Making Opinion Sound Like Fact
Why is it that some people feel the need to speak up about things that they know very little about? Or why do they answer a question, when it is clear they do not know the answer? This is a situation I run into constantly.
By day, I work in a very technical industry, which I also have a lot of passion towards. Like with anything I was passionate about, even at a very young age, I wanted to learn as much about whatever it was that had my interest at the time. I’ve always been interested in electronics, so from my self teachings and asking many questions over the years, I have developed a pretty extensive understanding of most things we sell and deal with at my work, as well as going far above and beyond the standard scope of understanding how the things we sell work. To put it simply, I love the technical side of almost anything.
So how does this tie into my initial statement? Well, in all retail, three needs to be salespeople. Some of which are technically gifted and others which I’d like to refer to as “wordsmiths” or fast talkers. At my work, the owner has made it very clear that his work philosophy is about being honest, educational and thorough with each customer. He spends very little to nothing on advertising. It’s the type of service that he wants us to provide that is what brings customers back and has them tell their friends.
So as of late, one of the salespeople have been getting a little creative when dealing with customers. They’ll ask him questions about product, and I’ll hear some very imaginative answers. Usually ones that sound good, but have very little merit behind them. I let this sort of thing just happen, because it is not my place to butt in. But even more recently, he has started to use the same tactics with me, when I ask him questions about installs. He gives me an assumed answer, and when things don’t go how he assumed they would, the onus is on me to make things better. I’ve have dealt with this soo much, that I can tell when he is making up an answer and I call him on it. He just kind of laughs it off as if it’s not a big deal. WHY?!?!?!?! I’m sure, jy4m, that by now, you realize how important honesty is to me, and I have already expressed in my response how I think English assignments should be marked, that communication is the key. I almost think now that he makes up answers just to try to get me off his back about things, but I explain to him that he only makes matters worse. Because bad communication like that is counter-productive.
Then there are the customers. The one piece of credit I give to anyone working retail, is that these people who have decided to serve the public, get the privilege to deal with the lowest common denominator. There are always a few customers a year that come into the car audio department and talk about their buddy’s car whose window blew out ‘cause it was soo loud. But, what they don’t realize when they tell me their story of crap, is that right behind me are my first place trophies for several car audio competitions for the loudest vehicle. And the windshield on my car, at the time, was severely cracked. Not once did it ever seem like the window was in danger of blowing out of the car.
I guess people make things up for many different reasons, but why lie to impress? Most of the time you just make yourself look like a fool in the end. Personally, I’d just rather be real. If I’m asked a question and I know the answer I’ll speak up. If I can’t, I’ll try to get someone who can or I’ll learn the answer on my own.
by David Estabrook
