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High-pressure sales
Nov. 15th, 2012 11:06 amDavid Malki! has posted a rant today about the intense discomfort he experienced while accepting a sales call.
I'm here to tell you that I've been trained in high-pressure sales. I've been an Amway rep, and the dude who trained me was a retired Army Recruiter. I've worked outgoing phone sales, and done basic marketing (once again, outgoing phone sales... leads) and I've worked in a variety of retail and direct sales.
I currently work in retail sales, and what I sell are high-ticket items.
I'll tell you that while I love to play "Check out my shiny toy!" and "Oh, let me show you how this works," I feel uncomfortable tipping over into the high-pressure sales game. This is not to say that I don't know how to do it and that I can't do it. Oh, I can. I know those scripts, I know my blocking, and I know how to deliver the lines with sincerity and intensity.
There are two reasons why. The first is a personal issue. I hate peer pressure and I don't want to be the one applying the pressure. I hate bully tactics and I don't want to be a bully. I feel like my soul gets a little sticky if I lean on someone to buy something they don't need and want, no matter how cool it is. I like putting the right tool in the right person's hand. I like opening a world of possibility to a new customer. I like making people happy.
And I know the difference between being happy with a purchase and feeling pushed into a purchase.
So there's my second reason: I find that high-pressure sales might make a sale today, but it loses a customer later. If a person feels that they were tricked or manipulated, they won't trust the person who treated them that way. If I feel that I was heavily pressured by a salesperson, I often will tell everyone I meet not to shop in that store. I'd rather match the right sewing machine to the right person than try to up-sell someone into a bigger machine than they can handle. In fact, I'd rather sell them the thing they think they deserve, then let them come and play with us for a while and find a way to justify upgrading that little machine into something bigger and better for their uses. Why? Because saying, "You can have more" is better than telling someone, "Oh, you should have bought less."
And that would be why I'm not still in phone sales. I give GOOD phone. I have a very beautiful phone voice and I am good at multitasking. I just found that eventually I wound up doing outgoing sales calls and while they are a valid marketing strategy, I don't like how those kinds of sales make me feel.
Of course, some of why I'm good at sales is that I have a certain natural persuasiveness. Some of my friends have accused me of being the person they can't say "No" to. So I want to state this right here in black-and-white (or whatever colors you're viewing this post):
It's always ok to say "No" to me. You don't have to be mean or rude, just say "No". I'll just warn you that my natural response will be to say, "Why not?"
:D
I'm here to tell you that I've been trained in high-pressure sales. I've been an Amway rep, and the dude who trained me was a retired Army Recruiter. I've worked outgoing phone sales, and done basic marketing (once again, outgoing phone sales... leads) and I've worked in a variety of retail and direct sales.
I currently work in retail sales, and what I sell are high-ticket items.
I'll tell you that while I love to play "Check out my shiny toy!" and "Oh, let me show you how this works," I feel uncomfortable tipping over into the high-pressure sales game. This is not to say that I don't know how to do it and that I can't do it. Oh, I can. I know those scripts, I know my blocking, and I know how to deliver the lines with sincerity and intensity.
There are two reasons why. The first is a personal issue. I hate peer pressure and I don't want to be the one applying the pressure. I hate bully tactics and I don't want to be a bully. I feel like my soul gets a little sticky if I lean on someone to buy something they don't need and want, no matter how cool it is. I like putting the right tool in the right person's hand. I like opening a world of possibility to a new customer. I like making people happy.
And I know the difference between being happy with a purchase and feeling pushed into a purchase.
So there's my second reason: I find that high-pressure sales might make a sale today, but it loses a customer later. If a person feels that they were tricked or manipulated, they won't trust the person who treated them that way. If I feel that I was heavily pressured by a salesperson, I often will tell everyone I meet not to shop in that store. I'd rather match the right sewing machine to the right person than try to up-sell someone into a bigger machine than they can handle. In fact, I'd rather sell them the thing they think they deserve, then let them come and play with us for a while and find a way to justify upgrading that little machine into something bigger and better for their uses. Why? Because saying, "You can have more" is better than telling someone, "Oh, you should have bought less."
And that would be why I'm not still in phone sales. I give GOOD phone. I have a very beautiful phone voice and I am good at multitasking. I just found that eventually I wound up doing outgoing sales calls and while they are a valid marketing strategy, I don't like how those kinds of sales make me feel.
Of course, some of why I'm good at sales is that I have a certain natural persuasiveness. Some of my friends have accused me of being the person they can't say "No" to. So I want to state this right here in black-and-white (or whatever colors you're viewing this post):
It's always ok to say "No" to me. You don't have to be mean or rude, just say "No". I'll just warn you that my natural response will be to say, "Why not?"
:D
