Dress like a crap yet command respect

@scheng1 (24649)
Singapore
November 12, 2015 7:37am CST
According to a Harvard study, if you dress like a crap and enter the shops selling luxury brands, you will get respect and better service from the staff. Why is that so? I think the reason is that the sales staff know that the truly rich can afford to dress like a crap, and yet command respect. Those who are not rich and yet want to buy branded goods have to dress up to hide their lack of wealth. I can attest to the accuracy of the study. I do not dress well even when going for window shopping in malls selling luxury brands. My shoes are old. The color of my bag fades. My T-shirt and sports pant are cheap. Yet the sale staff pay more attention to me than to those who are dressed up well. When they mention the price of some items which can cost upward of several thousands, I just pretend that I am indifferent to the high price, as if I am shopping for cabbage, and a few cents difference in price does not make a difference.
Those who want top-notch customer service at the likes of Bergdorf Goodman may do well to stop by after SoulCycle class. That’s my conclusion after road testing a Harvard Business School study that...
1 person likes this
3 responses
Boingboing
@boiboing (13147)
• Northampton, England
12 Nov 15
They're probably watching to make sure you don't steal anything. This wouldn't work in Europe.
1 person likes this
scheng1
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
13 Nov 15
It sure will work in high end shops. You see all the Chinese snapping up the Louis Vuitton bags and though they are quite well-dressed, they are loud and crude. Anyway, money still talks the loudest.
Ella
@EllaSpringtime (198)
• Israel
12 Nov 15
I think since the movie Pretty Woman the store sellers started to think a little bit on how they are treating people with not appropriate cloths in their opinion :)
Boingboing
@boiboing (13147)
• Northampton, England
13 Nov 15
That's the exact scene I was thinking of. I think if staff are paid commission, they naturally look to identify the people they think will buy and suck up to them whilst ignoring the 'just looking' crowd. If the staff are salaried, they are more likely to treat people more fairly. If I meet snooty sales people I'm afraid the little voice in my head says "What makes you so special? You work in a shop"
1 person likes this
scheng1
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
13 Nov 15
I think the experienced sales staff in high end luxury stores in Paris see people differently. They have seen all types, and they can see from the mannerism from the customers to judge if the customers are truly rich. Many Chinese tourists are rather crude in their speech. They talk loud, and yet when they spend, they treat the $2000 bag as if it is just $10 flea market bags.
Yuki
@yukimori (10192)
• United States
12 Nov 15
That's a pretty common tactic used by sales staff to deter shoplifters in their stores.