Quote:
Originally Posted by Reg  Yep, a lot of folk have recently found the time to become "tire kickers".
Mid week,,,, here comes another one that looks like he just left the unemployment office and has a few hours to waste day dreaming about what might be if/when a job turns up...
Week-end shopper with errands to run, barely gets saturday morning off,,,, likely has some bux or a credit rating that is good enough.
HARD for a sales guy to pick and choose who to pursue ? |
I think it used to be pretty common for salesmen, at least for certain products, to visually size up people to decide whether to pursue them or not. I'll never forget going into a Cadillac dealership once to ask about a 10 year old Cadillac on the lot. I was wearing khaki work slacks and sport shirt and no one would even speak to me until I cornered a saleman, told him I would like some information about that car, and he replied, "It belongs to an employee" and walked away. There was not another customer in the showroom at the time. I happened to have owned a 5 year old Cadillac at the time and when it was involved in a very minor accident (investigating officer couldn't find any damage to it), out of curiosity, I stopped by that same Cadillac dealership, wearing a suit and tie, and a guy promptly rushed out to meet me, asked what he could do for me, asked if I'd like a cup of coffee while they did an estimate to repair the damage, etc. At the time, I knew I could fix it myself with a used part for $8, or a new part for $15. The dealership gave me an estimate of $360.
But today, I think any salesman who thinks he can visually size up a potential customer is making a bad mistake. My youngest brother was the best salesman I've ever known and he went after everyone who entered the business as if that was the most important guy he ever met. And I don't think he ever tried to talk anyone into buying anything; just visited with them and answered their questions. It works. Of course it also helped that he had studied his products well and knew them, but also wasn't afraid to say "I don't know" instead of bluffing.