Dealing with salespeople - contradicting stories #1
24/10/2022 Category: hidden-agendas
There are many tricks of the selling trade which the public are generally in the dark about. The more we learn to spot them, the better placed we are to avoid pitfalls.
One of the most common ruses is to tell different people different stories depending on their circumstances. This is done in the interest of getting them to buy immediately. Naturally, salespeople may highlight different features of a product to appeal to different individuals. At other times, it's not the product but rather the reason to proceed that may change. Sometimes though, sales pitches to different prospective customers may clash with each other wildly and the story changes to the exact opposite. As long as those customers aren't in the same room together, that tends not to matter.
Here's an example. I have a property which is basic and is rented. A real estate salesman wants me to list it for sale. I tell him that I would prefer to occupy the property myself for a period and give it a decent makeover before putting it on the market. I believe that if I do that it will fetch a better price. He emphatically insists that I should do the opposite. He says that in his experience people prefer older properties to be in basic condition so they can renovate themselves to their own taste. He knows buyers who are tradespeople themselves and they have contacts in other trades who will help them. My property in its current condition is just what they are looking for. So I should sell now and he can really help me with that.
Along comes someone else with a freshly renovated older property which they're not particularly looking to sell right now. He tells them something completely different. He insists that he has lots of buyers at that instant looking for exactly those homes and they're too busy with careers and family to bother renovating a property. They would much rather purchase a newly renovated home and they are willing to pay top dollar for a property as nicely done-up as this one. So, list for sale NOW.
These are two completely different stories for people in different circumstances. They totally contradict each other, but salespeople don't let such things bother them. Their job is to sell and many will say whatever they need to say in order to achieve that.
In each instance, while making the sales pitch the salesman is trying his best to project himself as a nice, decent, honest and very likeable person. That's because he knows the magic ingredient of effective selling. An old adage is that people don't buy products, people buy people. That may not be one-hundred-percent true, but it's not far from it.
Your best bet is to take everything salespeople tell you with a pinch of salt and remember that the more you like them, the easier it becomes for them to take advantage. Remember also that whatever story you are being told, it may well be tailored to your individual circumstance depending on what the salesperson already knows about you.
This is not to say that all salespeople you communicate with are dishonest. That's certainly not the case. Neither should salespeople be condemned for trying their best to get someone to buy. However, not all salespeople will be totally up-front about their product or their motives, either. The public are justified in educating themselves to spot flaws in sales talk.
Note: The gentleman in the picture is intended to represent a customer, not a salesman.
- - ArgueGuru - -