Mary Beth & Pushing Caller To Buy Jewelry

[Irish]

One caller told Mary Beth she had bought a necklace (or whatever) & how much she liked her & Mary Beth took advantage of that to push jewelry on her. Right away, Mary Beth started in with telling her what she could buy to match the necklace. The caller just kept saying, "Yeah." The caller didn't sound as excited as she was in the beginning of the call as she realized that Mary Beth was just there to sell her jewelry. Not to be her friend.

I'm sure sales are down because of the economy & the hosts are told to push a little bit more, but it was so obvious the way Mary Beth did it. I could tell even the caller understood what Mary Beth was doing.

But, it's still sad when the older callers say to the hosts that they wish they could be friends or that they could be neighbors.

[Barbi]

Last night, Lisa Robertson was hosting an Arte d'Oro gold show, and there was one cuff bracelet that came in a choice of polished or textured gold for a mere $5,134! QVC did the decent thing--they paid for the shipping and handling. The fact that there was a choice meant they had at least two of these beauties in stock. The economy is slowing, but apparently the Q isn't worried...

[beekeeper]

They are salespeople ... what do you expect? They get criticized for doing their job, they get criticized when they don't do their job the right way (perceived).

You go to a fast food restaurant and they try to upsell your order. You go to Starbucks for coffee and they try to sell you a scone. You buy a car and they try to sell you extended warranties. It's sales 101.

Barbi, I think most (if not all) of the Arte d'Oro pieces have free shipping. It's the least they can do! Gorgeous show ... wow! That white agate/gold bracelet took my breath away. The bracelet you mentioned, in polished finish ... is so impractical! Do you know how fast that will be all scratched up and looking bad?!? IMO, 18k is too soft for that style.

[Susu]

I agree with beekeeper. They are salespeople and it is a shopping channel. They are told to sell and they have strategies. Mary Beth's is to come off as being everybody's sister or best friend and it must be working for her because she's been around a very long time.
Every time I go into a store the salesclerk tries to force a store charge card on me...NO THANKS! I go through a drive thru and they want me to upsize or super size my order...NO THANKS! It's called add on sales and I don't fall for it, alot do, though.

[pebbles]

When you call a shopping channel, you are not calling a friend or relative. You are calling a business. If you went into a jewelry store to tell them how much you liked a bracelet you bought there, you better believe that they are going to try to sell something else. The compliments are very nice, but they don't pay the rent or the salaries.
One of my pet peeves is the fact that people call QVC and talk about their health, a death in the family, their kids, etc. I know that there are many lonely people out there, but the salespeople on shopping channels and the viewers don't know you or care about you. Their job is to sell merchandise. Yes, even sweet-as-pie, church lady Mary Beth is a salaried saleswoman who probably also works on commission.

[Barbi]

beekeeper--I totally agree with you about the bracelet. About the only thing 18K is good for is earrings and pendants that do not hit anything when you lean forward. Otherwise, it is very soft and scratches easily. In fact, I have a cigar band 10K ring, and it scratched, too. Maybe if the pieces were done in Eternagold they would look newer longer--but that $5,000 bracelet would be good to wear out to a show--and only if you wore gloves over it--so what's the point?

[Irish]

Beekeeper -

That's the point. Some of these callers really like the hosts & think of the hosts as their friends. It's sad. They just don't understand that the word "host" sound better than "salesperson" & they aren't there to make friends.

The lady sounded so disappointed that Mary Beth was trying to push more jewelry on her.

Mary Beth was so obvious about it though. She should have done it in a less obvious way & maybe the caller would have bought something. MB has been there a long time so she should know that. She could have made up something like, "Oh, and Mary, I'm getting this necklace after the show (LOL) & I was thinking about also getting this bracelet & earrings to match it. I think that would look so nice."

Really, some people actually must think the 'hosts' are working at QVC because they have nothing better to do & just work there because they want to, not because they need money.

I remember Kathy Levine saying a particular caller had too much time on her hands. I laughed so hard. I had just started watching home shopping shows & happened to turn it on when Kathy was doing on a segment on behind the scenes or something. They showed her office, etc. Anyway, she told us about one caller who kept calling & e-mailing her about jewelry. She looked at the camera & said the lady has too much time on her hands.

I bet she lost a good customer after that.

[Linda Lou]

No, there not there to be anyone's friend, but, some of them HAVE mentioned over the years, that they feel like the viewers are like family, esp. MBR.

They have to be friendly and warm when talking to viewers, and since there are many lonely people out there, it's probably not a stretch for some to get very familiar with them when they get the chance to talk on air.

Lisa R. really needs to give the whole "ladies who lunch", "Rodeo Drive", and her slightly veiled references to upscale jewelry stores. Not only is it sickening, but it's very insensitive given the horrible mess the economy's in.

Some are wondering how they are going to pay their m o r t g a g e and put food on the table, not how they are going to look like they have a lot of money.

[atmet12]

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QUOTING FROM POSTER: pebbles;1897172 (Post Number)

When you call a shopping channel, you are not calling a friend or relative. You are calling a business. If you went into a jewelry store to tell them how much you liked a bracelet you bought there, you better believe that they are going to try to sell something else. The compliments are very nice, but they don't pay the rent or the salaries.
One of my pet peeves is the fact that people call QVC and talk about their health, a death in the family, their kids, etc. I know that there are many lonely people out there, but the salespeople on shopping channels and the viewers don't know you or care about you. Their job is to sell merchandise. Yes, even sweet-as-pie, church lady Mary Beth is a salaried saleswoman who probably also works on commission.

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i cant believe the people that call in and start talking about thier woes. its not the dr. phil show. most of the hosts are polite but try to keep it short but some people dont get the hint and go on and on. they must be lonely. i

[Jac1nta]

Did anyone catch the time when a woman was talking to Rick and started bawling because her dog had died? Rick was extremely consoling.

[Irish]

And who knows what these are are like outside of work. Although, I'm sure most are nice, normal people, some probably aren't.

Some (not all, but some) of the office workers at my kids' schools are sweet as pie when they're asking for volunteers or asking favors, but are the complete opposite when you are the one asking for even a simple favor.

I think callers have to remember that 'hosts' are just people, too. Which I have to remind myself when I start thinking about Keanu Reeves. LOL.

[Irish]

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QUOTING FROM POSTER: Jac1nta;1897213 (Post Number)

Did anyone catch the time when a woman was talking to Rick and started bawling because her dog had died? Rick was extremely consoling.

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Did she buy something or did she just want to cry?

[Purrchance]

One thing I notice is the host and vendors will be so saccharin sweet and in your face to the callers and imho it's sooooooo disingenuous. They come across as very sincere and interested in the caller, but in reality , they want to get them off the phone as soon as they can. It's all a show imho. The ones that stick out in my mind are Jane, Jill and Mary Beth to name a few. Do you ever notice how quick they get a caller off the line when the item is announced as SOLD? I guess they are told that as soon as the item is sold, they have to go on to the next item immediately. I guess every minute costs them $$$$.

[carriekate]

Yep you can tell--every second counts. They will cut a caller off so fast. Some hosts are just better at all that.

Jacqui G. always seems sincere to me.

Lisa R. seems to believe in what she is selling most of the time...but sometimes she gets this really phony too-big smile on her face when she's talking to a caller.

And Patti is just bad. She will interrupt a caller mid-sentence saying "we're out of time" she just can't say thanks for calling and move on. I don't think she likes to share her on-screen time. ha ha