Toys in Your Business :
The Parent/Customer Conflict
Many businesses have toys on hand with the purpose of keeping children from disrupting the sales process. Yet this practice may be producing very negative results and hindering business. Thoughtful toy selection and care are necessary to successfully disengage children from the sales process.

In the health care industry, waiting rooms toys have been used to lower the noise level and keep the calm for many years. With children being towed along to all types of businesses today, the predominance of toys for this purpose has gained wide appeal. The underlying reason why businesses have adopted this practice is to address the parent/customer conflict.

The Parent/Customer Conflict Dynamic

The need to manage a customer’s child is essential to closing sales and transacting business smoothly. The conflict occurs when a sales/office person competes with a child for a parent’s attention. Business employees often remark, “Parents just let their kids run wild.” Employees do not realize they are the culprits! They demand the parent to give over their attention to the business/sales process, leaving the children with zero supervision.

Tug Of War for the person in the middle

Staff Objectives :
Close a sale and/or transact business
Up-sell or provide additional goods and services
Gain 100% of customer’s attention
Control the relationship between the staff and the parent

Customer/Parent Objectives :
Buy, gather useful information, finalize
Keep track of child
Keep child appeased

Child Objectives :
Not be bored
Interact with Parent

Parents who stay in proximity to their children while leaving them unsupervised maintain a higher level of anxiety. As sales people try to keep the customer focused, the customer is riddled with concern for their child’s safety and the manner of how they are acting. If the child is behaving badly parental embarrassment often follows. This often causes the parent to give up and leave with their child.
“Customers say they appreciate how
kids are quieter.”

Craig Johnson of
Ooba’s Mex Grillsg
We offer many different toy stand
styles to choose from