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Is a Pushy Salesman “Just Doing His Job”?

August 9, 2006 By 3 Comments

I had a conversation with a salesman yesterday. I actually asked him to contact me. I’m pretty interested in what he’s selling.

He did most of the talking on the phone. He shared the benefits of what he’s selling and how much it’s meant to him. And he shared some attractive things.

But they weren’t exactly why I’m interested in what he’s offering. Of course he didn’t spend much time investigating why I have any interest in the first place.

He said several times how he doesn’t like to be pushy and how what he’s got “sells itself.”

SalesmanNow I appreciate not being pushed. Really I do. There is no bigger turn off than some salesman who is trying to separate me from my money using manipulation and psychological pressure.

But the reality is what he had didn’t sell itself. I didn’t buy last night.

I see the purchase as a sizable one and I never want to let go of a chunk of cash with that many digits. Even when I desperately need it. And I’m sure I will survive without it. Maybe not as well, but I’ll certainly keep breathing.

You know, I very well might buy it in the near future. And I’ll probably buy it from him because he seemed like a good guy to me and that’s something I value.

But did he do his job as a salesman? Is it better to be firm and help folks make the decision they know they want for themselves but are hesitant to make?

Or is it better for a salesman to hang back, give the customer room and let them figure out for themselves if they want to buy or not?

What do you think?

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Food Frenzy

April 22, 2006 By Leave a Comment

I had to run by the grocery store this evening. It’s not something I really like to do. My shopping skill level is very amateurish, especially compared to Gorgeous. Good thing for me she’ll be back tomorrow.

But it wasn’t soon enough to avert a grocery crisis big enough to force me out into the shopping night.

I was out of creamer.

First of all, let me be clear. When I say creamer I really mean half-and-half. It absolutely must be liquid at the very least. Gorgeous is, after all, from Wisconsin which we all know is the dairy state. (State Motto: Come smell our dairy-air!) Use of powdered creamer-like substances is considered blasphemy in our household.

Not that we had any of that on hand either.

Tomorrow, being Sunday, I’ll have to hit the ground running. There’s a lot of volunteering to be done to get our Savannah Campus up and running on Sundays. (God thing for us we’ve got a great team of people committed to make it happen.)

And that means coffee will need to be consumed. (mmm… coffee…) I can’t seem to get started most mornings without mass quantities of the warm stimulating beverage.

Anyway I had to go to the store. (Focus, Chris!)

The trouble is that I have a hang up with the name of the closest grocery store to our house. Piggly Wiggly is just too weird for me. Fortunately for us the one in our neighborhood is very nice. Besides the choice was them or Wal-mart, which should have been a no-brainer.

Except that the Wal-mart is right across the street from our local Backyard Burgers. And I was having a craving, don’t you know. With Gorgeous not around, I knew I could get the onions on it. I mean I could get them when she’s around, I suppose. But then she wouldn’t get within 10 feet of me. Not that I blame her even. So I figure what’s the point of having Gorgeous around if she isn’t around, if you know what I mean. I usually skip the onions.

I went to the Pig anyway. Then to BYB.

I was glad I did. As I was poking around, looking for something to go with the left over Reddi Wip in the fridge from last Sunday, I found that Breyers Ice Cream was 2 for 1. How cool is that?

Of course now I feel like a bloated tick. But it was mmm… oh, so good.

Enjoy!

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