The Pitch – Do you avoid places with high pressure sales tactics?

September 4, 2009 – 10:14 am – No Comment

Do you avoid places and situations where you are pressured to buy something?

Question:

There are a lot of places out there that are hurting for sales. The problem has gotten to be where I know that I avoid places that use high pressure sales tactics like the plague. Do you ever try to avoid these places and what would you do to change them?

Answer:

I believe that people are inherently turned off by high pressure sales tactics. No one wants to be pressured into buying something they aren’t ready to buy or get into a situation where they feel bad for not buying something (I do this sometimes). Nor do they want to get into a situation where they feel as though they have to get a credit card. So, if someone feels as though they have had an overly pushy sales person, they are much less likely to return to the store. This is just my opinion though.

Even passive sales pitches are something that irks me a little. Here’s a real example of what I’m talking about:

After Chris and I got married my insurance company sent us a card to congratulate us. I thought it was so thoughtful, until I opened it up and it said, “Congratulations! Have you thought about getting a life insurance policy?” This company has been pushing the life insurance policy on me for 5 years, and I’m not going to change my mind this time.

I think that a lot of places need to realize that when someone is shopping, they really do have something in mind. As a good sales person you can lead them in the direction they need to go or open them up to ideas that they may have not thought of, but pressuring them into buying something they don’t want is not going to win you any brownie points.

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