The Great “Top Sales Techniques” Hunt: What tricks are used to sell to us?

amyjdavidson

I work in marketing so I don't actually like sales guys because I have to work with them every day and they do my head in!

I know of one technique used very often which is basically to offer a discount, but on an inflated version of the original price. This is something to be wary of whenever you're getting a quote for works done or for a product you wouldn't know the general retail price of. For example you are told the product you want costs £1000 but you'll get 25% discount on it taking it to £750 but it reality the cost of the product was £750.

I'm sure everyone knew that anyway but I thought I should put it up to remind people to always always get a second quote from someone else!

Oh, and on this note, I had a British Gas salesman come to my house last week to quote me for a new boiler. He was an hour late and then stayed in my home for over 2 hours. I would say 20 minutes of that time was spent looking at my boiler and the outside walls, and the rest was spent sitting in my living room pretending to 'build' a report on his Laptop to find the right boiler for us. He just sat there occasionally pressing buttons on his laptop, but the rest of the time either talking to us, watching tv or annoying my cat! He was evidently trying some sales technique but I can't work it out - was it intimidation, or trying to be super friendly so perhaps we'd buy from him. Anyway, this sitting in my house thing really upset me as it was intrusive and completely unneccesary. He didn't even have an internet connection to the laptop so his excuse that it was slow made no sense as there is no way British Gas would have such a slow system for quotes. Maybe he was just incredibly lazy. Anyway, his quote was ridiculously overpriced and all of the information he gave us to sell that particular model were lies as we've had several smaller companies in since, who were in and out within twenty minutes and had different stories about what we needed. And they're going to post the quote - so much better!

willywillwill

Yeah I had this with BT offering me money off my line rental. They took this off without factoring in VAT as well, so I then had to call them and badger them on that point as well. They eventually gave an extra discount to reflect it, but not without a fight!

WWW

koru wrote: »

The Technique in a Nutshell: The big discount for a short period
What you were selling: This is common for many financial products, like savings and insurance, and for subscription services such as phones and satellite/cable TV.
More Details: Offering a 10% discount on a £360 per year service/product only reduces it to £324, which is unlikely to sway a customer. However, offer the same £36 discount for the first three months and now you can claim to be offering a 40% discount. You promote the discount in huge letters, then in the small print mention that the full price after three months is £30 per month and there is a minimum 12 month period.
How successful was it: Judging by how often you see it, many companies think they are fooling us.
How should MoneySavers counter it: Just like any other "offers", pause to work out what it is really worth. 40% discount for 3 out of 12 months is really a 10% discount.

Its_African_Sunset

Define selling and you get 'matching benefits to needs'. Interestingly, if we make a 'good' purchase "we bought it"...if it turns out to be a poor purchase, "we were sold it"!

Before the days of everyone maximising sales and trying to keep the shareholders happy, most people trusted salespeople they knew; how many of you had parents that always went back to the same person for a car, electrical goods, etc. because they had a relationship and trust. (perhaps you have now - have any of you recommended a sales person or service to a friend?)

These people still exist today, it's just that they are a dying breed.

For my pains I was a car salesperson (Try and hold your initial abuse) and the most enjoyable thing was watching them pick their new car up. Yes we had targets, etc. but we could do the finance cheaper than a bank, look after their 8 - 15K investment and hopefully help them enjoy the car until they come and get their next one.

Ref the comment "really couldn't care less if you died after doing the deal"; are they any different from the person who takes your money at ASDA or at a petrol station, it's a job!

However, sales nowadays is about trying to build this relationship quickly. Do this (and put you at ease) and you are more likely to trust someone and therefore, buy more than you were planning to.

The final ultimate say is yours -if you pay the money, you obviously thought the deal, offer, etc. was fine at the time..were you perhaps caught up in the "Must have it now" moment? The salesperson's best buying sign. It's only after, when you checked on the internet that it was cheaper, the colour was avalable, etc. that you thought "He sold it to me and all salepeople are b4stards"

Not all sales staff are the spawn of the devil, some do care that you get what you want!

I've been in sales for a hundred years so I'll post some 'classic' closes in the next few days...

:A

IanWorthington

koru wrote: »

This one really annoys me, as it insults customers' intelligence. I always sarcastically ask if they know what is the cost per second. That is always met by puzzlement, and I explain that the price would seem even cheaper on a "per second" basis.

Love it! I always explicitly ask the price per year, but this is much better. But maybe too subtle for some salesdroids?

i

mervous

As a cynical 48 year old bloke, the cold calls that really bug me, not least because I HAVE activated the TPS bar, are the ones that launch subtly into a scare tactic, wrapped in a bit of false hope.
"Hi I'm calling from xxxx securities looking for suitable recipients for a free alarm system in your area due to a sharp rise in non violent crime"

Pause just long enough for the words Free and violent crime to sink in..

Open Question follows.. "what sort of property do you need protecting?"

I agree with everything that the mortgage advisor says, it's not a case of beat the salesman, it's a case of getting the right product first, the right price second. I can sell you a fully portable cordless garden blower for £5 with a spare blowing unit and a 2 year fair use guarantee... the price is brilliant, but the balloon on the end of 12" of old garden hose will be a bit of a disappointment.

I NEVER talk to cold callers - if I want something - I'll decide what I want, then get it priced up.
If anyone tells you that it's the last one in stock, leave it, it's probably been a demo model then, or, its most likely obsolete, wait for the new stock and get it cheaper because there'll be lots of them.

