to anything you have to say. They are doing their job which doesn't bother me. If I'm asked about a new product, I usually get into a conversation about opinions of the new product.

Jimsolo wrote:
(And as a side note, 45 pounds for the core rulebook? I wasn't that shocked till I converted that to dollars. DAMN! You are getting hosed. Get a friend to buy it in the US and ship it to you. Don't know what international postage rates are, but I wager it would wind up cheaper.)

Assuming he's talking about the new WHFB book (which he is), its actually cheaper by 5 USD to purchase it at the UK price of 45 pounds. Shipping would prolly be about another 10-15 USD, so thats not a good idea. In fact, using maelstrom games or another british discounter might very well be a better option for US players than buying domestically.

Mewiththeface wrote:Its a f-ing busieness, they need to make money. At least they don't ignore you and don't listen to anything you have to say. They are doing their job which doesn't bother me. If I'm asked about a new product, I usually get into a conversation about opinions of the new product.

You know, you're right. The problem is that their opinions are usually uninformed drivel, aimed only at getting you to buy whatever product you're discussing, and by "doing their job" they are creating an uninviting environment, effectively harassing you, and preventing you from thinking about your purchase. The one time I have been in a GW store, I walked out after 5 minutes because an employee was following me about giving me unasked for advice for irrelevant subjects, when all I wanted to do was see if I could pick up a Tau Hammerhead or Eldar Wave Serpent. His inability to STFU or leave me alone when politely asked to stop bugging me prevented me from considering which of the two I needed more (I'm an impulse buyer, I can't think these things out in advance)/would be more useful.

The only time I had a pushy suggestive sale was when I entered a GW after christmas to buy some flesh wash during my 6th grade year. I simply wanted the wash, and the salesperson was suggesting that I should "Buy all flesh colors and mix them together to get a good skine tone". Yeah right, he must have thought I was some dumb kid.


In fact, the last time I entered one, the sales clerk really didn't pay me any mind. He asked if I played at first, almost to test my "dedication". Other than that, I was left alone.

chaos0xomega wrote:

Mewiththeface wrote:Its a f-ing busieness, they need to make money. At least they don't ignore you and don't listen to anything you have to say. They are doing their job which doesn't bother me. If I'm asked about a new product, I usually get into a conversation about opinions of the new product.

You know, you're right. The problem is that their opinions are usually uninformed drivel, aimed only at getting you to buy whatever product you're discussing, and by "doing their job" they are creating an uninviting environment, effectively harassing you, and preventing you from thinking about your purchase.

That's my big problem with most of the employees in GW. Trying to make a sale is one thing, but when everything in the store is the absolute best at everything, it gets really f'ing annoying.

Or my mates dad, who went in to a store. Knows his son plays "Bloods Angel' thingies.

Mail orders Sanguinary Guard.

The salesperson then states "He needs this and this as well!"

Mate opens Birthday present, to find 1 squad Imp Guardsmen, and 1 set Lizard Riders(WHFB).

I mean, there are hitting targets- but seriously wondering why the Redshirt didn't suggest the new Aragorn(LoTR) fig "As they are REALLY popular and useful!!"

What a Putz.

Heh I remember when the GW opened where we were the first time round in the late 90's (it shut down eventually as they had staff changes later and one idiot drove people away in droves). Sales guy comes up, we were familiar with how annoying they got asked if we needed any help he got a reply of don't try and hard sell us, we will hurt you with straight faces. Funnily enough not only did he never but he turned out to be a great guy since he knew if we were there to buy we would buy and got on well with him.
Where I am now never had any kind of hard sell, the manager is the one usually in and happy just to chat away about the new rules etc as they were gettign closer to release date. He never even took offense when I was asking about the contents of each battalion box these days as I was thinking of getting a couple online for a core of a new army as they are a hell of a lot cheaper
Think it depends where you go but seen enough pushy sales techniques in GW all over the UK to know where people are coming from. End of the day though if they can puch the new rules that leads to people playing which leads to new armies getting bought, more sales, more money in the till. If their store does well it won't be looked at a failure and closed costing them their job, think of it like that. Hell I've experienced the same pushyness in game just browsing pc, ds and wii games from overzealous staff, yesterday some idiot tried for 5 minutes to get me to buy a new release I had no interest in when I just wandered in to browse and kill time.

