A gentleman walks into the mattress store and is promptly greeted by the salesperson. After exchanging names and pleasantries, they begin to discuss his mattress needs. It turns out he is looking for a California King set, good quality of course, for himself. His budget…. $500.

Let me be really frank for a moment. NOTHING exists of any quality in a California King for $500. There may actually be a product available at that price, but I would suspect it would be of horrendous quality, re-manufactured or used/clearance. And even that would be doubtful since Cal King sizes are usually a special order product and often cannot be returned.

I like to provide real life examples of both good and bad customers and sales people. Yesterday, I had the chance to visit a store and witness a doozy.

A couple came in supposedly shopping for a mattress. This particular chain has a pretty good system for matching customers with the correct sleep solution. The husband was agreeable, but the wife refused, saying she would not lie on any mattress because she was a germaphobe and scared of bed bugs.

The salesperson was flummoxed at first, but recovered quickly. He turned his attention to the husband and began the process of finding the right bed. Meanwhile, the wife, with arms tightly crossed in a defensive posture, wandered around the store looking at prices.

A gentleman walks into a mattress store and is immediately greeted by the salesperson. This particular retailer has a number of ways to make the buying process simple, but the man is not interested. He has no brand or comfort preference and is unwilling to share any information on his sleeping habits or any problems with his existing mattress. After several minutes, the salesperson leaves him alone to “shop.”

As I am watching this play out, another customer comes in and the salesperson finds them the correct sleep solution. But the original man wanders around the store “punching” mattresses and staring at the prices. He never leaves the front of the store that features queen mattress sets in the $2800+ range. The prices go down the further back you go into this particular mattress retailer.