"I can only guarantee this price for today!" should always be met with "That's a pity because I'm not signing today but at least I won't waste my time coming back tomorrow if yours is the one I want"

Always use the rule of "walk away until they stop chasing you" it works on the streets of Bangkok and it works in PC World, it works with car insurance and it even works with buying houses.

Finally, this is my personal rule, never chip away at the individuals right to make a living, sure you can get £5 of his £10 comission from him if it's the 20th of the month, but when the thing breaks... you want him to be on your side! So Chip away at Dell's profit, Chip away at PC World's profit, Chip Away at the insurace they try to sell you but never chip away at Duane's only chance to make his comission this month.

Its_African_Sunset

The Technique in a Nutshell: Assumptive (was mentioned before)
What you were selling:Can be used for anything
More Details: Used by the salesperson to find out if you have agreed to buy the product in your own mind!
How successful was it: Because its semi-subliminal, you sometimes don't know you are doing it.
How should MoneySavers counter it: Listen carefully to the dialogue. The moment you agree to buy (sublimnally or not) your discount, free extras, etc. will stop. Everything else after that is extra cost

Its_African_Sunset

The Technique in a Nutshell: Trying to pull back from pressurising you
What you were selling: Tends to be financial products
More Details: Just when the yes (or the signature) is about to happen, the customer sometimes wavers and backs off either verabally or not. Will use phrases like "Sorry Bob, I didn't mean to push you. I know you may have many questions; but you wouldn't be here unless you you were genuinely interested in the <product>, would you?
How successful was it: Sales equivalent of a cuddle - be carefull
How should MoneySavers counter it: If you have a concern, postpone the signature and re-think and re-investigate.

koru

youngmoney wrote: »

This thread should be renamed.

I'd like to point out the importance of using this thread as a guide to making the correct decision about products, NOT about 'beating' salespeople or learning the techniques they use to 'push' products on to you. Or about the 'tricks' they use (which is a negative statement in itself).

I have no doubt that you sincerely think you know better than your clients, and you may even be right, though of course that is always going to be a matter of opinion. I suspect that most (though not all) sales people, no matter what the product, think that their products/services are the best, so using sales techniques to push customers to buy is actually in the customer's best interest.

However, you have nevertheless effectively confirmed that you are trying to make us buy something that, were it not for the sales techniques, we would not want. Pardon me, but I prefer to make my own decision, not be tricked into doing what the salesperson thinks I ought to do.

I agree, however, that this is not about beating the salesperson. It is about taking everything they say with a pinch of salt (because, by your own admission, even salespeople with the best of motives are trying to make me buy something that I consider I do not want) and being armed with the knowledge to translate their spin into the true facts.

I will continue to be sarcastic when I spot a salesperson using tricks to try to sell to me. That's not because I am trying to beat the salesperson, but because they stand no chance of making a successful sale if they continue implicitly insulting me by assuming I am stupid enough to fall for their techniques. [Spot the subtle irony? I know what's best for the salesperson!]

crossleydd42

Overcoming Objections

Queries/Objections are one of the trickiest stages of the four stages of a successful sale that I was taught. When the first objection came up, we were told to write the numbers 1 to 10 down the left-hand side of a notepad to show a willingness to discuss endless numbers of them (how helpful!). Then, we would write the quesries down (there would rarely be more than about three) and, when the potential customer dried up) ask if there were any more. If the reply was 'No', we'd draw a firm line under the last query to show that was that and proceed to answer the questions. If there were any further queries, it would be a brave person who would consider breaching that pencil line!It was not hard, after answering all the queries, to subtly create the situation where there was little resistance in the way of closing the sale. I lasted three weeks in the job as I is not in my nature to behave like this.

It should be rememberd that all sales techniques come down to behavioural science or psychology; the manipulating of people's minds. Some sales folk posses no morals or suppress them to do the job, others are decent folk truly trying to help the customer. The nub is, 'How do you tell the difference.'
As always, LET THE BUYER BEWARE.

I should add that I went around to my parents house a few months ago. It seems that they'd responded to a card popped through their door a few days before offering to clean the carpets one of their rooms. (Interprete that as you may). It seems that two hours before I arrived, two men came with an enormous vacuum cleaner and proceeded to dismantle it and explain all the details of what made it so special. They 'tested' a small piece of carpet and kept up the 'so much cleaner than the adjoining section of carpet'. Such was the pressure that, thank God, in the end, my father excused himself to go to the toliet, went there and rang me on his mobile to come round and break up the 'party'. My first act, on arrival, was to ask my 76 year old father to lift the enormous beast, which he barely managed to do. I then asked my mother to do the same and she couldn't even lift it off the floor! I then rounded on them for spending two hours trying to browbeat an elderly couple of OAP's into selling such an unsuitable product at a price of £325. It was disgraceful, but it happens. It must have been the 'wearing you down until you can no longer resist' technique.

koru

lovefool wrote: »

The Technique in a Nutshell: Salesperson subtly implies that the lower end products are for inferior customers.
More Details: The salesperson plays on your desire to be thought of as a high end customer, and your fear of appearing cheap. I.e. "At the lower end of the range we have the bonus model", here the salesperson sneers almost imperceptibly...
How successful was it: It works very well on me! Some are probably more sensitive to it than others.
How should MoneySavers counter it: Never be ashamed to go for the cheapest option!

Another way to counter the sneer: Glow with inner pride at displaying your common-sense, perceptiveness, will-power and independence of mind, by confidently choosing no more than you need.