My experience at Teavana.

[Essence]

I just wanted to post this on here...

I went to go exchange the product, and I had absolutely no problems whatsoever at this place. They were great there. Now I know if I ever do have to go to Teavana (I highly doubt I'll have the need) I'll be going to the store I went to today.

[gingkoseto]

Is Teavana a national chain business or franchise store? From people's experience, I got the impression that the stores could be under entirely different managements, so some are more friendly than others.

[chris&amy]

We took another road trip today to visit a couple of Tea shops in Annapolis Maryland and yes one was the Teavana that we usually go to. Todays experience was a little different than before but still a great place to shop. First when we got to the mall the store had about 45 min. before they opened so we were just window shopping and the associate let us in early which was very nice if her. She is not the same person that I usually deal with and right of the bat she tried to sell us everything in the store. I had to ignore her a little bit and then I had her make us a couple of iced teas so we could catch a break. Having said that she was still very nice girl and I understood she was only doing what she gets paid to do. I was buying a really beautiful tea pot that was 149.00 and when she rang it up she let us have it for 65.00. Also when everything was paid for she gave us about 20oz of free tea that they just discontinued. So all in all it turned out to be a great visit and I have to admit they do sell some very impressive teas. I just thought I would give an update on Teavana.
We also visited a shop called Capital Teas. It was our second visit and we were still impressed with this shop. They have very nice tea wares at very good prices and have a really nice tea assortment. The owners family have been in the tea business for a long time and she gets some of her teas from family farms. It was definitely a great day tea shopping!

[judyw]

I don't like Teavana. They try to upsale and the story you told is true to the store I have visited. I do like their free samples, but don't purchase there. It's simply too much money and too much hard sale.

[MFA]

We have no Teavana stores anywhere near us, but my response to a hard sell/up sale is to politely say "I don't like to be hard selled and because of that I am leaving. Thank you anyway for your time." Then I leave. And I don't return.

[Chip]

We have no Teavana stores anywhere near us, but my response to a hard sell/up sale is to politely say "I don't like to be hard selled and because of that I am leaving. Thank you anyway for your time." Then I leave. And I don't return.

But ... but ... they have some nice Washi canisters!

I guess having a long sales related career, I see it for what it is, and can bob and weave easily enough. But they are not "selling" me anything.

Funny, I see the hard sell going on all around me, but I seem to be left alone. Perhaps it is my two heads?

[chris&amy]

Ok....here it goes.....Wife and I went to Teavana yesterday to replace some of our tea and when I walked in the store a new sales associate greeted us at the door and he started in on us trying to sell us everything. I quickly told him to back off and let us look and he said OK. It was just a couple of minutes later he started again and I told him please stand back and let us look we have been here numerous times and we know what we want so do not keep being aggressive with us. (wife said I had him nervous) The female manager that I had to deal with the last time came over and made a crude joke that she got in trouble the last time for for accidentally selling me a teapot for 50% off and I would have to repay her for that. I knew she was joking but I told her that was her fault not mine and i was not paying for anything! The manager left and when she did the sales associate told me that when we were not looking she was giving him the evil eye and pushing him to try and sell us everything he could. I told him that this would be my last experience like this and if it happened again we would order online and not visit the store. It took me a couple of visits to start to see what is going on and they are trained to really push the product. There were other people that came in and I felt sorry for them because they hounded them the entire time they were in the store. I never had any problems when dealing with the other manager but he has not been there the last couple of times we shopped.
I have to admit that shopping there was a pain for sure but they do have some of the best blends that we have ever had. I tried to order blends elsewhere that seem to be compatible with the ones we like from Teavana but they did not even come close! They also have some very nice teaware and accessories. Who ever the persons are behind this business knew what they were doing when they came up with their blends and the have them down to a science. I am calling today to talk with the other manager about what happened and maybe they will ease up on us from now on. I did get about 20oz for free today so I guess that was a plus.....

Chris

[Intuit]

You got a half-price teapot and more than pound of free tea, correct? And you're unhappy about the hard sell. I don't think you understand the business ethic here: it's called 'car salesmanship'.

If you walk into a car dealership, you will most likely be given a hard-sell, because the majority of perspective car buyers don't really do much comparison shopping homework - no real clue of performance, reliability, repairability for a given model/make. Instead, shoppers tend to be brand-driven and often select solely on vehicle looks and popularity. The car salesman, then, acts as a 'informercial', supplying compelling reasons to choose among models.

That's because most customers are overwhelmed by the many details and facts that *could* be used to choose among vehicles. The salesman stands to profit from sales commission. If you are not product saavy, you -- an uninformed/naive customer - may become uneasy and leave because you are overwhelmed when trying to compare costs and options among sticker fact sheets.

So the hard sell is employed, giving you that information in hopes that the answers you get are enough to make you buy their product.

Teavana has been very successful using hardcore sales approach for a decade. The average customer that is new to tea is overwhelmed when they walk into a store. If they aren't approached, chances are they may walk out because they are uncomfortable from the plethora of choices they see.

You see this dazed look when you shop at a big box retailer like walmart. In recent years, they expanded choices among competing product. Shoppers may stand in front of two dozen choices, trying to figure out 'what they want'.

If you walk into a car dealership and have done your homework, as soon as you talk to a salesman, they will know that you don't need much help. The saavy and experienced salesman backs off, giving facts and figures as asked, but not pushing as hard as they would otherwise, lest they loose their sale.