It's not so bad if you just refuse quickly enough. But sometimes I can't follow their logic...

What's really sad is that my old store had great staff. The manager was friendly and genuinely helpful, and the other man he had with him even gave me some free dwarf warriors he had lying around.

Now? Well, I called up the new guy at GW (Sadly, the other two left), to ask 'em if their new varnish had a matt finish, as I had the older varnish. I was told they were the same product. A quick call to my non-GW store revealed that it wasn't matt and to top it off, it was terrible. I've heard much about this "white mist of doom", but didn't believe it until now.

May as well go ahead and throw my hat in the complaint ring. My FLGS didn't have the models I needed, and I had a day off work and some free time, so I drove to the nearest open GW store. Partly out of curiosity, because I'd never been to an actual GW before. To put this in perspective, I drove to the nearest one... 200 miles away.

Upon arriving, I expressed three ideas:
1) I was very tired, and preemptively apologized for any rudeness I might exhibit (Protip: This is a strong hint that a person does not want to be bothered)
2) Ooh! This store is *shiny*!
3) I am here to spend all of my wallet on specific models with which I am already familiar.

Let me emphasize that. I expressed that I was there to spend all of my money, and I already know what I want.

So what happens? The [supply your own unpleasant adjective-noun combination here] salespeople start trying to upsell me!

I learned a few neat things, though:
1) Unlike 99% of humanity, GW store staff will not leave you alone if you stare directly at something that has your attention and ignore them without replying.
2) There's a printed version of the Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer?! (It was news to me at the time)
3) Managers are unimpressed with their employees when you inform them that their salespeople just caused a customer to spend less than half the money they had originally intended through harassment and irrevocably stupid transaction errors.

I am kind of disgusted that that poor guy got fired for failing to sell you a battleforce. AT LEAST HE TRIED!!! The thing GW do not understand is before you make a purchase you have to make a decision. Am i going to start collecting? extending? for me this process takes time, its not something you can do in 5 seconds. I understand if its something little like paints or green stuff. But a Battleforce is ridiculous.

Also, I found out that if you melt all the plastic in a battleforce you get a lump that is about 2 litres. That lump is worth roughly idk, like $9 AUS. i Suppose 30$ for processing and $40 for delivery to nearest GW.
All together that's 79$ and a battleforce is 155$!!! 76$ profit!!! What is this !!!

I read in another thread that the staff get a monthly quota of things to sell and if they don't make said quota for x amount of months they get put on the chopping block =s. Not sure if its true or not but i wouldn't doubt it. The ones at the gw i go to arnt *that* bad but sometimes they get on my nerves. I recently found an awesome hobby store that has weekly warhammer tournaments and a 15~ discount and free shipping so i doubt i'll use gw anymore heh.

Being a salesperson (not GW):

It's our JOB to sell you (the customer) stuff. The company, any company, doesn't pay it's employee's to not do their job. Whatever stuff you came in to find, and more, is what i HAVE to get you to buy. If we DON'T sell you more, the manager gets crap for it, and if the manager gets crap for it, I get crap for it. So what do I do? Up sell.

Now, I agree there's a line of pushiness that shouldn't be crossed, personally I ask for the major items in my store, office supplies, so ink/toner, paper, pens/pencils. Easy things that most people need, but if I'm told "no" I drop it.

However, a very large thing to consider is theft. GW stuff is very easy to steal... ridiculously easy. The best way to deter theft is to be right by the customer and you can only pretend to be doing something else so close to them for so long. What most people here are saying that they do are all indicators of people who want to be ignored; which is a huge red flag for theft.

A better tactic is talk to them, show them you know what you're talking about with the hobby, be polite, and 95% of the redshirts will leave you alone. The other 5% are jackasses.

I rarely go into UK GW stores - If I do then I'll say hi to the staff (no need to be rude), but make firmly clear that I know exactly what I'm looking for and don't need any help. If they keep pushing then I tell them that after 20 plus years in the hobby, I know my armies and know what I'm collecting.

If they continue to push I just tell them I'm collecting paitns for my Flames of War / Perrry / Victrix figures. Either they go 'does not compute' or they go cool and we talk about it.

Bottom line for me - I'll treat staff with respect and will befriendly and polite to them. I expect to be left alone after I've said hello until I ask for help.