Haggling and getting a fair deal

Cornering

One aspect of the hard sell; formulate all the questions in such a way that the customer will say yes over and over. No is an objection, yes is an agreement. Provide options rather than opt outs; “I’ll come over to show you this product. Which day is better, Thursday or Friday?” rather than, “When would you like me to come over?” If they are busy on those two days, offer another day. Some customers need a little push to overcome their wariness. Don’t be afraid to give people some encouragement if what you are selling is good for them. However, shopping ought to be a joy rather than a dreaded gauntlet avoiding overly pushy types. He grabbed my arm and asked if this was my first time here. Friendly on the surface was he or trying to be. I told him that no, it was not the first time here, it is the last time.

Tricks are deployed to get information out of people. Asking someone their age is awkward but a necessary requirement for some selling schemes. “What is your age? I’m 24” is what they will ask, giving theirs to soften the impact. My response would be “good for you sweetheart”.

Salesmen want you to buy there and then so will wear you down to the point where you say anything to end the nightmare. They will keep telling you things, giving you more and more facts and figures until decision fatigue sets in. You might regret buying something simply because of that decision fatigue. We can only take in so much information in one go. Politicians suffer decision fatigue too, resulting in lots of poor policy choices.

Some people want to prove to the salesman that they can afford it and prove that they are worthy. Instead of just walking away they have sympathy where none is really deserved. When you feel an obligation to buy, but are unsure, just leave, use some flattery, and show gratitude for their time and go away to have a proper think about it. Any real deal will be there tomorrow. Walking away gets easier the more you do it. Wipe it from your mind like windscreen wipers swipe rain aside.

The story goes something like this. A man is invited into someone’s house for a drink. Rather than decline and cause offence they enter the house. Shortly after they are given the said drink, they are killed, cut into uniformly sized pieces, and dumped in the river. The fear of causing offence overrides the concern for our personal safety. I didn’t want a drink of tea they kindly brought to me as a sweetener to buy a wretched carpet. I only wanted some information. It is surprising how quickly you can get drawn into wretched situations. The causing offence part sticks in our mind for years. Nevertheless, it is a battle of psychology that you can win. Be super polite. Show lots of appreciation whilst also declining their false kindness. Say no nicely.

Some won’t let you examine an item for long. They take it from you like a parent taking a toy off a child. They then walk slowly backwards, looking at you. I know the stunt so let them keep it. Rude waiters get more tips than pleasant ones because we want to prove something, to kind of show them. I leave a pile of the lowest denomination coins and make a hasty exit. If a tip is added to the bill automatically, I scrub it off and give them nothing. I hate tipping when it is seemingly mandatory. I liken it to a form of corruption. Onboard a ferry travelling across to an island I made my way to the dinner hall. I approached the order taker who made an assumption, albeit a correct one, that I couldn’t speak the local language too well. He blanked me completely. A much nicer person came over shortly after and we played a game of pick three at random. After the rather fine meal I forced a tip on this hospitable person. It was probably more than a day’s wages. I did so because of her willingness to engage.

Great businesses need great staff. They need to sell great products, but customers play a vital role too. Customer feedback helps the business owners improve what they are doing. By giving tips where warranted, and commending not just criticising the offerings, establishments evolve and flourish. They won’t know what they are doing wrong unless you tell them. They won’t keep doing what they are doing well unless you applaud them.

The quality of work counts a lot. Businesses that offer a decent service expand the quickest. By sorting all complaints along the way, addressing the issues to avoid the same problems reoccurring, you can be sure that profits follow. There will be exceptions, those that do hit and run sales or flog dead horses, but few manage to make a large business that stands the test of time by ripping people off. Besides there is no better feeling than doing something well. You are not always trying to avoid irate people seeking recourse. As a customer, it is better to pay after the job is done, never beforehand. As a service provider, a good bit of incentive is lost once you have the payment.

As more orders come your way and more people use your service, you will have more problems to sort out. Customers are not always right, but problems need to be dealt with. If they start stacking up, it causes a lot of stress. As each issue pops up, just deal with it. Either refund, replace or sort an alternative, un-emotively. I say again, just deal with it there and then if you can. The minute you get wound up by trying to see who is right and who is wrong the joy of trading dwindles. Some customers are outright thieves and expect you to take a loss, however most are not. Most businesses find that on balance most customers give you more help than hindrance. The odd painful ones stick out because of the way our mind works. To the customer it is 20, to you it is 3 profit. You need to sell another 7 items to get back in the black from one issue. Going on a 2 percent standard failure/return rate which is typical for a wide range of businesses you will always lose 40 in each 2000 of turnover and losing 40 in 294 of profit is acceptable. If you get a 10 percent failure rate your profit is down to 70 which is unlikely to cover overheads.

You can do a jigsaw puzzle in many ways. You might locate the corners first then do all the edges. Some might see a bunch of one colour and quickly put together an island of pieces. Some things will need forward planning and must not be overlooked to avoid creating delays further down the line. Too many find a stumbling block and put the whole project on hold when it could have been resolved eventually one way or another. It would be ideal to start selling when your product is perfect, and you have the full range on offer. The problem is that it is not until you begin selling that you find out what the issues are that lay ahead. One may want to be careful about over marketing a new un-established item, as you don’t want to have widespread knowledge of a product with problems. In most cases, it is better to just get going and start shifting the stock you have and make incremental improvements along the way.