Dealing with Mr Debbie Downer
I haven't seen any suggestions for this, but pardon my post if there is a thread somewhere.
I had a pair of guys the other night; one was all gung-ho party boy; the other was the serious one. They both buy floor dances. Serious One later tips me on stage, wants to do the semi-private area. As he goes to the ATM, the girl sitting with Gung Ho beckons me over, saying Gung Ho wants to do the hour CR, pay for all of us, and could I help her close and get all 4 of us in there. We're discussing prices with the waitress, and Serious One comes back and immediately starts in with a bunch of excuses; "you're already drunk, no bottles", "your wife will find out from the card statement", etc, meanwhile trying to drag me away so I couldn't talk to them and close.
We countered all of his excuses, and after Gung Ho was convinced and ready to sign, Serious One does his last ditch effort by dragging him to the side and having words with him. I guess he sowed enough doubt, because Gung Ho switched to hem-hawing around... Serious One then pretty much ultimatumed me that if we didn't go now, I'm wasn't getting his $100. Whatever, I took him back and hoped the other girl could at least close Gung Ho, but she couldn't, and when we got done, Serious One basically dragged him out of the club.
So... any suggestions on how to deal with the one guy who's trying to "help" his buddy not spend money? ::) Or is this a lost cause?
Re: Dealing with Mr Debbie Downer
I hate cockblockers! Can't wait to hear some suggestions for this!
Re: Dealing with Mr Debbie Downer
It sounds like you girls did all you could. As a last-ditch effort, bc I know how pissed off I'd be if I had put in all that time & effort towards a sale only to have it thwarted by the likes of sm wanker w/ a stick up his bum, I would start making jabs at Serious One's lack of manliness. Likewise, get Gung Ho to hop on board the 'My, but he's a party pooper, isn't he!' train. Ask Gung Ho whether he can access Amazon from his phone Right Now, & does he also get free shipping? Cuz we need to order his friend a new backbone/sense of fun/grownup card! Point out Serious One's lack of graciousness in refusing to accept Gung Ho's willingness to pay for everyone's good time. That's what friends do, after all! So stop being an ungrateful asshole & let's go to VIP already! Stuff like that.
Re: Dealing with Mr Debbie Downer
I fucking hate this guy so much. The one who is like NO BRO IT'S WAY TOO MUCH. If they're still at the table I try to get the crybaby one drunk. That works sometimes. But this is the only roadblock I haven't been able to consistently break through.
Re: Dealing with Mr Debbie Downer
Team up. Isolate the downer while another dancer closes the sale. But, by all means, keep downer dude away from the guy with the credit card.
Re: Dealing with Mr Debbie Downer
^ Yes, but I've found that the downer will just walk away from the separator and keep coming over to interfere. If it hasn't been tried then by all means give it a shot but as Vackra said its a consistently difficult roadblock to navigate.
I tried to isolate for a friend when I had no financial advantage to doing so but these cockblockers are by nature stubborn to their point of view and will just keep at it. This topic might be worth a search through the archived threads?
Re: Dealing with Mr Debbie Downer
I think you did the best you could while still making money off this group. You had a guaranteed sale with the downer, but if you pushed him too hard (like by insulting his manliness), you probably would've lost that sale and no one would've made money. Now, if he wasn't ready to take you for dances, I think being pushier is your only option, but you also don't want to waste too much of your time on such an uphill battle.
Re: Dealing with Mr Debbie Downer
One time I called Mr. Downer on it. His friend tried to buy him a dance with me and he turned it down, so I looked over at him, dropped my cute stripper expression, and said "that was kind of a dick move, dude. He was going to give me money, and you wouldn't let him." Then I immediately went back to being cute with his friend. It took him by surprise, and Mr. Downer ended up tipping me and encouraging his friend to get a dance with me (which he did). This has only ever worked once, and I can see it backfiring, but it's a tool I plan on trying again.
Re: Dealing with Mr Debbie Downer
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Flickdreams
^ Yes, but I've found that the downer will just walk away from the separator and keep coming over to interfere. If it hasn't been tried then by all means give it a shot but as Vackra said its a consistently difficult roadblock to navigate.
I tried to isolate for a friend when I had no financial advantage to doing so but these cockblockers are by nature stubborn to their point of view and will just keep at it. This topic might be worth a search through the archived threads?
That is EXACTLY what happened. He kept trying to get me away (I think he knew I was the aggressive dancer who could actually close the deal), and then when I threw in the towel and said "let's go", he just had to go say "You stay right here until I get back" or w/e he said.
Downer Man turned out to only be taking me for dances bc he thought I was single, and he was pissed when he didn't get to molest me to his liking.... One of the worst customer types. I agree Shanna, I would have probably lost that sale had I tried to insult him.
Re: Dealing with Mr Debbie Downer
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Flickdreams
^ Yes, but I've found that the downer will just walk away from the separator and keep coming over to interfere. If it hasn't been tried then by all means give it a shot but as Vackra said its a consistently difficult roadblock to navigate.
I tried to isolate for a friend when I had no financial advantage to doing so but these cockblockers are by nature stubborn to their point of view and will just keep at it. This topic might be worth a search through the archived threads?
We have this crap regularly. I'll drag one of them out to the smoking cage, over to the bar etc., while another dancer distracts the other. I've been known to physically block them, my moving my body directly in the way, or literally dragging one party away.
It's hard, but this is the only way I've had any level of success. That and telling the fun people that we're sick of downers shit, he's killing the party and we're not goin to bother with their party anymore.
Re: Dealing with Mr Debbie Downer
This is too funny because my co-workers and I were JUST joking about these kinds of guys the other night! We call them "Downer Dave" and they are the WORST. What I do is try to get the money up front (separate Gung Ho if necessary) and then shake my head sadly when Downer Dave tries to cockblock and inform him there are no refunds, so you might as well have fun!
It also helps that if the customer takes "funny money" out at the bar, the club actually won't refund it or change it back ;D