Stupid Sales Employees!

[Dolphin]

I can't believe how buggy the Maxis sales code is... my sales employees are constantly wasting their time trying to sell stuff the customer has already decided to buy!  And they are always trying to compete for the customer my sim is taking care of even though there are others that are going unhelped.

Wouldn't it be nice if sales employees would never go after a customer that has an interaction with a player sim in queue?  And when the interaction does bubble up, would it not be possible to check to make sure the sim hasn't already moved the object into their shopping bag?

Probably Pescado's upcoming autosoc sales interactions will be better; then I may just fire my sales force and get a bunch of Sales-Servos.    If you do improve on Maxis sales techniques, JM, could you allow us to replace the Maxis routines with yours for hired sales employees?

[TheCheat]

The problems you just mentioned aren't even the worst of it. Several of my Sales employees (who have worked themselves up to a Gold Sales Badge at this point) keep unnecessarily using Dazzle and Hard Sell when either 1) the target is close enough to buying that Basic Sell would do or 2) the target is in a bad mood/has low Customer Loyalty and thus doesn't accept the interaction.

I've had to stop hiring Sales employees and reassigning the ones I did have because they were making my business lose lots of Customer Loyalty Stars.

[Metalkatt]

I'm having an issue where the manager/cashier I hired just STANDS there behaind the register until the customers get ticked off enough to toss thie bags down and leave... he has a friggin' gold register badge, too.

[radiophonic]

I'm having an issue where the manager/cashier I hired just STANDS there behaind the register until the customers get ticked off enough to toss thie bags down and leave... he has a friggin' gold register badge, too.

I'm having that issue as well. I don't understand it and the annoying customers come up and complain about her. I couldn't figure out why they were complaining until I saw the pile of bags on the floor. The cashier isn't tired, maybe she's daydreaming? lol

As far as the sales force using hard sell tactics, it seems realistic to me. Ever walked into a Best Buy?

[veilchen]

That actually seems to be an interaction. I've had that happening a lot too, the stupid cashier would just stand there until the customer stormed off in a sim-rage. I noticed that the 'storming off' happened a lot quicker than when my playables were steadily ringing up customers. The customers seemed far more patient. The animations showed discontent, even minus signs popped up, but they still waited their turn. So I made the hired help (cashier) selectable. It's my test neighborhood, so I didn't care if that would hose the lot, sim, whatever. The cashier actually had a queue up with the customer's thumbnail. I hovered my mouse arrow over it and it said "annoy".
So, it seems that the cashiers piss off the customers on purpose. The maxis people must've had some pretty bad experiences with unskilled labor ;)

[miramis]

You should have checked their relationship with that customer, I'm wondering if they do that to sims they don't like.  That would explain why customers almost constantly complain about other staff members if they are being deliberately annoyed.  All they do is bloody winge.

[Dolphin]

The problems you just mentioned aren't even the worst of it. Several of my Sales employees (who have worked themselves up to a Gold Sales Badge at this point) keep unnecessarily using Dazzle and Hard Sell when either 1) the target is close enough to buying that Basic Sell would do or 2) the target is in a bad mood/has low Customer Loyalty and thus doesn't accept the interaction.

I've had to stop hiring Sales employees and reassigning the ones I did have because they were making my business lose lots of Customer Loyalty Stars.

Does using dazzle and hard sell unnecessarily have any negative consequences?

I think selling to a customer with bad mood is forgivable, because in the sim's world, noticing a customer's mood is a rare skill and normally takes a lot of time.  (Of course it's a lot quicker with my Business Adjuster, but that's a cheat.)

On the other hand, my original complaints are in my view, unforgivable.  Anyone should be able to see that someone else is taking care of the customer, or that the customer has already purchased the item.

[nectere]

I am telling you servo + snapdragons is the answer to everything. At first I was hiring them by moving them out after getting them skilled up etc so I could assign them to sales, but really its not that critical now that servo is (ugh) NOT queuing up do chores every sim hour. Plus...I dont have to pay him/her



*edited servo is NOT queuing up chores sheesh...

