“I just had hernia surgery and I’m just trying to pay some bills.” That is what pushed me over the edge and made me pull out my wallet. First let me give you the backstory on this memorial sales experience. I was at the Canfield fair when my brother in law pointed at me and told this man I was the guy he was looking for. The man came up to me and asked if I drove that dirty white truck parked over there. I should have just said no, but my naive self answered him with the truth and said yes. He then proceeded to tell me that he noticed that the truck had a lot of bugs smashed on the grill and tar marks behind the wheels and that he had just the product to clean it. I really didn’t want to talk to him, but he insisted that after a quick demonstration I would want what he was selling. We walked over to the truck and he pulled out this mystery spray bottle and began to apply this clear liquid to my grill and with one wipe the bugs were gone. Now, somewhat intrigued I asked a few questions about this mystery product. He of course went into his lengthy speech of how it’s environmentally friendly and made from natural ingredients, and just to prove his point he even drank some. By now I was ready to part ways with this salesman and so I started to inch away. He picked up on this and went into his “this week only pricing” and how good of a deal this was. One bottle that normally cost $40 was now only $20. I was still not interested and was trying to walk away, but he wasn’t having that. He tried another offer and another, but I still wasn’t buying. Finally, he pulled out his ace in the hole if you will. He pulled up his shirt and said he just had hernia surgery and needs to make some sales so he can pay his bills. I of course just wanted to get out of there so I guess you can say he won, and I now have a lifetime supply of this cleaning product in unlabeled white jugs. On the plus side it actually does a pretty good job at removing tar marks and bugs.
BoweryJE22
I’ve heard this story all too often, and have even had experience with it myself. The combination of annoyance and empathy just take over and cause you to cave. It’s unfortunate, but it is often a successful sales tactic. Great story!
Ahhhh I hated reading this because I totally know that feeling of, “I’m for sure being emotionally manipulated right now.” It is so frustrating when salespeople make your buying experience all about them, and guilt trip you into buying their product or service, and you feel like you have some moral obligation to appease them and buy whatever they are trying to sell you. It is totally unethical to manipulate people like that and so annoying!