Teavana Corp has erred, in that their young salesforce doesn't know when to back off.

[chris&amy]

I understand the business ethic quit well. I used to work for a car dealer and I was never told to be pushy. I had people tell me they just wanted to look and I was quick to get out of their way. Maybe just me but I like to look and if I have a question then I will ask a sales associate for help. I do not believe that a over zealous and pushy sales associate helps the company and I do not believe that it makes a sell. I saw several people walk out yesterday while I was there and did not buy anything because they were bombarded by the sales associate. (you could see the anguish on their faces).

Intuit, I do disagree with you in the fact that I do believe people do their homework and investigate more than what you might think. Walmart is the easiest place to shop. They give me choices and I can choose and most of the time it is their brand that I choose and I do not have a pushy sales person standing over me. Also I think a person is overwhelmed more when you have a pushy sales associate trying to sell them everything at one time that really seems like a lot of confusion. I do not know how true this is but I was told they do not make commission at teavana. If it is the case then could you imagine what the sales pressure would be like if they were making commission?

I would have never believed what I read on here had I not seen it for myself.

[Intuit]

Heck, don't take my word for it.
http://alloveralbany.com/archive/2009/01/28/teavana

This review is pretty accurate. Deer in the headlights effect for newbies. A good retail source if you need something close by. Overpriced teaware. Decent-to-better quality teas.

The salespeople work on commission and have strict performance guidelines. In a very tight job market, you can't blame someone who is anxious to keep their new job, with overbearing managers (who also receive bonuses based on store performance) pushing them for the hard sell.

I don't condone the ethic here, I'm just explaining how they have done so well with it. The comment in the link above, about using the product guide booklet, is good advice. Providing new customers with a guide book should be the first thing a sales person does, then based on customer experience, chats about tea exposure/experience, makes them a couple demo cups. Points to useful teaware and suggests teas to sample, then backs off.

Walmart sells about 70:30 necessities to nonessentials. Teavana sells 100% nonessentials. The majority of their customer base are new to teas. In the present economy, the fact that these nonessential stores have lines at the checkout counter is notable. Many small store nonessential retail sales people will tell you that they have entire days where they make only a couple of sales.

Try to find sales help to locate an in your typical Walmart Superstore when they are busy.

[chris&amy]

Maybe I heard wrong but I could swear that the sales associate told us they did not get commission. I think that I would be safe saying that my circle of friends would be ones that would compare before they bought and not be suckered into some unwanted deal. Having said that I must be honest I have been suckered in the past(SMILE).

I did have a conversation with the manager that has been so helpful in the past today and he told me that the complaints that come to their store are all related to sales pressure. He said that he got overlooked when it came time for promotion because he wanted to be a helpful sales person and not a demanding and pushy one. I do truly understand that you have to make a living but I never get this kind of pressure from Footlocker, or JCpenny's .

I still have to admit that they do have some very nice blends and maybe overpriced teaware but it is really nice stuff and some patterns that I have not seen online. Their stuff does not seem to sit long on the shelf. I visited another teashop in the area and the first thing they asked did I ever go to Teavana and I told them yes and they begin to give me the talk about how bad their tea was and I told them that I really liked some of their blends. So while in this teashop I opened the top on one of their blends and they told me that it had been sitting there for a few months and probably not as fresh as it should be. I asked them did they get a lot of businesses and they said not a lot. So I guess it is fair to say no matter how tough the sales pressure is Teavan is moving product.

Intuit, Thanks for the link to the article!

[RoboBird]

We salesfolk did not receive a direct commission, but were promised that if our sales were of a certain grade (based on the store's average) we'd be paid a certain amount more. Since I never made that average, I never found out how much that was. On top of that, your hours are severely cut if you don't make quota. In our store, this was done without warning, reprimand, or advice on how to boost your sales.

This results in the people who are able to "play along" and be pushy to get more hours and rise quickly in the company, while those who are more likely to let a customer browse on their own time (yours truly) to quickly be edged out of the picture.

Just look at Jobvent's page for Teavana. The results are severely polarized. Either people truly love the company and don't understand the detractors, or they despise their time there. This seems to be everyone's impression of the company. They either love it, or they absolutely hate it.

Intuit, I know exactly where you're coming from; in an ideal world, Teavana's sales associates should listen to the customer and help them find what they need. But don't blame the sales associate for the company's viewpoint that everyone should be made to buy the most expensive products in the store. As I mentioned before, even the most successful sales I had-in which I got the customer what they wanted and even a bit more-were followed with serious reprimands from my supervisor saying that I could've maximized the sale in like a dozen other ways.

[Jasmin]

The first time I went there I asked about a specific color of a $30 teapot. The sales girl told me that they don't have this specific pot in that color but a different pot. She already wanted to carry it to the register until I noticed that that pot was $160. I don't think so.
Since then I just walk in and straight to the clearance shelf. Sometimes they have teaware that's 75% off. If one of the employees tries to help me I just tell them "Oh thanks, but I'm only here for the clearance shelf", that usually works.
On the way out I stop to try the sample teas.

[reincarnate]

Thanks for sharing, it was very interesting to read.

The company clearly doesn't realize there there is more and more people who just go into the store to buy exactly what they want in specific amounts they want. A lot of people, like me, will find it extremely annoying and almost rude that the store is trying to sell us something more or other then we ask for. All in all they will only loose customers, and they lost one right now.

[fatmanwalking]

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