"Alienating your market [Privateer Press]" Topic

How boring..

Just curious, when your wife was interrupted by the man at the trade show booth, why didn't she just say politely, "Excuse me, I was talking with this other woman here. Would you mind?" That would have 1) put said jackleg in his place; 2) still given the female employee an opportunity to bring jackleg into the conversation if necessary.

As a guy in sales I will say that probably one of the toughest things to learn sometimes is that instead of becoming a better talker one must become a better listener. And that's a tough thing for a young upstart to learn, which is why a lot of sales/marketing guys are in their late 20's when they start careers in it. Young guys (in general) just don't have the patience necessary to know when it's time to be quiet.

That said, if the rep truly said these things to your wife, the rep should be notified (telephone if possible). If you don't get satisfaction then I'd say call the president of the company and have her take this guy to the woodshed.

Maybe cuz the 'jackleg' is the creative director of the company and he, more then anyone else, had the knowledge to answer her question.

he also has a response to this incedent it is on page 5 of this thread. under PPS-Matt(?) Which you evidently didn't read from the looks of your post

After having been in the retail business (non gaming) for many years, I have to agree that their comment was completely inappropriate.

Now, I am going on the assumption that everything stated is fact, since I was not there.

No retailer in any business should treat their customers, or potential customers, like dirt. I don't take exception to their advertising tactics, but if someone else does the best advice it to take the time and opportunity to explain what the intent was, and then try to sell something to them! I mean, do you really want to exclude female gamers from your customer base? Even if this man's wife was the ONLY female gamer they ever talked to, they missed a golden opportunity to make a friend and potential customer/proponent. How foolish!

There is no excuse for rude or snobbish customer service. I wouldn't tolerate it, and she shouldn't have to either.

You mean the comment that kept changing as the thread went on?

:)

I'll just point essayons7 to PPS Matt's post as well. On page 5. Amazing that 2 new people have posted and neither having read the whole thread.

Make a big deal out of not reading all 5 pages of blather. Forgive me, for unlike some, I work during the day.

Perhaps the real question should be: 1) Why did the creative director bother to interrupt someone asking a question to another individual? Seems to me if you want to get people interested in anything you listen first, talk second. I see no reason that this individual could have not waited to answer the woman's question OTHER than being impatient. While this could be a simple misunderstanding of the guy's enthusiam, believe me it can be interpreted as rudeness. 2) the female employee who was answering the question could have simply made that a statement to the effect, "Well the guy that started it all is right here, I'll bet he has a better answer than I have." and motioned for the individual to enter the discussion.

Defend the guy as much as you'd like, but I have a real problem with anyone that interrupts another individual because it indcates they are more concerned about providing their canned response rather than listen to what a person (in this case a potential buyer/client) is actually saying.

This also assumes that the original posters assessment was indeed acurate, which may not be the case.

Now excuse me while I go and read the jackleg's comments ...

Only one problem about the well thought out and written response given by Matt. While the words recalled may be accurately archived, none of us were there to witness the event so we don't know in which TONES these words were said and what body language if any, accompanied.

After all, there is a big difference between saying "War Machine is not for everyone." with sympathy vs. sarcasm, malice or ambivalence. I'd like to think that no company would ever turn away a prospective customer, even one that starts with a negative attitude.

So indeed words may be words, but tones are damning. Unfortunately, since none of us experts were there to witness anything, our opinions, both positive and negative, mean very little.

I'd wager to say the truth lies somewhere in the middle of each of the responses.

Just read Matt's response.

Without taking a side (don't know what actually happened), I'd just like to point out this:

If I had a complaint about a product, and the sales rep said to me "Our product is not for everyone", however politely, I would take it as "You are a hassle, we don't want your business." Because, that is what is implied in the sentence; that not everybody can like the product, and since you don't, bugger off!

You can take it that way if you want but sometimes you just feel like you have to cut your losses and move on. "Warmachine is not for everyone" sounds like a really polite way of doing just that.

I do marketing and PR for a living. In fact, right now my company is creating one of the most controversial video games of the year - Playboy: The Mansion. You have to believe that I get some tough questions. The problem is, some people really don't want to listen to the answers. They want their way (whatever way that is) and if you are ready to immediately concede to their wishes then they aren't going to back down. Finding a nice exit strategy in these situations is the only way to go.

When I read the original post on this topic I pictured the conversation pretty much the way that Matt presented it in his post above. Sure, his version is colored by his own perceptions but I think that he's probably hit it much closer to the mark than the person who made the original post - who tended to cloud his statements in hyperbole. I think that he did the best he could under the circumstances and I appauld him for coming forward and explaining his position in this forum.

Matt has earned his way with a lot of HARD WORK, in this biz, and he iz damn cool in my book...why should he cow down to any body?

Way to go Lil Bro!

BME

GG:
I don't mean Matt was wrong, saying what he did. As you say, sometime you have to take your losses. But you should be aware how your polite answer will be percepted. (Which Matt could very well have been...)

BME:
Being cool is nicer if you also are humble.

"Just for the record, supporters of warmachine you lost a customer for the game"

Painting with a broad brush, aren't we? All this hearsay, inflated egos, and bad tempers (on both sides, I might point out) and you're willing to make your mind up about something you've never personally dealt nor had experience with?

Sad.

So a couple hotheads left a stain on an otherwise sterling reputation (as evidenced by all the other good feedback Privateer has received on this site previously), and others (myself amongst them) worked to make things right and even things out. And all you respond to are the jerks?

Man, why do I even bother...

Smedley

Nice to have you back, Smedley.

The Pot and Kettle boys are back to beat the dead horse! Hurrah! 8)=

C'mon now, I just saw it twitch. Another coupla whacks and it'll be stone dead for sure!

Smedley

It's getting better! It thinks it'll go for a walk!

IT FEELS HAPPY! IT FEELS HAPPY *THUNK!*