Buyer Beware:
Sales Person

You can believe the salesperson about as much as you can believe everything you read in the papers. On that basis you should find a way of double-checking all the important facts and information given to you that relate to your personal reasons for buying or not buying.

Think about this if you are being given the 'spiel'.

It is quite normal in our industry for the salesperson to be on no basic salary, no holiday pay, no statutory sick pay, no holiday pay, no car or telephone expenses and no retainer. Income is solely derived from earning 10% commission of everything sold, on a self-employed basis: a sort of 'no win - no fee' incentive to make sales.

On sales made from enquiries generated by the salesperson him/herself, such as from door-knocking, etc., the commission paid could easily be 17.5% of what you spend, on the same basis as above. 
Worse still, the salesperson could be paid just 2% commission on a sale made at what the company wants as its 'correct' (also known as 'base') price, and then up to 60% sales commission of any overpricing achieved on any orders won. For example, YOU PAY AN EXTRA £500 AND THE SALESPERSON GETS £300 OF WHAT YOU WERE OVERCHARGED!

Unfortunately some people do get ripped off by the initial overpriced quote, but even more get taken in by these fake discounts, which are all part of the scam.

LITTLE WONDER THAT THE PRICE YOU ARE INITIALLY QUOTED STARTS OFF LUDICROUSLY HIGH, AND THEN SEVERAL FAKE DISCOUNTS ARE PROFFERED, ALL IN AN ATTEMPT NOT ONLY TO SELL TO YOU BUT, MORE IMPORTANTLY, TO SELL TO YOU AT THE MAXIMUM OVER-THE-ODDS PRICE. 

I repeat: £500 on top of a decent-sized order could put an extra £300 in the salesperson’s pocket. So, ‘CAN I BELIEVE THE SALESPERSON?’, you ask. WELL,
IT DOES BEG THE QUESTION, DOESN'T IT?

In my opinion, this sort of salesperson should be shown the door and as fast as possible, but do expect some protest and sometimes even a show of aggression, so you will need to be strong in this situation.

Having said that ...
There is a lot of integrity in our industry and a great number of honest people. There are probably also a few out-and-out crooks. And then there are the others in between. As in all walks of life, it is easy for the naïve to be ripped off. So here is a little insight into what the salesperson might be thinking as he is talking to you, especially when he is answering your questions and reassuring you about any doubts you may have.

Now put yourself in the shoes of the salesperson for a moment.

If from the 'leads' you are given by your employer you sell lots and lots and lots you will earn loads of commission, have no worries about paying your mortgage, will be able to afford nice things for the home and yourself, your wife and family. You will own a nice car(s) and have happy holidays and your boss will think well of you.

Your job is make sales, i.e. to sell, and that is your sole function. 
Now read the previous line once again!

Remember, you are the salesperson and imagine yourself in this scenario. You are sitting in front of your prospective customer. Let's say you have given them your carefully prepared presentation. Your estimate for the job is £3500 and you hope you have given good enough answers to all their questions to make the sale, but you are not sure that it's in the bag. It crosses your mind that your commission after VAT on the sale would be 10%, let’s say £300. How hard do you try to convince them to sign up with you, and how do you feel? Just knowing that their deposit cheque will have your £300 in it, you feel motivated to sell, that's how you feel!

It is important to try to tell 'where the salesperson is coming from' as it could give you an insight into the real motivation behind what they say and how they say it and the validity of their opinions, even if they do not blatantly lie. Ask yourself: what is likely to be the difference in quality of advice between:

The salesperson has a very big stake in telling you basically what you want to hear in the interests of parting you from your money - that is his job! Just some of the pressure commonly included in the patter for the gullible is the well-worn ‘massive xx% discount - you must order now, offer ends …’, and a variation on the same old 'special offer' theme that then starts all over again the very next week. 

Here are just a few of the very many ploys used to make you think that you are being offered a really good, one-off, super-duper, never-to-be-repeated, incredible special deal, ‘so you really must sign up now, you cannot afford to lose this offer’:

All a load of codswallop, but there are some people who still fall for it!

My scam-exam test tells you far more about any individual estimate than my ‘buyer beware’ pages ever can because I have had to generalise very much on my website. Once you have put your estimate through the free test and had your results, you can then get an individual full five-page written report for a modest cost, and this should complete ALL the information you will need to be really clued in before you make any important decisions.

New: Beat the double-glazing salesman at his own game - do the FREE SCAM EXAM estimate test.

I have recently heard of canvassers 'door-knocking' for a well-known national company and touting the story that they NEED people’s old aluminium windows for a charity. With a stunt like that I think it is a pity they did not go out of business after the exposé on a recent television programme. I won't mention any names, but think it a disgusting ploy to make use of the unfortunates and to play on sympathy in this way, just to get ‘another bum on another seat’, as they say in the theatre business.

One last thing: it is neither professional nor appropriate for any salesperson to run down his competitors. Any salesperson with an ounce of integrity would never lower him/herself to this, but would rather sell his own products and services for their quality and merits. As for dodgy 'double-glazing salesman' selling fake merits and quality of their products see Regrind in new frames for the real facts and information about the use of recycled plastic in new windows and doors.

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