Fat people tend to be shunned in alot of ways by society so its really not surprising to me at least to hear that sales people are doing it too yet it is because of experiences like those listed below that stores that cater to the 'larger' segment do so well?

With many Americans grossly overwieght, it is certainly a huge market to turn away over something that really comes down to manners.

__________________
Final Fantasy

Well, this is shameful and just plain wrong! Not just ethically but also in business sense. I mean these people who you are behaving rudely to or turning away are the exactly same people who are helping you put food on your table and pay your bills.

If they don't get the respect and attention that they deserve then why would they come to you? Why would they refer you to people?

:/ Well, the fact is that a lot of these sales people are short sighted and there to just make a pity commission with a sale. They don't care about cultivating a personal relation with their clients! Well, they pay a price for it in long term.

Also, it's *** that comes into play here! In ideal world, it should not but the fact is that if the salesperson is more ***ually attracted to a client then he/she would be served more promptly. I see it happening everyday...

BTW I would also consider the senior management of the stores / outlets, where this type of discrimination is happening, to be equally responsible. Why have they failed to create an environment to circumvent such things? Why can't they play it the way Nordstrom does?

Deffinitely, society as a whole should be more accepting of others and "*** appeal" shouldnt be a factor when it comes to business but sadly it is. Did you know that this even extends into courts? They did a random sampling of mock juries and good looking people were found 'innocent' more often.

__________________
Final Fantasy

Of course the premise of not discriminating against customers is sound, but I think the findings of the survey are highly 'suspect' if all they've done is strap some bellies on a few women and sent them out shopping in Houston. It doesn't sound like a very good sampling.

All my classes, books, meetings, and experience have taught me that for one, life isn't fair. We can make laws that try to make us treat people equally but in reality, looks do matter.

As bad as it sounds, there are certain things you can do as a salesperson to dramatically increase your conversion rate. I learned this a long time ago and you may call it superficial but I "changed" my image because of it.

These things have been proven to lead to more sales than their alternatives:

1. Short Hair vs. long
2. Tall vs short
3. Thin/athletic vs. fat/overweight
4. Professional attire (i.e. suit, slacks & buttonup) vs casual (i.e. shorts & tshirt or even jeans)

Everything in sales rides on the person's first impression of you. You can make the best presentation ever, but if you look like a slob you're probably not getting the project or sale.

I was an "alternative" kind of guy in high school, and even college. I had long hair, baggy clothes, skateboarding shoes, etc. I didn't really care about what other peopel though (and still don't to an extent) but when you have to feed your family and know that dressing a certain way and conveying yourself in a certain way can win more sales - what are you supposed to do?

So now I dress very clean. When I'm not wearing a suit I wear either slacks and a button-up or polo shirt. I occasionally wear nice jeans with a button-up or polo if I don't have an appointment.

I have short hair and no facial hair. I have a nice pen (ink pen) and leather attache case I take to meetings. I try to look as professional as possible within reason. For instance, I don't wear a suit if I'm meeting with the owner of a construction company - because it's overkill. But I would if I was meeting with the president of a bank.

As superficial as this all is, it works. Proven. I can attest to it. All of us can say that we don't judge people based on looks but it's just not true. Studies say that we get our first impression within like 5 seconds. There's not a lot of room for talk in 5 seconds, so it must come from looks.

The moral - if you are in sales, take heed to some of the advice herein and watch your sales conversions increase.

__________________
Brandon Eley
EleyTech - eBusiness Consulting Services
E-Commerce Resources | E-Commerce Web Hosting
Large Shoes for Men | My Blog and Personal Website