Selling…………….?

kitty81301: Selling…………….?
Well……. i work at a pet store and i had a question about how to approch people. If you walked in to the store and were looking to buy a puppy what questions would you want answered before you even asked them and how woud I really get you to buy the dog? Basically what would you expect of me as your sales person and how do i actually get you to buy the dog? I figured i would get some feed back from people that might at some point be coustomers.

thanks
your opinion is your opinion and im not going to judge that but alot of people do buy puppies from us. Im sorry that you feel that way and buy the way why dont you go look up the actual deffinition of a puppy mill Im sure that you will be surprised.
Alex i agree when i am trying to sell them the puppy i tell them if they have any question they can feel free to ask then i walk away and let them just play with the puppy. I check on them like 5 – 10 mins later and if they want to ask something they usually do at that point but i try not to hover over them
Just so everyone knows i got my own dogs from the pet shop and they are perfect no problems and i love them to death

Answers and Views:

Answer by joan g
how old is it ,have you the pedigree, is it wormed,look in its ears are they clean,are eyes clear from infection ,make sure the shop and pup smells nice hard in a pet shop but i had one
keep cages clean and free of poop full time job

Answer by Rachal961
First question I would have is where the puppies came from….most pet stores get their puppies from puppy mills, which is why I tell people not to buy from pet stores. In fact, I have never, ever, seen a pet store that gets their puppies anywhere else. But for the sake of argument, if you could in fact document that the puppies had come from a “real breeder” (who would never sell their pups this way), then I would ask the same questions I’d ask a breeder- health info for the parents and previous litters, OFA and CERF info on the parents, obedience, conformation and working titles, health guarantees, registry (AKC/UKC?) what happens if I have to re-home the dog for some reason?…..Here in Florida, it was just published that state inspectors will be doing a sweep of all pet stores in the state to verify that ALL of the puppies have been vet checked within the last 30 days, are at least 8 weeks old, and current on vaccinations, because violations are getting too numerous, and too many people are paying top dollar for puppies that are chronically ill, or die. I wish you luck in your endeavors, but you would never see me as a customer.

Answer by draco.dominia
my first question, if I even thought of buying a pet store puppy (which I NEVER would) is, are they from the puppy mill? That would be my first quesiton cause puppy mill dogs tend to have lots of health problems and are inbred…two things I don’t want to have in a puppy.

I also work at a petstore, and you NEVER want to talk a costumer into buying an animal. All animals, whether it’s rat or a dog, needs love and attention and a great deal of care. At my petstore we’ve turned down people from buying animals because they are not ready to take on one, and we can tell that by their questions and just their body language. If a costumer asks you about one of the puppies, be truthful. If you tell them something that isn’t true, they buy the puppy and find out you were lying to them, they’ll more than likely either bring the puppy back, or call up and get you in trouble. If that happened at my job, where I lied to a costumer whether on accident or on purpose, and they called the owner, I’d get fired sooner than I could say “I’m sorry”. You are dealing with a live animal. Make sure the person that is interested in buying them, knows EVERYTHING that he’ll have to do to take care of that animal. It’s your job as a pet store employee to make sure all the animals go home to good loving homes and that the costumers know EXACTLY how to take care of them, and what to expect.

Answer by kez
Age, breed (or breeds as most pups I’ve seen at pet shops are ‘designer dogs’- a fancy name for cross breeds that cost more to purchase than purebreds), whether they are micro-chipped, vet checked, bred from genetically sound parents, had their first vaccination and worming. Maybe where they were bred? I was told that my Pommie Chihuahua was bred at a certain puppy farm that bred pups especially for this pet shop, and just recently that puppy farm has been investigated by the RSPCA for cruelty to the breeding dogs there. Also that the farm was using dogs with health and genetic problems. (Thankfully, my little boy is all healthy)

Answer by xavi
of course one important question is if they want a small dog or a big one, then how many time would they be with the animal, and where do they live…
and with those answers you can make yourself an idea of what kind of dog would they need…if they don’t know yet

Answer by Alex
Personally, I wouldn’t buy from a petstore at all! Puppymills are horrible places, and almost all petstores buy from puppymills. I guess you’ve heard that speech several times from others on here, so I won’t go into detail, but please think about all that before you keep supporting such bad places.

