Dear people trying to make a buck,
I hear ya. I totally understand that you are trying to make a living, and I appreciate the fact that you are out there working instead of sitting at home and letting the government (which in turn means me) take care of you. This is why I open the door to you when you knock.
But.
If I politely say “No, thank you, I’m not interested,” YOU SHOULD LEAVE. While my kids are standing in the doorway in their underwear, while my dog is barking at you and trying to escape, I cannot process a single word that you are saying. Not a single word.
A few months ago a nice man from a local investment firm came by and introduced himself. He took our names AND THEN HE LEFT. That was all. He didn’t try to sell us anything; he was just kind in his introduction and then left. Every once in a while he will send us something in the mail and that is it. All you door-to-door salesman, that is the way to do business, because I am neither annoyed nor angry with him.
To you magazine salesman: don’t you know your employers are scamming you? Maybe you’re too young to know that ten years ago there were all these stories on 60 Minutes and 20/20 about shrewd and deceitful bosses who forced their underlings to work long hours selling magazines, so let me clue you in: any magazine that I order I will not receive, and you are never going to Bermuda through this promotion. You need to go find a job where your boss will actually pay you.
To you home siding people: I get there is a $1500 tax credit. So help me, I get it. But I am not going to buy anything from you, I am not going to set up an appointment, while my kids are in their underwear for the world to see and my dog is trying to bite you. So give me your information and then leave. And do not call me three times a day for the next month after I have taken pity on you and given you my phone number. American Exteriors, I’m talking to you. Calling me, never leaving a message, and selling my number to other telemarketers is not nice. We won’t be doing business.
And that is all.
Sincerely,
Erin
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
AGREED!! I have gotten pretty good at politely saying no the first time and then making it perfectly clear the second.
The thing is, even anger is a sales tactic. It doesn’t make sense, but on some people it does work. Complain all you want, but there are plenty of weak-minded people in the world that these sales tactics work on, so the salesmen are going to keep doing it.
I deal with salesmen a LOT in my line of work, and I’ve learned to cut them off in their speech and tell them I’m not interested. If they try to continue, I tell them again and then hang up the phone/shut the door/get up and leave, even if they are in mid-sentence.
Amen!
Two words guaranteed to stop this cold: “We Rent.”
You will not be able to hang up the phone before the salesperson. Guaranteed.
If someone is standing behind the salesperson they will be seriously hit when they are run over in his/her haste to get to your neighbor’s front door. Guaranteed.