Top Eleven Things I Wish They'd Teach Salesmen:
11. Don't ask to come in my house. If you absolutely must come in my house, make sure you have someone with you. Preferably a woman. And show me your ID. You may be a nice guy, but I don't know that.
10. Be scrupulously honest in what you tell me. If you tell me your demonstration will take ten minutes, it'd better be ten minutes. I'll be watching the clock. If you say you'll clean my carpet, then clean it. (If there's a contingency clause--like "if you buy the vacuum") say so. Before I move the furniture.)
9. I don't care what my neighbors bought. Keeping up with the Jones' really doesn't apply when it comes to cleaning products and magazine subscriptions.
8. Don't ask me about my neighbors. I'm not going to tell you their names and occupations, or if they have small children. I know what you're doing, and I don't want you to manipulate my friends.
7. Cut the small talk. We both know that you don't care about my life, so don't waste my time asking me about my hobbies. Let's cut to the chase and let me get back to what I was doing before you rang my doorbell.
6. Don't try to be funny. If you were truly funny, you'd be making a living in stand-up comedy, instead of selling vacuums. So skip the whole "you can sweep me off the porch with a broom" routine.
5. Don't tell me this offer is only good for the next ten minutes. Leave me a brochure with a phone number and let me think about it--I might even call you back!
4. No means no. Don't force me to be rude. Remember Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice? When I say no, I'm not being coy. I just don't want it. So please ignore the "rule of thumb" that says you have to hear no three times before you take it seriously.
3. When I do say no, don't be rude. Let's make a deal: I'll say no pleasantly, and you accept it graciously.
2. Don't try to make me feel guilty. I don't care if you grew up on the south side of Chicago and have an anger management problem you're trying to overcome. I don't care if you're earning a trip to Disneyland and I'm the last sale you need. I had seven kids of my own to keep off the streets, out of trouble, and get into college--don't try to make me feel responsible for you too!
1. Have a product worth selling. That's what sales is all about--the PRODUCT! Not you. Not your background. Not your hopes and dreams. Save that for people who care. Just tell me what you're selling. Tell me what it costs and ask me if I want it. It'll save us both some time.
Quote of the day: "Your neighbor said she needed another magazine like she needed a hole in the head, but she still bought one to help me out."
My apologies to good salesmen out there (Tom). I'm sorry so many who went before you have given sales a bad name. Here's my suggested door approach: "Hi, I'm _________ and I'm selling ____________. Are you interested in learning more about this product? Thanks for your time and have a good day."
6 comments:
AMEN AND AMEN!!!! I couldn't have said it better myself. Sounds like you had a recent experience with this - sorry.
In this day and age, a complete stranger asking to come into someone's house (usually a woman at home alone) is completely NUTS! Why would you even try that. When we lived in Spanish Fork (not a good neighborhood in general), the first and last time I answered the door when Eric wasn't home was to a salesman trying to sell some miracle oven cleaner and he asked to come inside to use it on my oven!! Are you kidding me?? Right.... "Why don't you come in complete (male) stranger that I know nothing about. No one knows that you are here, I'm at home alone by myself, my husband isn't due back home for hours, and I don't have any sort of self-defense weapon other than maybe a knife in the kitchen." Yeah, sounds like a great plan.
Not to mention all the other annoying/crazy things that you named on your list. I could rant about those too, but I will spare everyone.
Some people....
i of course have a slightly different opinion on door to door sales because i eat and have a place to live because my husband does just that. so i try to be kind when they come to my door (even though i usually still say no) because i know that it is such hard work! having said that, i agree that there's never a reason to be rude or ask to come inside. totally inappropriate.
as annoying as the sales tactics are, statistically salesmen that use them make more sales and earn more money. so i'll continue to encourage tom to do whatever it takes to put bread on our table! we're lucky in that tom sells a product that people really need, so (hopefully) he doesn't have to be as pushy.
Christy--They were telling Dad the same thing 25 years ago when he tried direct sales. Maybe that's why I recognize the tactics so easily. Anyway, it's amazing to me that they work, because they're a huge turn-off to me.
I still maintain that the key to successful sales is having a good product that people want. (Incidentally, I feel the same way about the suggestive sales program Dad's work sponsors. It's crazy! Ask me what I want and then help me find it--don't try to convince me that I want what you want me to buy because you're going to win a contest if I buy it. It's not about YOU! I'm the customer, remember? And if you help me find the perfect thing today, I just might come back tomorrow and ask for your help again. But if you tell me that the book you show me is wonderful and just exactly what my daughter in Texas will LOVE--and it's not--probably won't trust your opinion again!)
Anyway, I hope I didn't offend you. I'm sorry if I did. We love you. We love Tom. And if I lived in a hot, bug-infested place, I'd even love pest control! And in this case, the salesman who sold it to me. :)
Mom, there is an answer. "No Solicitors"
Wonderfully said! And love your humor -- you should write more! (I was going to say, "Amen, Sister," but Briana kind of beat me to it!) J. Lynn won't even answer the phone if it looks like a solicitor. I, on the other hand, pride myself on trying to set a speed record for telling them I'm not interested and getting them off the phone.
no worries mom, you didn't offend me even a little bit. i will say though that if tom were to just ask someone if they wanted pest control or not, and then immediately leave if they said no, he would have made a few sales out of luck, but we would have been in big trouble financially. most people have the opinion of uncle bill, say no as quickly as possible so you can get back to what you were doing. so you have to catch someone's interest. you definitely need a good product, no doubt about it, but if two people are selling the same product in the same place, one might (will) still do TONS better because of his technique and/or personality. i've seen that for myself with tom's experience.
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