My experience at Teavana.

[anon-wan]

I looked over a lot, but not all the comments here - there are a lot. But I've bought some things at Teavana and I've been in sales a while so I thought I would point out a few relevant things.

There are people that are good and bad at sales. And they can vary widely even in the same company. Or the company might have bad practices.

I once worked at a major national electronics store (yes, you would know their name) that told us that if the customer bought a product that used batteries to add the batteries without telling the customer and let them find out at the checkout counter and tell us that they didn't want them. I don't even know if that was company policy, but it was the District Manager's policy.

That said, there is a difference between sales and cashier work. Standing around and letting customers come up to you saying, "Can I buy this?" is cashier work. Which is honest work, don't get me wrong, but it's not what a salesperson does. Asking the customer questions - "Looking for a printer?" - qualifying what they want and explaining the features and benefits is a part of sales. The other part of sales is getting the customer's money or closing the sale.

I have customers every day that say that they're just looking. "Just looking." has become an automatic reply to "Can I help you?" But wait a couple of minutes and try to re-start the conversation and they'll open up. I may ask if they have any questions or volunteer a feature of a product they are looking over and BINGO we're back on the sales process. If not, I back off, there'll be another customer along in a minute that will need my help.

I've also had times when I had to sell a customer something twice - once when they bought it and once when they tried to bring it back. I usually ask what they didn't like about it - because I really want to know if I sold them the wrong thing. On many occasions I've had to re-explain the features of the product and remind them why they bought it in the first place and they leave happy again that they got what they wanted.

I am constantly amazed at the selective hearing and memory of customers. For instance, I had a customer that bought an extended warranty who told me that the salesman (the Store Manager) had told her that if it failed anytime in the next two years all she had to do was bring it back to the store and we would give her another one. That wasn't the policy and I know the Manager never said that, but she really believed that.

Customers can convince themselves very easily that someone has taken advantage of them. They misunderstand the policy or don't remember what they were told or in some cases they simple choose to believe something that never happened. Customers ARE sometimes wrong, but a good salesperson will avoid saying that to the customer's face. We'll say that we're sorry you were inconvenienced, but we won't say that whose fault it was.

Now days almost all companies are "sales-driven". Hiring Managers might as well have that tattooed on their foreheads. Popular retail lore is currently that stores that are not actively competing for the consumer's disposable dollars are not going to be around very long. Upselling, add-ons and accessories are mandatory if you want to stay on the sales floor very long. (Accessories are things you use with the product you bought, add-ons are things unrelated that you didn't intend to buy when you came in.)

I have watched as customers were waited on at Teavana and sometimes when the scale is a little over (like 2.2 oz instead of 2.0) the salesperson asks the customer's permission and sometimes they don't. I don't recall any instances of more than slightly off that wasn't brought to the customer's attention, but I can't swear it never happens.

But I've had customers that I told the price of everything, got their agreement to each item, announced the total to them before they handed me their card, had them sign it, thanked them for their business, had them leave the store and come back 15 minutes later asking - What did I buy for this much money?

It's hard to be sure based on a few customer complaints who is at fault (store, salesperson or consumer) and the answer may change from case to case. Best practice - listen carefully to the (boring) details, look and listen to the total before you tender the amount, if you have any questions ask them before you pay and if you're really unhappy with the store than shop somewhere else.

[Geekgirl]

Does anybody else get tired of these newbies coming on here just to comment on the Teavana thread and tell us all how ALL of our bad experiences are just multiple instances of us just not getting it?

Do you really think that we are all that stupid?

There's a reason that there's a many-pages-long thread about ONE tea chain on this board, and it's NOT because we are incapable of comprehending good salesmanship, it's because a collective majority of participants have been duped, tricked, pressured, oversold, overscaled, bait and switched, shelled and flat-out lied to at this chain. And it would appear from the many comments from employees and former employees, that this is modus operandi for this corporation.

So again, "anon," do you really think we are all that stupid? Are there any other "relevant" things you feel compelled to point out?

Let me ask you something: What is your current job title with Teavana? Hmmm? Because you seem to have quite a lot to "point out" for someone who has just "bought some things at Teavana."

[chris&amy]

Geekgirl,


HAHAHA ! That was good! Well said... Amen!



Thanks,

Chris

[TubbyCow]

Haha, well said.

Oddly enough, I have only been to Teavana once, way back when I first started drinking loose leaf, and my experience was bad for basically the opposite reason as everyone else. It was like heaven when I walked in because I'd never been to such a tea-focused store, and the clerks clearly didn't care that I existed. At all. I was given wrong answers to the few questions I asked, the teas I bought were mislabelled, and other than that I was ignored, even when I asked for help. It was at the Mall of America, so I assume they meet sales goals quite easily, and it's a lot easier to get away with ignoring idiot customers like myself.

