Trying to sell

2 minutes read

We are planning to build a swimming pool in our garden we contacted three pool construction companies.  After three visits I asked my wife (who is a teacher) her opinion about the salesmen visited us.  Here is how she profiled them

  1. Standard.  He said nothing less, nothing more.  The salesman was answering all our questions almost like a robot. 
  2. Talkative.  Nice guy but talking too much to try to convince us
  3. Professional but lacking some finesse.

Then I asked her if all other things are equal from which salesperson, she would buy the pool.  Her answer was number three.

I agreed with her for the first one, but I wanted to know more about the difference she made between the second the third one.  Because as a sales professional, I found the second one (who was relatively younger) as a hardworking and kind salesperson.  While the third one’s attitude was kind of “ If you want a swimming pool I can provide it with high-quality work.  I have been in this business for more than 30 years and have nothing to prove”.  It was almost rude.

But according to my wife, although the third one could appear rude, he was real.  In comparison, the second one was pushy.  When I said that at least the second one was kind and was trying hard, suddenly she said, “yes, that is exactly the problem with him.  He is trying to sell, while the other one makes no additional effort to sell”.  

Her observation was very accurate.  A salesperson trying to sell will appear pushy and not authentic.  On the other hand, the third one is a real professional and very confident about his work.  He practically did nothing to promote his work.  He showed us some other pools he did and did not give us any recommendations unless we asked.  His only focus was on answering our questions.  Despite his language, he was more real than the others.  In short, he was doing nothing to sell.

This experience showed me the difference between  “trying to sell” and facilitating the buying.  In conclusion, we have chosen the third company because he was not selling, we were buying.