After being on the sales floor for many years, receiving many awards for sales and training countless people on sales, I wanted to share a secret with you. When you go out to shop, you are NOT a buyer; you are a foreigner waiting for someone to speak to you in your language. Frankly, most of the time you won’t buy the product from the best place for your needs but from the place who has the strongest sales team. When I say strongest, by all means from the place which has the best team of bilingual (not literally) people.

Every person has one or a combination of two strong shopping personalities coming forward when they go out shopping. Those personalities are your shopping languages. If the sales representative can speak with you in your tongue, merchandise almost becomes the secondary on this experience. Having said that, you can chose your sales representative. In fact, you should pick your sales representative for your own goodness. But before doing that, learn about yourself. Since there are only four different types of personalities, you can decide which one(s) are yours. It may help you go through a less problematic route.

DOMINANT SHOPPER

You walk in with a mission; you know what you want/need, and you don’t get sidetracked because your time is valuable. You are a multi- tasker. You can type an important e-mail while holding a conversation with the representative and you are in control of both of them. You want straight answers and facts. No, you don’t take bull s**t. You may seem unfriendly and rude, but you have no intentions to be so. It is just that you believe in equal workload; you are there to buy/pay, and he/she is there to explain/sell.

Who you should look for:

Look for a sales person who stands straight (literally) while walking/ talking. Those people have self-confidence and the knowledge that will satisfy you. Look for someone who is busy fixing the store, selling, talking and multitasking just like you.

SOLID SHOPPER

You are a person who shops for other people’s needs and thoughts. Your opinion, needs, and desires come second in the priority. You have a motherly personality. It takes time for you to decide on an item because you need to think about how this item will be useful for everyone. You need someone to understand your frustration, almost hold your hand and guide you. No, you are not weak, you are very thoughtful, and you don’t want to be bothered with (pushy) sales people. The person who helps you need to have time to listen to you needs. to have empathy and needs to focus on your needs. Unlike Dominant’s salesperson, yours should not multitask. Otherwise, you feel neglected.

Who you should look for:

Search for a representative who is calm, and probably older than the rest. Look for someone away from the crowd doing his/her own business. Look for someone who doesn’t wear a flashy outfit and too much makeup.

FLARE SHOPPER

You want everything! Colors, models, designs and anything you don’t have is attractive to you. You care about what you wear and their brands. What other people think of you is important to you, and you like compliments. Looking at something is not enough, you need to touch and feel. Your enthusiasm is easily readable from your face. No, you don’t have a poker face. You have difficulty deciding on what to take and what to leave - most of the time you end up buying nothing. You tend to be a happy person and can be overly dramatic if the item you want is not in stock.

Who you should look for:

Definitely someone who can calm you down. Your sales person should be more talkative, dynamic and sharper than you are. Look for someone who has a big smile on his/her face or laughing genuinely. Look for someone with a stylish outfit because you need someone to organize the craziness in your mind in an artsy way. I think you should look for a gay sales person. They have the taste, style and good eye for beauty. You will have fun and be happy with what you bought.

ANALYTICAL SHOPPER

You want to know “how it's made.” You care about the materials, origins, historical background structures, and warranties. You like to test the sales person about his/her knowledge on items because you probably had done an enormous amount of research before you came in. Honestly, you even probably know more than the manufacturer about their products. You make more than one visit to the store before you buy the product. You like to discuss, and you want to make sure you are absolutely getting your money’s worth. You want things to last forever.

Who you should look for:

Yourself. I am not kidding. Nobody will have as much knowledge as you do. If you must work with someone, find someone whom you can teach. That person will be the youngest on the floor and probably new to selling too. They will listen to you and learn from you. They won’t take things to heart and will use the information to sharpen his/her sales skills.