Do you still hate sales people?

I used to...until I started studying the sales game. Now I apprecaite the process and those who do it so it doesn't piss me off as much. But...when I really don't have the problem that their product is the solution to, and they still try to sell me...I hate that.

I think sales people can sometimes be helpful when they provide genuine information to help. I just can't stand those who pressure their customers into making a decision.

Sounds hypocritical, I know. Since we are always doing it especially in online businesses. X.X

I can understand the sales person's point of view as well as the customers point of view. If you're dealing with a very talented seller, you could even learn a few neat tricks to incorporate into your own selling and marketing strategies.

I just don't trust anybody when there's money involved. At the end of the day it's all manipulation of trying to make something appear more valuable than it actually is.

I don't mind being sold by a sales letter than is convincing. I don't like a sales letter that is full of hype and lies, income claims, pics of estates and ferraris, etc. I hate a sales pitch on the phone. In a store I want a sales person who gives me the information that I want about the products, comparisons, etc., but I hate a "hard sell" artist. I don't like high pressure sales people at all. Basically, I want the info I need to make my own decision.

Another example was a door to door activist (at least he said he was ... could have been anyone) who wanted donations for "clean water." I refused to donate. He said, "Don't you care about clean water?" I said "No." lol. I don't want a sales pitch that attempts to make me feel guilty for not buying.

Sales people and those in customer service jobs - are just doing their job in the way an employer requires. If you walk into a store - or visit a website - on your own initiative, it's rather silly to cop an attitude toward a sales person. But people do it all the time.

I've always thought when people are impatient or rude to sales/service folks, it says more about them than about the person they are talking to.

My whole issue with sales people in general is that they are too aggressive. Trying to force me to buy now, is more than likely going to end in a return, if you are successful w the initial sale in the first place. If you foster the customers that are truly interested in the product that you are selling, you don't have to push at all to upsell.

I'm a huge fan of explain product, explain service, explain price, hand them the pen and the contract, and stop talking. They'll convince themselves to sign, just give it time. If you push too hard, you'll push them away.

When I was in phone sales, I scoffed at the hard sell mentality, it was laughable. Month after month, I was a top 10 performer in the company, and I always had the lowest returns. The company would promote individuals based on sales figures alone, not on sales:returns ratio. Bonuses were calculated on sales to return ratio. It sucked that that company went under because the money was great ( I made more than the GM's as a retail clerk )--what brought it down was the culture of the hard sell, the returns killed the profits.

If I'm buying something, I'd already decided that I was going to buy it before I was at the store/website. I'll let sales staff try their best to sell me, but I'll tell them after the fact that it was nothing that they did that sold me, and I'll point out problems with their approach ( usually a hard sell approach ) and explain what was good and bad. The one's that push too hard, I'll tell them that their sales approach turned me off to buying this today, that if he'she was less pushy, I would have purchased. Then I go speak to another sales agent right in front of them, and let the other sales person who wasn't as pushy have the sale. I don't do it to be a jerk, there's just some people that will not learn without a harsh lesson.

Some of them are nice! I mean...they really know what they are doing, they do not seem to be mere robots playing the same tune all over again. They are not at all annoying and evem make you smile. Sadly...there are not many as such!
I hated all of them at first, because I do not like being forced to buy something...But soemtimes...life is full of surprises and you end up doing it. Then, you truly understand :-)

Depends on the kind of sales person. I hate the sales person that tries to push you into buying a product without thinking about the benefits for you. I like the sales person that tries to help you and provide the best scenario for both parties.

Before I study sales, I hated them because I thought they are only interested in my money. But after starting my own online business and started studying marketing & sales, I start to have respect for people who are in this line. I personally would still prefer those who are genuinely interested in giving real information instead of those who pressure people to make decision fast.

underpromise, overdeliver. The best sales people may go beyond a tad over underpromise, up to the level of the product or service being sold. Never more hype than the product or service can deliver. A good salesperson communicates the actual value of the product/service. Not a bit more.

Nobody likes to be sold to. Especially from someone you don't know, and who doesn't take the time to try to find out about you.

