Image Credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/881612
The other day, we got had a knock on the door. My daughter ran to answer the door because our neighbor was scheduled to come over for a playdate in about 30 minutes. Talk about disappointment.
My daughter was disappointed to see a door-to-door salesman and not her friend.
I was disappointed because we actually answered the door. Yes, I am bad. I usually just avoid the knock if I know it is a salesperson. Why?
- Most salespeople are pushy.
- Most door-to-door sales items are overpriced.
- I work part-time during the summers.
- We are knee-deep in a costly home renovation project.
- Therefore, we have $0 extra dollars to spend.
I made it known right from the start that we were on a tight budget and couldn’t buy what he was selling. But, he still wanted to provide the sales pitch. We must have looked like someone who could have been converted. Either that or they still get some sort of credit for doing the sales pitch.
Here are my gripes about the experience:
The guy was very nice. Aside from the last couple of minutes, he was VERY friendly, positive, and overall had a happy-go-lucky attitude. From what I gathered, he was a college student. At first, I almost felt bad for saying no. Haha I think they rely on that in a lot of cases. I knew he was walking, I knew it was a HOT day, and I knew that he was just doing his job.
It started off sounding like they were from the local school district. I got the “We are working with local educators to ensure…” When I outright asked if he was with the school district, I didn’t get a straight answer. He flashed his id badge real quick. When I asked whom he was with, he actually took off his id badge and handed it to me. It stated he worked as a Southwestern Company sales agent. I didn’t like the fact it started out with an implication they were associated with the school district.
“You know Kristen, your next door neighbor with the two twins. Monica from down the street. Oh, and Amber around the corner; I’ve got to come back to catch-up with her later.” These are neighbors that I actually know. I also know they didn’t buy any books. I also know they didn’t say “go checkout this house; she has kids.” It was likely the kid’s toys in the yard that gave it away. Something along the lines of “they value their kid’s education,” threw me for a loop. It was almost implying that I didn’t.
I was handed a book to leaf through, so I looked at two pages. As I said before, we are on a TIGHT budget. I make our own worksheets during the summer, we visit the library each week, we do Scholastic Book programs, and so forth. I do not need to purchase a big educational book set, especially when it costs hundreds of dollars. When I stated, “it does look like a good book, but we cannot afford it.” I got the “Yeah, I am sure it looks like a good book, the whole two pages you looked at.” At this point in time, I wanted to throw the book in the yard.
Once again, I explained that we didn’t have the money to spend even regardless of how great the books/programs where. “Thank you though for stopping by.” The final turnoff, was the asking me for information which of my neighbors had kids. I am mindful of the fact your job is to do sales pitches. I listened to that pitch. Your job also includes knocking on doors – so go do it! That is what I wanted to scream, but I didn’t. I just said “we just moved here, so I’m not familiar with all the neighbors yet.” Luckily, I was able to cut my daughter off before she says “Madison, who is coming over for a playdate, lives right across the street.”