But clearly I have selective memory about the whole experience.

[djentropy]

GeekGirl:

"So again, "anon," do you really think we are all that stupid? Are there any other "relevant" things you feel compelled to point out? "

I don't see him ever calling you "Stupid" or anything of that sort, nor do I think he was trying to insult you in any way. He simply was presenting his opinions on this matter.

It's just a topic for discussion on the internet. Don't take it so personally - not everyone is going to agree with everything you so at all times.

[Geekgirl]

Well djentropy, the entire thrust of his post seems to have been summarized here:

Customers can convince themselves very easily that someone has taken advantage of them. They misunderstand the policy or don't remember what they were told or in some cases they simple choose to believe something that never happened. Customers ARE sometimes wrong, but a good salesperson will avoid saying that to the customer's face. We'll say that we're sorry you were inconvenienced, but we won't say that whose fault it was.

IOW: Customers are stupid and need to be told what to do. If they have a problem it is because they are stupid, and need to be reminded of what they were previously told to think and have forgotten.

Meh. It goes well with Teavana's official policy of "The customer does not know what they want, so you have to tell them."

[djentropy]

I see your point, Geekgirl - however (And I am a current Teavana employee, so I might be a little biased - take that for what you will) -- I don't see anything unique to Teavana about it. That's just basic sales. Customers don't always know what they want, and when they don't have any idea what they want, if you want to make the sale you are going to have to listen to what they have to say, and figure out what they want. Same thing at Best Buy. Same thing at most any retail store. Ever go into a Bose store at a mall or a Brookstone? They make my Teavana location seem gentle and easy going when it comes to a hard sell

But again, as I said before: my store does pretty well and we don't seem to have to resort to underhanded tactics to make our goals. I'm confident that not all stores are like that.

I don't see him calling customers stupid in any way; I just see him saying what is pretty common in any sales job - people often convince themselves that every single salesperson out there is trying to take advantage of them, and that is not always the case. I've never taken advantage of any of my customers. If they know what they want, I sell it to them. If they don't know what they want, I listen to what they do know, and do my best to tell them about products that would probably make them happy. It's easy when you work at a store that actually has pretty nice product, I don't have to make anything up or take advantage of anyone.

I've said it before and i'll say it again - I have never seen anything go on in my store that is different then any sales job anywhere else. However, I do see my company doing something that bothers me a lot more and no one seems to care or notice; selling product based off "health benefits" that have no basis in actual evidence. Sure, our sample pots are pretty careful to use the word "May" and "Studies suggest" to keep from getting sued, but that's not the case at my teacounter. I swear, I cringe every single time I hear one of my co-workers selling a "de-tox" tea that will "detox their body."

In the words of a real doctor with real training; (Dr. Peter Pressman with the Naval Hospital in Jacksonville, Fla.)

“There is absolutely no scientific basis for the assertion that the regimens popularly defined as ‘detox’ will augment the body’s own capacity for identifying and eliminating your own metabolic wastes or doing the same for environmental toxins,” Dr. Pressman said. “I advise patients that these detox programs amount to a large quantity of excrement, both literally and figuratively.”

Detox proponents say the body is under constant assault from toxins such as smog, pesticides, artificial sweeteners, sugar, and alcohol. Without a periodic cleansing, these poisons accumulate in the body and cause headaches, fatigue, and a variety of chronic diseases. This idea is, franky, psuedoscience and total garbage.

The science behind the detox theory is deeply flawed, says Peter Pressman, MD, an internal medicine specialist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The body already has multiple systems in place -- including the liver, kidneys, and gastrointestinal tract -- that do a perfectly good job of eliminating toxins from the body within hours of consumption.

There's no evidence at all that any of these approaches augment the body's own mechanisms.

If anyone wants to be angry at Teavana, i'd say that would be the place to start. It's a FDA case just waiting to happen. Walk up to the tea counter and tell them you are a diabetic, and they will sell you a tea promising that it will "help control your blood sugar". Walk up to the counter and say you have cancer, and they will sell you a white tea with the claim that it will help cure cancer. Tell them you have a stomach condition, you get the idea. This kind of sales practice makes me very angry, and someone needs to do something about it. As I am a current employee who cannot afford to be fired, i'm not the man for the job. But someone out there should be.

[Chip]

tea peeps and customers and non sales people do not really enjoy hearing how they are being "sold." That is a fact.

And laid back tea peeps simply do not want aggressive Teavana general sales tactics upon walking into the store.

Just my 2 Yen worth ... and I have more than 20 years sales experience.

[djentropy]

"And laid back tea peeps simply do not want aggressive Teavana general sales tactics upon walking into the store. "

I think you are overgeneralizing. If no one wanted to buy from Teavana due to their sales tactics, Teavana would not be in business.

