Some salespeople are hesitant to bring up the “p” word. Others decline to inform customers of price at all.
Last summer, my parents were in the market for a new car. They knew exactly what they wanted when they drove 45 minutes to the Kia dealership. They did not want to test drive anything, but the saleswoman insisted. During the test drive, my dad repeatedly emphasized that his main concern was finding a red car of this model at the right price. When he explicitly asked her more than once if they had the car in red on the lot or what the price would be, she said they would discuss it back at the dealership.
Back at the dealership, she searched her computer for inventory. She found that the dealership did have precisely the car my parents wanted. However, she could not find the price. My parents grew more and more frustrated as she went to speak with her manager, who also proved incapable of determining the car’s price. My dad was fed up, so he gave her his phone number and asked her to call back when she found the car’s price.
The ordeal resulted in my parents losing an entire afternoon out of their busy lives. What makes this even worse is that the saleswoman never contacted my parents after the fact. No follow-up, price information, or even an apology for wasting their time.
In sales, it is bad enough when salespeople shy away from price. It is infinitely worse when a salesperson is actually unable to provide a price to customers who are ready to buy and who have stated their chief concern is price. Even though this situation was handled poorly, the saleswoman could have recovered it if she had simply called my parents back with a price.
It is important for salespeople to know at which point to discuss price, especially when it is the only thing some customers care about. In some cases, it is the difference between a sale and no sale.
BoweryJE22
Interesting post. Its unfortunate that your parents had to go through that experience. I wonder if that saleswoman was afraid that once she told your parents the price they would be unhappy or if she really was incapable of finding the price. Price is a touchy subject, but a good salesperson will know how to introduce price in a the best manner.
Another interesting part of this story is that the woman did not hop on the chance to make a quick sale. She did not even have to search for your parents’ true motive or desire.
This is such a weird scenario…if the salesperson actually listened she would’ve had one of the easiest sales in that month. Just goes to show how important listening to your customer is in a sales environment.
This sounds like an incredibly frustrating experience. I can’t believe they didn’t have any form of follow up especially considering your parents were genuine customers looking to buy, they definitely missed out on a potential sale and it sounds like future opportunities to sell to your family.