There’s an old saying about never judging a book by its cover, but in the world of sales, some seem to forget this all too easily.

Imagine working in a store where every sale matters – and then choosing to ignore a customer simply based on appearances.

It happens more often than you’d think.

In the following story, one salesperson misses a golden opportunity only to watch her colleague make the easiest, most lucrative sale of the day.

Here’s how it went down.

No Lipstick On This Pig

While I was living in Singapore, I traveled back to the East Coast of the US.

I brought four or five of our Singaporean engineers with me for a conference and some in-house meetings.

While visiting, they wanted to do some shopping at a certain high-end department store.

It was mid-morning, so the shop was quiet.

These were all men in their twenties and thirties, dressed as you would expect typical technical types to dress.

As we noisily wandered about the store, we came to the cosmetics counter.

As you may know, cosmetics salespeople typically have quotas and can earn commissions and bonuses.

They are often young, attractive women and use the products they sell.

It was obvious she wasn’t interested in helping.

As my charges approached the counter, it was clear to me that the youthful saleswoman was not interested in engaging with these foreign men.

Language was not a problem, as English is the primary language in Singapore.

I started to approach the woman, but she shot me a look that said, “Move on,” and ignored the men.

I went around the corner and found a more mature salesperson and asked her to help.

She came over and engaged them in conversation.

This lady got the easiest sale of the day.

Then, each of the engineers pulled out a paper from their pockets and handed the papers to the woman.

These contained lists of high-end cosmetics that their wives requested.

The saleswoman only had to collect, bag, and ring up the products.

No trying out products.

No waffling between choices.

Easiest sales of the day for well over $1000.

The younger saleswoman was clearly unhappy.

Don’t presume to know your customers.

Maybe she thought the men were interested in her.

Let’s see how the folks over at Reddit reacted to this story.

Rude salespeople made this person a lifelong customer of another brand.

What a great story!

As this person points out, salespeople who don’t like dealing with children often miss out.

So true – many wealthy people have been known to dress down.

Sounds like someone needed better training.

Next time, she’ll probably help any customer who comes her way.

Thought that was satisfying? Check out what this employee did when their manager refused to pay for their time while they were traveling for business.