[Dolphin]

I am telling you servo + snapdragons is the answer to everything. At first I was hiring them by moving them out after getting them skilled up etc so I could assign them to sales, but really its not that critical now that servo is queuing up do chores every sim hour. Plus...I dont have to pay him/her

What special role do snapdragons play?  I haven't used them much... the only thing I've noticed is them generating some cool haze around where they are placed every now and then.

[miramis]

Green haze = bad - drops sims motives rapidly
Pink haze = very good.  Several together will keep a nearby sims motives maxed, except for energy.

[Renatus]

Hard sell has a higher likelyhood of pissing off the target. Dazzle causes a drop to the dazzler's motives. I haven't bothered to get any sims up to the gold florist badge but snapdragons with the pink fumes are supposed to cause a slight increase to motives, within a small radius of the flower.

[nectere]

I use those bay windows in my stores and put three snapdragons on each (move objects, and sometimes they are tricky to place), I usually have two bay windows each behind display shelves, and several more scattered throughout the store near other shelves, and traffic patterns, I also keep one or two on the counter at the register(s). I find that not only does it keep my servo happy at the register, because lets face it, its a boring job, but it also keeps the customers happy while they browse or are waiting in line. I find that if I have more than one customer waiting in line and a new cashier its best to quickly distract the one waiting with some socials, that way they arent having a chance to focus on waiting in line, or perhaps I may even lure them away by showing them something in the store.

Socials are apparently very important to being good at sales, especially if the owner has passed on any of the perks to her sales force or is using them herself. I have found that unless you are friends with the customer those perks will always fail. But also very important with grumpy customers, and those new at sales, if the first basic sale fails with them, I have him/her tell them a few jokes, then try again, usually with success.

[Dolphin]

Green haze = bad - drops sims motives rapidly
Pink haze = very good.  Several together will keep a nearby sims motives maxed, except for energy.

Does what type of haze it is depend on anything, or is it just random?

[miramis]

It's like the good and evil toys, except these are good and evil snapdragons I suppose.

[nectere]

I dont think its random, but I have never seen the green haze, either the plant you make is good or bad I think, much like the robots and toys, some work some dont.

[angelyne]

There is a reason why some people say the snapdragons are overpowered (does that term even apply to a game like TS2?).  Put several of them all around your store and your employees, sims and customers will literaly shop till they drop.  It keeps their needs close to max, all except for energy.  So they basically leave when their energy bottoms out.

Also I find that it prevents you from having to constantly fight with your sims so they do their job.  With their needs maxed, they aren't constantly trying to go eat, play games, or what have you.  They happily stay in their store chatting up the customers.  So until JM comes out with his Russian management tools, this is gold

[miramis]

They are good for the bedroom too.  Put a couple at the end of the bed, and maybe one or two in the corners, so while your sim sleeps the other needs rise too.  Done right you'll have a perfectly green sim when they wake.

[nectere]

Yes I forgot to mention the bedroom, a must have for pregnant sims while they sleep. I also put it in servos room so while servo sleeps his other needs dont fall (especailly now that for some reason he is sleeping through the night - apparently the game sees him as a toddler or elder in some regard).

Oh - And for skilling, lets not forget skilling, I set the boys to painting with a snapdragon flanking each side of the easel and they painted until they needed to sleep which was about 16 sim hours straight.

[miramis]

It is tempting to use them for everything.  I wonder whether Pinstar will ban their use from the OFB version of the legacy challenge. 

[radiophonic]

They are good for the bedroom too.  Put a couple at the end of the bed, and maybe one or two in the corners, so while your sim sleeps the other needs rise too.  Done right you'll have a perfectly green sim when they wake.

You really only need one. The radius they cover is quite large, it seems to be about 10 tiles and will permeate walls only if it is close to the wall. Not to mention, they're sleeping for 8+ hours and the one plant is enough to fill the motives.