When “Sales” Is a Dirty Word

You've got to try to encourage someone to buy your product and service — all without being too pushy, desperate, or annoying.

When you’re selling, you’re walking a fine line.

Recently, I went to Las Vegas and had an odd experience; yet it was one I'd seen before. I’m used to the sales staff at kiosks trying to rope you in to listen to their demonstration on the latest and greatest item they have for sale. I've listened to many a salesperson tell me all the benefits and the features of their product.

But, usually, unless I can actively see a product in action and actually see the benefits of it, I’m generally not interested in even listening to their speeches.

However, as we were walking through the Grand Canal Shoppes of The Venetian and The Palazzo in Las Vegas, there was a salesperson who roped my sister into having her eyes done with his special cream. This cream was supposed to remove your wrinkles and lines without using Botox and improve the bags under your eyes.

The product was called "The Lionesse," and the person doing the demonstration pulled me in to be the judge of whether or not it was working. He put the application on one eye and held out the mirror to show my sister. He then pulled up a chair for me to sit down next to her and started to put the product on my eye as well.

I'm not going to lie… I was almost sold when I looked at my eyes because there was, in fact, a dramatic reduction in the lines around the eye that had the cream on it. I'm not easily sold on products, nor do I usually buy them, but I really did notice a big difference between my two eyes!

So, I considered the product and actually listened to him. He told us he could give us a special price and asked us where we were from. When he found out we were from Canada, he said he would give us even more of a discount because of the exchange rate.

Suffice it to say, my sister did not have the budget for this cream because it turned out to be $500. He justified the cost saying that it was a two-step application and reiterated that he would give us a discount since we were from Canada.

He then said these two bottles could last us two years, which I believed, based on the drop he had on his hand and the big bottle that he was selling. I fully expected the product to last that long. If it was going to produce the results I saw, I would seriously consider it.

I never would have imagined that I would consider $250 cream for my face, but this product was doing its job. I literally could not believe how my eye not only wasn't looking as saggy as usual, but the fine lines and crow's feet were kind of reduced as well. My eye looked livelier, and I didn't look as tired.

As I talked to the salesman, my sister left with her friend who was standing there. The other two girlfriends we were traveling with showed up because they were wondering what was taking us so long. I was talking to the gentleman, who told me that if I signed up right then, he'd throw in free bars of soap.

I told him I just wanted to take a few moments to think about it.

He immediately said that was no problem, but then he wanted to have my name to put on file, so he asked for my ID. I gave it to him. Then he wanted a card to put on file. I told him I wasn't 100% sure, and I needed time to consider such a large purchase. $250 is not chump change!

As I was having this discussion with him, my friend came up and told me that we were late for our appointment at the spa and we needed to go NOW. The salesman interjected and started telling my friend she was rude, and she shouldn't rush me. I told him not to worry, that I still needed time to consider it, and I let my friend start to pull me away.

He then started getting upset, and that's when things got weird.

All of a sudden, the sale of a product that was basically selling itself was being sabotaged by the gentleman looking out for his commission. Now, I do understand that this guy was working on commission, and we're all out to make a buck. But something that could have resulted in a sale started to turn nasty.

As I walked away, I turned back and told him, looking him straight in the eye, "No worries. I'm going to come back," to which he replied, slamming down on his cash register, "Don't come back."

Um, what?!

Dude, you lost me now! Not only did you lose me, but you made me realize that no matter how great the product was, there was no way I was going to buy it now.

Had he just told me to take my time and think about whether I wanted to buy the eye cream, it would have been fine. But he really felt that if he didn't sell me right then and there that he wasn't going to get the sale. He didn't pick up on my cues very well as to how great the product was. He didn't even give me the chance to absorb anything.

Pushing too much is sales will turn customers off. Period.

After I came home, I did a little bit of research on Lionesse and found out that the product is sold at different locations around the country, and they all use the same type of tactics. There were a lot of good reviews, but there were plenty of bad ones, too. Some of the reviews talked about how the product that got shipped to their house didn't even do what the salesman said it would do!

Deep down inside, though, I still wanted to go back to that gentleman and tell him that if he hadn’t pitched a fit and gotten all shady near the end, I probably WOULD have gone back, and he would have made a sale. But, instead, he lost a sale AND got himself a bad review.

And that is exactly the kind of behavior that makes most of us think of sales as a dirty word.

Walking the sales balance is simple - keep your eyes on the customer.

How do you deal with sales? Do you tend to shy away when someone questions your price? Do you have any red flags in your process from a consumer or delivery standpoint? Have you ever wondered how others come up with their prices?