Original Post May 27, 2011
I am not a mean spirited person. I believe in the power of words and how the negativity in words can harm your well being. I believe if you talk in a negative light it will bring negative things your way. This is why I hesitate to use the word hate in describing my disdain for salespeople.
Now I do not truly dislike all salespeople, I know a lot of good people in the sales industry. I have been in that industry myself a time or two and saying I loathe all sales people would, in itself, be saying I detest myself. I tend to like me. I think I am a pretty alright person if I do say so myself.
What I do not like is the pushy, won’t take no for an answer, salesperson. The types that make you want to take a shower after having a run-in with them. I think most people expect that when they step foot onto a car lot, but what about when you get the same kind of intense pressure when looking at furniture or appliances? Should you have to take a xanax just to go in search of a refrigerator?
Seriously, since when did ‘I’m just looking” become a game of twenty questions? Have you ever shopped here before? Do you know our store policy? Did you know I can save you five percent if you open a charge card with us today? Why do you need to ask your husband, we have a thirty day return policy and you can just return it if you or he don’t like it?
As I kept walking in my quest to lose the parasite that had suddenly attached itself to me I silently answered the questions he put to me. No I haven’t shopped here before because, if I had I, would not be in here now. No, I do not know your store policy, unless it is, as you have demonstrated that the salesmen do not take no for an answer. I have already told you I am paying cash, wouldn’t your five percent cost me a lot more in interest? I don’t really need to confer with my husband. It is just my way of not letting you pressure me into a sale. Really, just how does that return policy work? Do you charge a re-stocking fee? Does your delivery fee also cover pick up if I do change my mind?
I almost hesitated to stop to look at a single refrigerator as each time I showed the slightest interest in one he pounced, letting me know the specks and how it compared to the one I had previously looked at. I decided the best thing to do was to test his knowledge by opening each one I passed in quick succession. My hope was that I could see what I needed to see without tipping my hand as to what I was actually looking for. Surely if he found out he would be even more relentless than he already was.
At one point the salesman left, leaving me to think I had finally had a bit of a victory, only to return with his manager who, following the same vein, repeated the same questions which had already been asked by the young salesman.
After each question I turned to the young salesman, who really was not all that young but younger than his manager, and said as I have already told your sales man I am not purchasing without discussing it with my husband. Again, I do not have to discuss anything with my husband. I have made many major purchases without his help or written permission. I am a Navy wife I have learned how to make decisions on my own. I know this but these salesmen did not need to know this.
By now you are probably wondering why I did not just turn and leave. I asked myself that question as well. I think it was because by this time I had already decided I was not going to buy from this salesman and I was not happy that I was letting him get me this upset. I want to be in control of my own life and my own decision. I went in there to look at and compare refrigerators and this particular store had a lot of inventory. I stopped giving into bullies years ago and I was not about to let this guy bully me into a decision or into leaving before I was ready.
In the end I found a couple I liked and got the information I needed without once feeling the need to give in to the pressure from both this salesman and his manager. Actually, to be honest with you, if I had of found one that read “free” I would have been hard pressed to leave with it just on principle alone. Okay, I would have taken the free one, but only because it would have been MY decision to do so.
Before leaving I told them I felt as if I had walked into a new car showroom and was not happy with the high pressure methods which their company employed. I felt better having told them what I was thinking but in the end, I still felt a bit violated by their hard sale methods including the fact that at one point the young salesman looked at me and told me with a straight face “I really need this sale, I have four kids.”
I looked at him and he repeated the statement. For a half a moment I found myself wondering if I had unknowingly walked onto the set of Candid Camera. Oh wait, I am dating myself I meant to say the television show “What Would You Do?” but no, I looked and he was serious. I told him I had three kids and four grandchildren. Seriously, is that all the ammo he had left?