Teavana is aggressive, but no more so then you'd find at any other store in a mall. And I know plenty of "tea peeps" that are far from laid back. People who drink tea are not some magical group of people that can be lumped into a general statement like that. I know plenty of laid back tea drinkers. I know plenty of crazy as hell high strung tea drinkers. Just like people in general. Everyone is unique, just like everyone else

[djentropy]

And RE: people not enjoying hearing how they are being "sold" ... that's far from a fact, in my humble opinion. In order to run a business, one has to sell things. When a customer comes into the store, the job of the people working in that store is to keep that store in business (and keep getting a paycheck) by selling goods or services to said customer. What's not to enjoy about hearing that? That's just...sales!

[Geekgirl]

blah blah blah. You know, we're not going to change our minds about Teavana, because these opinions come from OUR OWN EXPERIENCES.

By the way, you keep trotting out the tired suggestion that YOU KNOW because you are in SALES. Guess what kid, LOTS of us have paid our dues in sales. It's patently ridiculous that you keep trying to explain "that's just sales!" I know what "sales" is about, I've done it. I did it for a very long time. I know all about the upsell, believe me. But the bait and switch tactics, high pressure "customer is always stupid" policies and outright LIES that Teavana employs as a general rule, are offensive, and largely responsible for the online backlash that seems to be occurring in numerous forums and review sites around the internet.

Look, we get it that you think your store is different. We understand that you think that your store is just another retail establishment using the same sales techniques as anybody else. (Although how you believe that when you just revealed that your coworkers routinely lie to the customers, I don't quite get.) What you don't seem to get is that a significant number of Teavana's stores are unpleasant places to have to be a customer, where you are, more likely than not, going to be upsold and oversold, pressured and pushed, and generally come out feeling like you got "taken."

And the main thing about all of that: Teavana Corporate, to all appearances, seems to establish policies that reinforce all of that used car salesmanship.

It's fine if you love it, and it's fine if you work there. I'm just sick and tired of all the little teenaged teavana shills who come around here telling us how we've got it all wrong and Teavana really is the shiny happy place, with butterflies and rainbows bursting from every $13.99 tin.

[Chip]

"And laid back tea peeps simply do not want aggressive Teavana general sales tactics upon walking into the store. "

I think you are overgeneralizing. If no one wanted to buy from Teavana due to their sales tactics, Teavana would not be in business.

Teavana is aggressive, but no more so then you'd find at any other store in a mall. And I know plenty of "tea peeps" that are far from laid back. People who drink tea are not some magical group of people that can be lumped into a general statement like that. I know plenty of laid back tea drinkers. I know plenty of crazy as hell high strung tea drinkers. Just like people in general. Everyone is unique, just like everyone else

Not going to get into a tit for tat with you. I know enough about sales and am confident in what I know. My post btw was not in response to your post.

Bottom line, Teavana cannot retain customers, which is poor business tactics for them, but good for all the other tea businesses in the world ... they should all send Andy Mach Holiday and Birthday gifts for all the business he has basically given them over the years.

Instead Teavana just keeps making new Tea Peeps, replacing the ones they lost. Because once a tea drinker realizes they have been hoodwinked, they will not go back to Teavana ... case and point ... the health benefits which you mention in your post.

Do you think anyone reading this will want to go to a store who is basically making such unscrupulous sales pitches. It truly makes me sick that they are misleading the naive Joe Consumer who happens into a Teavana.

[djentropy]

blah blah blah. You know, we're not going to change our minds about Teavana, because these opinions come from OUR OWN EXPERIENCES.

Never asked you to change your mind. You seem really hostile. I don't know if I offended you in some way, but your use of caps lock is generally taken as yelling. Why are you yelling? I understand your opinions come from your own experiences. I never said they did not.

By the way, you keep trotting out the tired suggestion that YOU KNOW because you are in SALES. Guess what kid, LOTS of us have paid our dues in sales. It's patently ridiculous that you keep trying to explain "that's just sales!" I know what "sales" is about, I've done it. I did it for a very long time. I know all about the upsell, believe me. But the bait and switch tactics, high pressure "customer is always stupid" policies and outright LIES that Teavana employs as a general rule, are offensive, and largely responsible for the online backlash that seems to be occurring in numerous forums and review sites around the internet.

Never said anything about bait and switch tactics. Don't support them. Would never use them. As for my "trotting out the tired suggestion" and the screaming your caps lock is conveying, I again have to ask: why are you so angry? Also, i'm far from a kid. You don't have to talk down to me or try to insult me. I'm a really friendly, open minded, and great person - there's no need to call me "kid" or yell at me, k?

Look, we get it that you think your store is different. We understand that you think that your store is just another retail establishment using the same sales techniques as anybody else. (Although how you believe that when you just revealed that your coworkers routinely lie to the customers, I don't quite get.)

