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The hard sell is aimed, so it seems to me, at new/prospective players or those who otherwise do not have a working knowledge of the product line, such as parent purchasing a gift.

The problem is that it misfires with experienced customers who do have a working knowledge of the product line, and likely already have in mind a series of purchases.

Ex: I play IG, I know that I want more transports, and a new command squad, and a second flier would round out a new competitive list. I can't buy all of that right now, so I go to the shop to pick up a new Chimera and mull over whether I should pick up the command squad before or after I buy a Valk kit.

GW does not seem to do a decent job of distinguishing between different types of customers.

When I regularly patronize a FLGS, most often the owner/employees get to know me and my purchasing habits, and I have found that the most effective customer interactions take that into account. I have also found that as a customer, community building is an effective way to drive me to purchase products.

"Hey there, is there anything that I can help you with? How is that starter set of X working out. So-and-so was in here the other day picking up the rulebook, and I think there are enough folks in the area to get a league going? What do you think? That order you placed last week should be arriving tomorrow. Did you hear that the manufacturer is releasing some new products next month? If you want to take a look at them in person I'm getting a promo box in next week and I'll be painting them up for the display case."

I was in my local flgs when one of the higher up gw guys came in to help the store manager to learn how to "make that sale," and I was just about to throw up in my shoe. I've been in sales, and the sales technique they were using seems to work out pretty well....for a used car salesman. If a FLGS employee cam at me like the corp guy was instructing, I would buy my stuff from one of any other locations. New to game or not, the best sales tech requires learning a little about your buyer. They are looking at 40k? So what kind of movies do you watch? Really liked aliens, and thought that they should have taken over the world...Tyranids, Liked Starship Troopers...IG. SAW 5 was a must see... go, go , gadget Chaos. Selling to a seasoned player can actually be harder than a new player. It's a lot of knowing the customer and showing things that would interest them, but the super agressive sale is a really big put off. For both new and old players.

I've got a load of Virgin Atlantic air miles I need to use up.

Maybe I could load a couple of suitcases with GW kits, fly to Australia for free, and make a profit in the trip overall.

but ya gotta know the territory!

 Kilkrazy wrote:
I've got a load of Virgin Atlantic air miles I need to use up.

Maybe I could load a couple of suitcases with GW kits, fly to Australia for free, and make a profit in the trip overall.

I thought Japanese prices were about the same?

At any rate, if you can get things at UK/US prices, you might just be able to do that, but work out your target customers first, and be careful to stay under taxable amounts.

Maddermax wrote:
Now, I mostly shop at Good Games at spring hill, or Ace comics in Annerley, and both are far more relaxed places to go and hang out, and have a browse.

What, Good Games has stock now? Last time I was there all they sold was the current set of Magic blisters and whatever was in the fridge.

Mind you that was a few years ago

 Micky wrote:

Maddermax wrote:
Now, I mostly shop at Good Games at spring hill, or Ace comics in Annerley, and both are far more relaxed places to go and hang out, and have a browse.

What, Good Games has stock now? Last time I was there all they sold was the current set of Magic blisters and whatever was in the fridge.

Mind you that was a few years ago

Well, I don't think they stock GW, but they have a good selection of Warmachine, and apparently a now have a really good warmachine night (though I've yet to make it along to one, new baby's take up a lot of time). But the point was the sales attitude was/is quite different, and makes me much more inclined to return.

Kinda cool to know. I thought they were just 100% focused on being a venue and not bothering with sales.

Yeah, I've always been turned off by in-your-face sales pitches. When I was younger I was more shy and when shopping I want the least contact to sales people as humanly possible while i also need time to decide on what to buy.

I never react well to the hard sell.

I hardly ever react well to anybody trying to direct my purchases without my express request for aid. And I don't generally make such a request.

The Auld Grump

The hard sell out me off going to GW stores. It's like no other store I go in, most places just let me browse in peace,they pounce on you like a car dealership in GW. I don't mind a hobby chat, but it's so artificial because they have to stay on message, do can't talk about anything other than GW product and pushing the newest stuff. That's what happens when your shop is a monoculture of product and the staff are under pressure to hit sakes targets. They aren't like proper hobby shops run by people who love the hobby, rather than being salespeople first, hobbyists (GW only) second.

Did anyone happen to get video of the epic GW fail?