At the time I was a Retail Training Consultant for a four branch jewellery group and had arrived in-store one day for a shortburst refresher training session on customer retention. I was prepared, a little early and just waiting for the all the delegates to arrive when a harassed ‘father’ towing a 12 year old son with him came in to the shop and was clearly upset and fussing (do men fuss?) Anyway, there was no-one to help so immediately and clearly as I was doing ‘nothing’ he made a beeline for me.

He was angry because his son had bought the wrong thing for his wife (another story there) but more so, the customer thought that ‘we’ had given the wrong advice and wanted a full refund on the sale item. I couldn’t get a word in edgeways to explain that I did not work there, but then just let the transaction develop. I spoke him down as it were, and because I was familiar with the stock, showed him and son other and alternative bracelets. JUST NOT INTERESTED. I explained that I was not an employee of the store, that I was a training consultant and that I would get management assistance for him. His attitude then changed completely, he couldn’t understand how I ‘knew so much’ about jewellery and stones etc, but I explained that it was my business to as I was a trainer and did public and private product training courses etc and so on. To cut a long story short, he took the cuppa tea I offered, and proceeded to ask me questions about jewellery, stones, precious settings, advice on rings, wedding sets, chains, the consignment counter, watches and so on - it seemed we went around the whole store while waiting for the manager. Interspersed with this were many questions about the retail courses I ran, what other work I did, and so on too. He also wondered out loud why I had stepped in to help him when I did not work there. I must have answered appropriately and thank heavens that it was in the one store with whom I had an excellent relatioship with management (long term training service etc)

I have to leave out a lot of information now, otherwise I will never get finished with this story!

Suffice it to say, the customer was on a ’settling in vacation’ as he had just moved up from Capetown to Johannesburg and was filling in time while waiting to take up a position as the National Operations Manager of a 40-store multibranch franchise jewellery chain. Little did I realise at the time that in fact it was a presentation I was giving, or a job interview of sorts.

I did not know who he was at the time, but was to go on to make over R500k in training sales and recruitment consulting with ‘his’ company.
And all because I used a bit of intitiative and stepped in to assist a Dad and son, who still go to that jewellery store every time they can to purchase the kinds of items they do not stock. I am sure they have also sent people there too, strange as it would seem.

Sadly he emigrated to Australia just two short years later!

My best sale ever … and by defaut as it were!

Cheers
Lestie
Jo’burg S A