You can believe the salesperson about as much as you can believe everything you read in the papers. On that basis you should find a way of double checking all the important facts and information given to you that are relative to your personal reasons for buying, or for not buying. Think about this if you are being given the ‘spiel’: It is quite normal in our industry for the salesperson to be on no basic salary, no holiday pay, no statutory sick pay, no car or telephone expenses, and no retainer. Income is solely derived from earning 10% commission of everything sold, on a self employed basis; a sort of ‘no win – no fee’ incentive to make sales. Worse still – the salesperson could be paid just 2% commission on a sale made at what the company wants as its correct price, and then up to 60% sales commission on any overpricing achieved on any orders won. YOU PAY £500 OVER THE TOP, AND THE SALESPERSON COULD GET AN EXTRA £300 OUT OF WHAT YOU WERE OVERCHARGED!!! Unfortunately some people do get ripped off at the initial over-priced quote, but even more get taken in by fake discounts, which is all part of the scam. LITTLE WONDER THAT THE PRICE YOU ARE INITIALLY QUOTED STARTS OFF BEING LUDICROUSLY HIGH, AND THEN SEVERAL FAKE DISCOUNTS ARE PROFFERED, ALL IN AN ATTEMPT NOT ONLY TO SIMPLY SELL TO YOU, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY TO SELL TO YOU AS OVERPRICED AS POSSIBLE. THINK ABOUT THIS: £500 OVERPRICED ON A DECENT SIZED ORDER COULD PUT AN EXTRA £300 IN THE SALESPERSONS’ POCKET!!! = “CAN I BELIEVE THE SALESPERSON”. WELL, IT DOES BEG THE QUESTION, DOESN’T IT? In my opinion, these sort of salespeople should be shown the door, and somewhat as ‘tout suite’ as possible, but do expect some protest, and sometimes you could get a show of aggression, so you will need to be strong in this situation. Having said that… There is a lot of integrity in our industry and a great number of honest people, there are probably also a few crooks, and then there are the others in between. As in all walks of life is easy for the naïve to be ripped off, so here is a little insight into what the salesperson might be thinking as he is talking to you, especially when he is answering your questions and reassuring you about any doubts you may have. Now put yourself in the shoes of the salesperson for a moment: If from the ‘leads’ you are given by your employer you sell lots and lots and lots you will earn loads of commission, have no worries about paying your mortgage, will be able to afford nice things for the home and yourself, your wife and family. You will own a nice car(s) and have happy holidays, and you will be well thought of by your boss. Your job is make sales, i.e. to sell, and that is your sole function. Now read the previous line once again! Remember, you are the salesperson, so now imagine yourself in this scenario: You are sitting in front of your prospective customer, let’s say you have given them your carefully prepared presentation. Your estimate for the job is for £3500 and you hope you have given good enough answers to all their questions to make the sale, but you are not sure that it’s in the bag. It crosses your mind that your commission after vat on the sale would be 10%, lets say £300. How hard do you try to convince them to sign up with you, and how do you feel?. Just knowing that their deposit cheque will have your £300 in it, you feel motivated to sell, that’s how you feel! It is important to try to tell ‘where the salesperson is coming from’ as it could give you an insight into the real motivation behind what they say and how they say it, and the validity of their opinions, even if they do not blatantly lie. Ask yourself: what is likely to be the difference in quality of advice between: The professionally trained salesperson, (especially one who has probably never actually fitted a window in his life!) and who, once he has your deposit, you will probably never see again. The advice coming from someone with a wide product knowledge and who knows, first hand, what he is talking about, having had many years experience of actually doing the work. The salesperson has a very big self interest in telling you, basically, what you want to hear, and a salespersons motivation and often sole function in his organisation is to part you from your money – that is his job! Just some of the pressure commonly included in the patter for the gullible is the well worn “massive xx% discount – you must order now, offer ends….”, and a variation on the same old ‘special offer’ theme that then starts all over again the very next week. Here are just a few of the very many ploys used to make you think that you are being offered a really good, one off, super duper, never to be repeated, incredible special deal, “so you really must sign up now, you cannot afford to lose this offer”: Your house in on a main road, or there is a Bus Stop nearby, you are eligible for an extra X% off, this is a fake discount. If you agree to a site board outside, ditto – fake discount. There is a school up the road, ditto – fake discount. We need a show house in your road, ditto – fake discount. I will phone my manager to see if I can get the o.k. to offer you an even deal, ditto – fake discount. I am the manager not a salesman, no commission to pay and your order will be at a trade price, ditto – fake discount. All a load of codswallop, but there are some people who still fall for it!
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