I will continue my search for my fridge and will continue to run the gauntlet of overzealous salespeople until I find what I am looking for. I am not new to this nor am I as gullible as I may seem…
I am not a mean spirited person. I believe in the power of words and how the negativity in words can harm your well being. I believe if you talk in a negative light it will bring negative things your way. This is why I hesitate to use the word hate in describing my disdain for salespeople.
Now I do not truly dislike all salespeople, I know a lot of good people in the sales industry. I have been in that industry myself a time or two and saying I loathe all sales people would, in itself, be saying I detest myself. I tend to like me. I think I am a pretty alright person if I do say so myself.
What I do not like is the pushy, won’t take no for an answer, salesperson. The types that make you want to take a shower after having a run-in with them. I think most people expect that when they step foot onto a car lot, but what about when you get the same kind of intense pressure when looking at furniture or appliances? Should you have to take a xanax just to go in search of a refrigerator?
Seriously, since when did ‘I’m just looking” become a game of twenty questions? Have you ever shopped here before? Do you know our store policy? Did you know I can save you five percent if you open a charge card with us today? Why do you need to ask your husband, we have a thirty day return policy and you can just return it if you or he don’t like it?
As I kept walking in my quest to lose the parasite that had suddenly attached itself to me I silently answered the questions he put to me. No I haven’t shopped here before because, if I had I, would not be in here now. No, I do not know your store policy, unless it is, as you have demonstrated that the salesmen do not take no for an answer. I have already told you I am paying cash, wouldn’t your five percent cost me a lot more in interest? I don’t really need to confer with my husband. It is just my way of not letting you pressure me into a sale. Really, just how does that return policy work? Do you charge a re-stocking fee? Does your delivery fee also cover pick up if I do change my mind?
I almost hesitated to stop to look at a single refrigerator as each time I showed the slightest interest in one he pounced, letting me know the specks and how it compared to the one I had previously looked at. I decided the best thing to do was to test his knowledge by opening each one I passed in quick succession. My hope was that I could see what I needed to see without tipping my hand as to what I was actually looking for. Surely if he found out he would be even more relentless than he already was.
At one point the salesman left, leaving me to think I had finally had a bit of a victory, only to return with his manager who, following the same vein, repeated the same questions which had already been asked by the young salesman.
After each question I turned to the young salesman, who really was not all that young but younger than his manager, and said as I have already told your sales man I am not purchasing without discussing it with my husband. Again, I do not have to discuss anything with my husband. I have made many major purchases without his help or written permission. I am a Navy wife I have learned how to make decisions on my own. I know this but these salesmen did not need to know this.
By now you are probably wondering why I did not just turn and leave. I asked myself that question as well. I think it was because by this time I had already decided I was not going to buy from this salesman and I was not happy that I was letting him get me this upset. I want to be in control of my own life and my own decision. I went in there to look at and compare refrigerators and this particular store had a lot of inventory. I stopped giving into bullies years ago and I was not about to let this guy bully me into a decision or into leaving before I was ready.
In the end I found a couple I liked and got the information I needed without once feeling the need to give in to the pressure from both this salesman and his manager. Actually, to be honest with you, if I had of found one that read “free” I would have been hard pressed to leave with it just on principle alone. Okay, I would have taken the free one, but only because it would have been MY decision to do so.
Before leaving I told them I felt as if I had walked into a new car showroom and was not happy with the high pressure methods which their company employed. I felt better having told them what I was thinking but in the end, I still felt a bit violated by their hard sale methods including the fact that at one point the young salesman looked at me and told me with a straight face “I really need this sale, I have four kids.”
I looked at him and he repeated the statement. For a half a moment I found myself wondering if I had unknowingly walked onto the set of Candid Camera. Oh wait, I am dating myself I meant to say the television show “What Would You Do?” but no, I looked and he was serious. I told him I had three kids and four grandchildren. Seriously, is that all the ammo he had left?
I will continue my search for my fridge and will continue to run the gauntlet of overzealous salespeople until I find what I am looking for. I am not new to this nor am I as gullible as I may seem…
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