Many people in those positions think that the hard sell is the way to succeed. It's better to help people, and be direct, and because most people need to be gives a poke in the right direction, ask for the sale. On the other hand, don't keep asking, don't be bothered if you don't make the sale.

Pitches can come in many forms - and the best pitches in my opinion are when the salesperson asks questions and then integrates the answers they get into the pitch. If that leads to helping by asking more questions and finding solutions, then that's the way to go.

Me personally, I'm not an impulse buyer so I'd walk away, and go back later. I'd also ask the questions, to see what answers I got.

I act the same as you - I am somewhat dismissive of a lot of the pushy salespeople, or the ones that don't listen, because I find it rude.

Hopefully we're on here and are a lot less pushy, and are soft selling via helping people? I know I try to be like that at least.

Totally depends on the person; like most areas of life; not wise to hate all of a particular group.

My only encounter with a really extreme sales person was when I signed up for one of those 2-3 hour timeshare pitches, in exchange for some gift. After a video presentation, they sent us to talk with a salesperson, and I immediately told the guy I didn't want to string him along; there was an absolute zero chance of my purchasing, regardless what the pitch was.

So he went through his pitch, looking for signs of hesitation, got nothing but a polite "sorry, I know it's your job, but I was straight up with everyone from the start; never pretended I agreed to attend for any reason but the gift, and told everyone up front there was no chance of a sale.

After the poor guy tried all the tricks they obviously drilled into him and came up empty, he said, wait a minute; I'm going to have you talk to "Bill".

So they bring in the closer, and he starts testing the water, asks me a question designed to get a "no", and when I gave it to him, he announces with pride: "That's the last "no" I want to hear from you today", like he's commanding me, and gives a smug look to the greener guy, who laughs in admiration at his mentor's cleverness or cockiness, or whatever it was he found admirable about that silly "command".

I just rolled my eyes, and told him again there was no point in "closing" me; there would be no sale regardless how many closers they threw at me, because I came in without the slightest interest in what he's selling, and nothing would change that; I never misled anyone about that.

He tried a few more semantic tricks, and then resorted to hostility and badgering. He asked how I felt about wasting his time when he had kids to feed, and he was giving me a gift (like it was him personally), and I took it with no intention of giving back, by buying.

Then I got a little less nice, and told him that if he was depending on me to feed his kids, he was in deep doo-doo, that I felt great about taking the gift with no intention of buying from him, and had told the person who signed me up that there was no chance of a sale. I said that if he'd have listened to me in the first place, he wouldn't have wasted his time on silly tricks that only work on people who give a rat's ass what he thinks of them.

We parted on hostile terms; I let him know exactly what I thought of him, but I thought about it later, and marveled at the pathology I figure is present in anyone who can go to work every day, and be that aggressive toward strangers all day long. Weird; I wouldn't be surprised if that type of salesman is a great candidate for drug addiction and suicide.

It was surreal; the first and only time I've dealt with the kind of attitude I used to hear horror stories about when I knew a lot of car salesman.

Certain car lots were infamous for their aggressive tactics, including throwing people's keys on the roof so they would have to stay longer, removing their distributor caps, and the same tactic my "closer" used; bringing up their hungry kids and guilt tripping the customer for not helping feed them; climbing halfway over the closing table while literally yelling stuff in the customer's face, like "you think I don't have kids to feed; that you can come in here and just waste my time...".

I don't hate such people, but I find them miserable and their behavior despicable. But most salespeople are decent, friendly, and try to be helpful, in my experience. The horrible ones stand out though; they are more entertaining.

I don't mind sales people. Its interesting to observe everyone selling tactics. However i hate cold callers trying to sell you something and just don't give up !! The hard sell.

I found, if you have time, entertain their conversation and call, and keep it going for as long as you can, its very amusing when they are now trying to hang up

Samuel

I saw people get arrested for selling in a Communist country. I love selling while I still have the liberty to do so. Hopefully I will not live long enough when the masses who hate being sold to pass laws to stop me from selling, I'm sure that day will come.

I don't hate anybody.