Now, for the sake of answering your question, I would prefer it if the workers would leave me alone. I hate to be asked “Do you need any help?” and the people who come up and do a big sales pitch when all you want to do is look for yourself really irk me. When people do this to me, I’m much more likely to leave without buying anything.
So I say, wait until a customer approaches you and then answer any questions they have (where did they come from, have they had shots, can I see the pedigree, etc) to the best of your ability.

And please don’t pressure people into buying a puppy on the spot. Having a pet is a big responsability, not one to be taken lightly. People need all the time they can get to make sure they are prepared-time to puppy proof the house, time to make sure they have time for a puppy, time to buy supplies, time to find a good veterinarian, and that list goes on too. So don’t try to pressure people into buying-it’s not helpful to them or the innocent puppies.

Answer by anne b
I think I am rather revolted by the whole “selling” puppies idea. These are lives, not cars or purses. You absolutely don’t “talk” people into buying a living thing that will be their responsibility for the next x amount of years. If I were silly enough to even consider buying from a pet store, knowing what I now know, I would want to know:
Do you have a lifetime health guarantee?
Can I meet the parents of the puppies?
How old was the female when bred and how many litters has she had?
How many titles have the parents won?
What health tests were done before breeding?
If working breed, how many events have the parents won in?

If you can’t answer any of these questions, you need to get a new job, because you are selling puppy mill dogs.

Answer by bpbjess
This is really the wrong place to be asking that question!

No one here will support you selling dogs in a pet store– ever! The closest that I would go to buying a dog THROUGH a pet store, is some of the local stores in town put up flyers for animals available through shelters, rescues and breeders in town.

Any, lets say, that you are the 1 in 10,000 pet store that doesn’t buy from a puppymill, I would like to know what breeder is actually SELLING THEIR DOGS to a PETSTORE?!

If I were stupid enough to buy one I would ask:
-what tests were preformed on the parents
-do you have their pedigree available
-can I have my OWN vet check the health of this animal before I decide to keep him/her
-how long were they with their mother before being seperated
-can I see the conditions behind the glass
-has the puppy had all of it’s shots
-is there a 2 year guarantee, and can I use my OWN vet rather than once chosen by the pet store?

I would expect you NOT to ask me to buy the dog or pressure me into buying the dog. If you did, I would walk right now at that moment. A dog is a long-term committment and if you pressure someone into buying one, they will just send it to a shelter within a few months.

Answer by JR
So you are an advocate for puppymills.

You like to see dogs suffer.

Be honest with the people. Please!!! Let them know you are pushing crap just like a crack dealer on the street.

Answer by dogtrainer7
I have not looked, but I can just imagine the responses your getting on this question. So I`ll say I`m sorry for all the negative stuff your probably reading
Know what, I applaud you for asking this question, and think that more stores that sell dogs should be able to answer questions about the pups they sell.
First off get familiar with the kennels or breeders the store gets it`s dogs from. you don`t want to have to deal with the term puppy mill, and besides this way you`ll know yourself.
Were the litters registered, so that the customer can obtain an AKC registration on the dog.
Are the shot`s up to date.
If I were a store owner that sold pups I would make sure that every pup sold came with a health certificate from a known veterinarian in the area.
A pedigree or copy their of would also be a wonderful thing.
If I`m selling pure breed dogs, I would also include the name of the breeder or kennel so that if the new owner had some specific breed questions they could ask some one in the know.
I can probably come up with some more, but if you have any questions feel free to contact me.
Again thank you for having the courage to ask this question.
I personally think that if more store chains and owners take the same interest that you are the term puppy mill attached to stores selling pups would become a distant thing.
I guess I`ll have a peek now at all the other replies, lol. Keep your chin up!!!!!!!!!
Good Luck

Answer by ilykeboyz7
Usually when I am in a store looking for a puppy, I cannot get anyone to give me the honest price of the puppy. They always say everything that it comes with before they tell me the price, I just want to know the price I don’t care what it comes with unless I buy it. Also try telling the people cute stories about the puppy, like what it did last night when so-and-so was feeding it. The cuter you make it the most likely it will sell.