Disclaimer: though this blog is based on first hand experience and on stories of trusted friends, it is highly subjective, generalizing and blunt.
Companies constantly make rather blunt assumptions about you. This is perfectly ok because it’s the best they can do as a company in their holy endeavor to make you buy their stuff. There is only one thing more powerful for them: employing good salesmen (a.k.a. craftsmen of seduction). I give you four simple rules you can use in your advantage when dealing with salesmen.
1. Check whether they sell, or let you buy
The first one is easy. Check whether the salesperson in front of you is really interested in you, or that his interest is only skin deep. In the latter case, you’re not going to get a good advice, he just wants to sell anything to anybody. An easy way to check this is in an apparel store is to try something on, and ask for the opinion of the salesman of woman. Usually, you’ll get something like ‘great!’. Then, try something else, which totally doesn’t match with the first thing. If they again say ‘also great’, you’ll know enough. Another way to check for genuine interest is to see how custom made their advice is. What do they know from you, and how do they translate that to their products? When searching for a laptop, I walked into a store and said I wanted a laptop. The salesguy instantly told me: ‘This is the best laptop for you!’ He didn’t know anything from me, so how could he choose? Sounds dumb? It happens all the time. A story from the Dutch TV show ‘Topverkopers’ (Best salesmen) shows this quite well: A contestant sells a huge TV for €5000,- and grins into the camera: “Haha, I dind’t know anything about this TV, not even how to switch it on!”
Thus, can and do salesmen give you good advice, or are they just selling? If you get good advice, you’d be able to buy something, and aren’t sold. Although, when salesmen do not sell, they are more experienced.
2. Don’t think price, thinks margin
Salesmen do, so you should. Story: Customer: “This could be your lucky day!” I: “That’s great, what can I do for you?” Customer: “If you make me a good deal, I’ll buy two laptops from you. I just want the two laptops, nothing else”. I didn’t close the deal, because a high price says nothing. A laptop has low margin, sometimes even negative, and is typically poised to generate more lucrative sales via mice, software and such. So, when negotiating never try to get sharp rebates on low margin products, but ask for free high margin products or extra service.
3. Never trust a salesperson
Don’t. Never. Your interest is most of the times not aligned with the interest of the salesperson. Example: imagine yourself as a salesperson, and someone wants to buy the best TV for him. After listening to the story, you know that a model you sell for $4000,- would be perfect for the customer, but they could buy it from a competitor for $30 less than your price. Would you tell this? Probably not. You’d actively talk yourself out of a sale. And this is a rather harmless example. Here the salesperson has to chose between brutal honesty or still making a good sale, which is ok for the customer. Often however, companies actively misalign the interest of the salesperson with the best interest of the customer. They often choose bonuses and peer pressure as a method for this.
Bonuses can e.g. be granted for selling old stock, high margin products or for cross selling. When you are pushed to sell old, technically inferior stock, and can make hundreds of dollars by doing so, why sell other stuff? Would you be a saint, or do what the company makes you to, and what is (highly) beneficial to yourself? This practice is endemic in some branches, and perfectly logical. Try not to trust solely on a salespersons advice.
4. Knowledge is power
The salesman from the earlier example (where I buy a laptop) instantly advised me a high margin laptop. Although he was a new hire, he immediately knew it was a high margin laptop (and thus was eligible for bonus). A method sometimes used in retail is price signaling. This price signaled to him ‘high margin’. There are often coded signals present in a store. As a customer, pay attention to this. Is it an odd price? E.g. $ 222,22-, $249,94, $249,44 or $ 244,- instead of the expected 249,-? They could be a signal to the salesperson. But also to you. The easiest way to find this out is to search for a product you know is high margin like design or A brand products and compare the stated price to the other prices in the shop.
Use this in your advantage. And dare to be an independent customer. Another thing to adopt as a golden rule is not to buy anything you could have first researched via internet. Electrical devices and cars are highly researchable. Put some effort into this, and show the salesperson you are knowledgeable. They will be more cautious.
I really have to restrain myself from elaborating much more, but a last advice: always ask for a rebate when you deem it possible.
Good luck!
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