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posted by martyb on Friday July 20 2018, @07:47PM   Printer-friendly
from the they've-come-a-long-way dept.

Bloomberg:

Best Buy, the last national electronics chain, is counting on these advisors to distinguish it from Amazon.com Inc., the company’s competitor, partner, and would-be vanquisher. With more than 1,000 big-box stores in North America and about 125,000 employees, Best Buy was supposed to have succumbed to the inevitable. “Everyone thought we were going to die,” says Hubert Joly, who was hired as chief executive officer in August 2012 after profits shrunk about 90 percent in one quarter and his predecessor resigned amid an investigation into his relationship with an employee.

Instead, Best Buy has become an improbable survivor led by an unlikely boss. Joly was raised and educated in France, trained at McKinsey & Co., and previously employed by hospitality company Carlson, based outside Minneapolis, and media conglomerate Vivendi SA, where he greenlighted a little game called World of Warcraft. He’s the first outside CEO in the chain’s 52-year history. He had no retail experience—Best Buy’s stock fell 10 percent the day he was named CEO—but Joly understands how to value, and capture, customers’ time. Comparable sales rose 5.6 percent last year and 9 percent during the Christmas season, the biggest holiday gain since 2003. The stock price has quadrupled. Even Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is impressed. “The last five years, since Hubert came to Best Buy, have been remarkable,” he said at an appearance in April.

Geek Squad to the rescue?


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 20 2018, @08:27PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 20 2018, @08:27PM (#710104)

    Sounds like you're lacking in assertiveness.

    All that is required to rid yourself of a sales person who is pestering you is to tell them in no uncertain terms :

      "I am just browsing and I prefer to be left alone, but if I do need help I will come find you".

    This works whether it is Best Buy or the world's most pushy car dealership. I speak from over 40 years of experience dealing with
    pushy sales people. Don't even try to tell me that "your situation was different" -- the difference was that you are WEAK.

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  • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Friday July 20 2018, @08:35PM (2 children)

    by Gaaark (41) on Friday July 20 2018, @08:35PM (#710106) Journal

    I prefer " "I am just browsing and I prefer to be left alone, but if you continue to try to sell to me, i will leave and not come back."

    THAT makes them walk away.

    --
    --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 20 2018, @08:49PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 20 2018, @08:49PM (#710112)

      "I prefer " "I am just browsing and I prefer to be left alone, but if you continue to try to sell to me, i will leave and not come back."

      -
      -

      In my experience, using thinly veiled threats ( as you suggest ) is rarely called for.

      It is best to save threatening statements for when every other option has failed,
      which in practice is vanishingly rare.

      • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Saturday July 21 2018, @12:59AM

        by Gaaark (41) on Saturday July 21 2018, @12:59AM (#710187) Journal

        I had a car salesman follow me around even after telling him "I'm just looking" 4 bloody times.

        Following up with "I am just browsing and I prefer to be left alone, but if you continue to try to sell to me, i will leave and not come back." made him back off and leave me alone.

        It is best to save threatening statements for when every other option has failed,

        It is not a thinly veiled threat: it was something i was quite willing to do! I wasn't threatening him bodily harm in any way. I was just not willing to put up with him saying "Oh, you're just looking... what are you looking for?"
        "Are you looking for a car? A truck?"
        "Are you looking for a used vehicle?"

        Why should i have to put up with that? I'M JUST LOOKING, THANKS, should be enough to make him back off. Any more than that and fuck it, YOU ARE BOTHERING ME!

        You're willing to put up with him following you around, i'm not.

        --
        --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday July 23 2018, @01:42PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 23 2018, @01:42PM (#711204) Journal

    > Sounds like you're lacking in assertiveness.

    Past tense.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.