"May I help you?" - a sure way to drive away Customers

The "May I help you?" question will drive away customers, says Seth Godin.

If you are in marketing or in Customer service, don’t use, “May I help you?” says Seth Godin, the marketing Guru.

He says it is the most useless thing to say and drive away customers. It is like asking a teenager when he or she returns from school and you ask, “How was school today?” Seth says this will end the conversation and the teenager will leave and so do the customer when used “May I help you?”

Most of the time the customer wants to be left alone and wants to search on their own, this request will just force them away from the sales person’s corner. Maybe the customers feels that all the salesperson does is to push more products on them which they won’t need and not many or honest.

Seth advises instead ask a relevant question the customer would like you to ask or anticipate. For example, "can I get you a hot drink?" or "what's the worst thing about your insurance company?" or "one slice or two?" Ask them anything related to the products, and if you point them the right way, you can have more conversation and they will have a comfort level with you. If you are selling, see from customer's point of view. However, if one worries about the commission, they may make the commission but will lose the customer.

Bestbuy.com does the same; they will just try to push whatever they have on you, because they make commissions on every sale. Sometimes I would rather buy them online than go to their nearest store. Radio Shack is similar but they are fine, the maximum they push is smaller products.

Do you feel the same, if someone asks you, “May I help you?”