Twice this week, we’ve had salesmen doing seriously hard sell tactics. On Monday afternoon, an old guy pulls up and offers to put a new 2″ topping of asphalt on the driveway for $1600. But, I had to decide there and then. He had guys in town and they needed the work to fill in that afternoon. He gave me a lot of “I swear to God” and “Trust me”. He was really in my face. Then, when I told him that we would pass because I had no idea if that was a good price (is it?) he got really mad. Excuse me? Did I ask you to come all the way out here and give me a quote? He really seemed to think that this reaction was going to push me over to the positive side. How was I to know whether he was even a contractor and not some con man? Anybody can slap a magnetic sign on their truck.
Next, we’ve had this ‘cancer insurance’ salesguy lurking about. The thing I really hate about these guys, is the fact that they use your neighbors’ names and whether they’ve purchased this insurance to try and get you to buy it. “Oh, so-and-so just bought a $50K policy from me. He liked that it provided…..” If I did buy this stuff, I certainly don’t want my neighbors knowing all my business. It’s bad enough that they know what they do. Then they get so pissy when you reject them. My husband was dealing with this guy, and used my absence the first time as an excuse. The salesman then makes some snarky comment about the wife being ‘in charge of that stuff’. Which, we all know, is code for ”Buddy, your whipped. Who wears the pants in your house?” Again, did I ask you to come and give me a quote? Get away from me.
Not the way to make a sale, in my opinion.
I’ve been thinking about this a little more.
First of all the “get away from me” cracked me up. Wonder where I’ve heard THAT before?
Sales is not the easiest job in the world. In fact, most people who do it, shouldn’t be because they suck at it. Ed could sell ice to an Eskimo, but even if he found one Eskimo that wouldn’t buy the ice, he’d at least get half a dozen referrals out of it because he’s good at networking. A smart salesman doesn’t view a “no thanks” as a loss, he looks at as an opportunity to get his business seen by another person who may know other people who need their product. If he had communicated effectively you may have asked for a card or something in case someone you know needs a driveway or cancer insurance (which still seems like a scam to me).
Oh and as far as everyone knowing everyone else’s business, welcome to “Hooterville!” All you need is a pot bellied pig.
Hey lady, only you would get a cancer insurance salesman knocking on your door! I’ve never heard of that….wouldn’t it just be life insurance?
Living in the boonies sure brings out the weirdos!
Oh, and adding a 2″ topping to your driveway is not the best idea unless your driveway is sunk way below your lawn.
We paid $3,000 for a complete demo of the old concrete driveway and over 90′x10′ of new asphalt. They screwed it up and there were low dips everywhere. Their solution…add a 2″ topping (we refused to pay them unless they fixed it). Our driveway looks really stupid floating up above the lawn. But at least we don’t have swimming pools in it anymore.