Last Friday I had an interesting visit by a
Kirby salesmen. If you ask my wife she would tell you that if there is one that I enjoy it is a good vacuum. Maybe it's my over-compulsive need to have a clean floor but I actually enjoy vacuuming. So when Mr. Kirby came by I welcomed him into my home, especially since he was offering a free carpet shampooing.
I had no idea how expensive these vacuums are. Apparently, these vacuums are the BMWs of the vacuum world with it's super cleaning power, life-time warranty, and $1800.00 price tag. Like I said, I appreciate a good vacuum but there is no way I'm paying $1800 for one.
(Especially when I can get a like new one on Ebay for $600-$800)Mr. Kirby then proceeded with his cookie-cutter demo and showed me that my vacuum is really crap compared to the Kirby by picking up dirt that I never knew existed in my carpets. Mid-way through the demo I was sold, but I wasn't $1800 sold. The salesman knew this and then started to apply the
hard sell. He tried to lower the price and do some trickery with no interest monthly payments but the price would never go below $1500. I even offered to give him $800 cash, but he wouldn't even consider that (because I assume he would lose his commission with that price).
Besides the price, the one thing that I could not understand was why the salesmen wasn't trying to establish a relationship with me as a customer. I asked him for his business card and any brochures about the product (which he had none). I told him that he could call me anytime in a week or drop by next weekend to talk to me again. He said would not be able to do that because he only gets credit for one visit and if he doesn't sell it to me today then we wouldn't get the full credit.
His product sold me but the salesmen in the end turned me off. Who knows, in a week, if he came back for a visit, I may have taken him up on the no-interest monthly payments offer but he will never know. I know companies like Kirby have research that shows that if a sale doesn't occur during the visit then the chance of the sale occurring after the initial visit is low. I understand that, but I don't understand how they expect people to be ok with a high price impulse purchase. If the salesmen would have had a little bit of patience and showed a little bit of care with a follow-up visit then he might have gotten a sale.
This week I'm starting to build the first product for
Koberlein Studios and I'm thinking about how I will sell it. I believe that there are two crucial ingredients to selling. First, you have to have a great product that either doesn't exist yet or is in some way better than the competition. Second, you should be willing to show that you want to have a relationship with the customer. The customer should trust that you are not just trying to make a quick buck off them and instead you are trying to build a relationship with them. Then they will not only feel good about their purchase but also come back to buy something else from you.