I stated that I think my store's sales practices are in general pretty similar to a lot of other businesses out there. I also stated that I am against the way my company uses "health benefits" in a way that offends my skeptical self. Again, that's hardly unique to my company. As a skeptic and an atheist, i'm generally offended by any sort of magical health thinking. I'm glad you get and understand my point, however. Lots of places sell products that promise health benefits (Tea, herbal supplements, homeopathic medicine to name a few) - nothing unique to Teavana touting dubious science.

To help with what you don't get, i'll sum up my feelings: I don't find Teavana's sales practices in general as in any violation of any trade laws or any different then many mall stores. I don't find Teavana's touting dubious "health claims" as anything unique to Teavana, but I personally don't like it and it bothers me. Does that help you understand?

What you don't seem to get is that a significant number of Teavana's stores are unpleasant places to have to be a customer, where you are, more likely than not, going to be upsold and oversold, pressured and pushed, and generally come out feeling like you got "taken."

Read my first post. I do get that! I am totally against it, and I totally believe it. My point is that not all of the companies stores are like this, some seem worse then others. My second point is that the experience you described is hardly unique to Teavana. It's all over the place. I don't like it either. Don't shop there if you are not comfortable. There's plenty of places that sell tea, and i'm sure there are many places that work well for your individual taste and style. We live in a world full of choices, and we get to decide where to spend our money.

It's fine if you love it, and it's fine if you work there. I'm just sick and tired of all the little teenaged teavana shills who come around here telling us how we've got it all wrong and Teavana really is the shiny happy place, with butterflies and rainbows bursting from every $13.99 tin.

Yikes! "Little teenaged teavana shills" -- do I seem that way to you? After I spent time on my day off to rip into my employer on a discussion board hosted by direct competition to the company that I work for for their use of psuedoscience? Also, just for the record: i'm thirty five years old. (From from a "Kid", eh?)

Nice talking to you - not sure why you seem so hostile, but if the way I express myself offends you, you don't have to read anything I say. Hope you are having a great week.

[djentropy]

Not going to get into a tit for tat with you. I know enough about sales and am confident in what I know. My post btw was not in response to your post.

Yikes! Then I mispoke, I assumed you were replying to me. Sorry about that, Chip! Don't want to get into a tit for tat with anyone either.

Bottom line, Teavana cannot retain customers, which is poor business tactics for them, but good for all the other tea businesses in the world ... they should all send Andy Mach Holiday and Birthday gifts for all the business he has basically given them over the years.

I see where you are coming from. Not sure I personally agree, most of our business is from people that come in quite often - we have so many regulars in my store it's not even funny. Only worked for Teavana for a little under a year, however - so I'm not really experienced enough to make any claims about our customer retention.

Instead Teavana just keeps making new Tea Peeps, replacing the ones they lost. Because once a tea drinker realizes they have been hoodwinked, they will not go back to Teavana ... case and point ... the health benefits which you mention in your post.

I hope so. I wish that anyone who buys tea thinking it's going to "detox" them or cure their cancer realizes they have been hoodwinked, bamboozled, and run amok But Teavana is totally just the tip of the iceberg of the staggering amount of businesses that tout alternative medicine - and they all make me pretty annoyed and disgusted, personally. Sadly, the local economy is in shambles, and after over a year of unemployment, I need my job to stay alive at this point. I have to be pretty careful not to personally identify myself, I don't want to loose my job by having this conversation with you all.

Do you think anyone reading this will want to go to a store who is basically making such unscrupulous sales pitches. It truly makes me sick that they are misleading the naive Joe Consumer who happens into a Teavana.

The only thing I find unscrupulous about Teavana is the health claims. You can find magical homeopathic cures at Wal-Mart, you can find "alternative" medicine products that do nothing at many many companies around this county. Hell, what GNC does makes Teavana's health claims seem like the work of rank amateurs. Aside from the health claims (which I personally will never make to my customers, hence I don't know how bright my future with Teavana will be) I don't think the average Teavana does much misleading of anyone - and considering how many places will be happy to mis-lead you with dubious health claims, this problem is not going to be solved @ Teavana - this problem will only be solved by the FDA cracking down on all companies that engage in "alternative" health nonsense.

I leave you all for the night with a quote from Tim Minchin:

Q: Do you know what they call "Natural Medicine" or "Alternative Medicine" that has been proven to work? A: "Medicine"

Natural medicine and alternative medicine is just medicine that has not been proven to work and does not work.

[horsencl]

Like them or not, Teavana is a gateway to better tea for a lot of people. For some, they are the only local store that even sells loose leaf. While their practices are not ideal they do serve a purpose in the greater tea community. I know opions differ on this but is that really a reason to keep this thread going? TeaChat should be the opposit of all this negativity. Their tea is at the very least halfway decent. I work in the pet industry and all of our evil companies do things like put melanine in their products. That is way worse in my book.