At the beginning of this semester, I had a friend who said he was taking a course I had previously taken, and was looking to buy my book that I had used for the course. I have no need for the book anymore and my friend needs the book. This is great, I thought, I can sell my book and gain shelf space in the process. He had a need and I had the means to meet those needs and could get something in return. My friend chose the price, paid the twenty dollars and I gave him the book. Everything was good. That is until a week later when my friend came to me asking to return the book. His professor was requiring the students to buy the online book and the “Learn Smarts” that went with the book. Before my friend asked to return the book and get his money back I was happy. I had twenty dollars that I did not have before and no longer had a book I would have ever used again. Needless to say, when my friend asked to return the book, I was disappointed. I reluctantly gave my friend his money back and put this deplorable book back on my shelf. My friends need was no longer something I could meet and he was asking me to be fair and accept a return on his purchase. I then began to think, what’s more important, those twenty dollars, or helping a friend out and taking back the book?
In this case it was a no brainer. Help the friend out! But what if this was not a friend but rather someone I had never known before? Would I have allowed him to return the book? Would I have made up an excuse and told him I already spent the money? These are questions I probably could only answer if the scenario presented itself, but I would hope that I would be willing to accept the book back in all cases. I think that it was and is my job as the salesman not to have a greedy mindset but rather a helpful mindset. In all sales situations I think it is important that we treat our clients as friends, not as dollar signs. We should put the interests of our clients ahead of our own personal monetary gain.
BoweryJE22
Micah, your blog post was very well thought out and exhibits a prime “low-key” sales scenario. The questions you asked are similar to ones which may pass through all of our heads, KUDOS on being able to distinguish and notice them.
I agree with you Micah. Salespeople should always put the needs of the customers above the needs of themselves. If the salesperson fails to do this, they will end up losing prime customers that could eventually bring them profits in the future. As a salesperson if you provide a good customer experience, whether it be returning a book or keeping it, they will most likely come back for more products later.
Salespeople have a tendency to be perceived as only focused on their own gain. I think shifting this connotation is so critical to make a lot of sales! Allowing people to see that you are not a greedy salesperson is a great way to build rapport and relationships. Great post!
Yeah this is definitely a tough situation and I agree with what the people have said above about putting the customer first. You made a good comment about what if it wasn’t your friend? That would be hard to decide and has really made me think about what I would do. Excellent post!