Rant: Salesman who ignore your "No"

[WTMCassandra]

ETA: SalesmEn! I can't edit the title. Sigh.

 

We had a man come knock on our door yesterday afternoon while I was indisposed, and thank heaven, my children did what they have been taught to do and did NOT answer the door. I mentioned it to my DH last night that some stranger had come around.

 

Well, lo and behold, the man was back again this morning! Fortunately, my DH was still here (about to leave for work) so he answered the door. The man was obviously not from the U.S. and was very hard to understand. My DH finally figured out that he was selling some sort of educational materials (maybe Southwestern books?) and told him No. Three. Times. And then basically had to shut the door in his face. I was glad my DH was there to deal with it.

 

While we're obviously annoyed at the salesman, I'm more annoyed at sales companies who deliberately teach people to ignore the customer's No!

 

I mean, that's a basic thing I'm always emphasizing with my children, "Listen to the other person's No." I'm really fed up at people who are "required" to be rude to do their job "right.":tongue_smilie:

 

Grrrr.

[Julie in Austin]

I hear you.

 

We had a hail storm here a few months ago and had roofers DAILY knocking on our door, even after we had signs from another roofing company in the lawn!

 

(We finally put up a sign on the front door that says IF YOU ARE A ROOFER AND YOU KNOCK ON THIS DOOR, WE WILL RELEASE THE HOUNDS with a picture of Mr. Burns under it. It has worked very well. ;))

[WTMCassandra]

(We finally put up a sign on the front door that says IF YOU ARE A ROOFER AND YOU KNOCK ON THIS DOOR, WE WILL RELEASE THE HOUNDS with a picture of Mr. Burns under it. It has worked very well. ;))

 

:lol:

 

Perhaps I should put a sign up saying, "If you are a salesman and knock on this door, we will release the hounds!"

 

The problem is that I don't have any.

 

However, there are lots of hunting dogs in my neighborhood, so it would be fairly believable.

[Nestof3]

We have a "No Solicitations" sign on our door. It seems everyone assumes the sign applies to all of those OTHER salespeople -- not them. So, when a stranger shows up and starts in, I ask if they are selling something. Then I glance over at the sign. ugh

[OHGrandma]

Hehe, we had a call last night asking for us to complete a survey related to our farm operation. It was at 8:45p.m. and I was trying to throw together a late supper. When she persisted after my 2nd "I don't have time" I said, "Look, I just told my grandson I was up before 6 to go to work. When I got home I threw in a load of laundry and went outside to work with his cattle and weed the garden. Right now I'm fixing supper, cleaning the kitchen, have a load of laundry in the dryer and another in the washer. I've got another 3 hours of work to do before I can go to bed to get ready to start this all over again at 6 tomorrow morning. (all said with voice rising) Now do you really want to persist and get me really bothered??!" I could hear the smile in her voice as she said, "No, that's all right, thank you for your time." I thanked her & said goodbye. I don't think they'll be calling again. :lol:

[Dirtroad]

It is the old "Want Fries with That?" mentality... or alwasy ask so many times b/e statistics say the answer will change.... junk like that rule sales.

 

I would not doubt that business is getting desperate for many of them & they are more "desperate" in their sales pitches.

 

I don't go to the door.... but we live in a secluded area. I couldn't imagine living in town or a subdivision. I know it must be a burden!

 

I have the same issue with phone people. How loud should I scream NO before you leave me alone???:001_huh:

[WTMCassandra]

We have a "No Solicitations" sign on our door. It seems everyone assumes the sign applies to all of those OTHER salespeople -- not them. So, when a stranger shows up and starts in, I ask if they are selling something. Then I glance over at the sign. ugh

 

Or, they don't know what "solicitations" means anymore. People don't often have stellar vocabularies these days.

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

We have a "No Solicitations" sign on our door. It seems everyone assumes the sign applies to all of those OTHER salespeople -- not them. So, when a stranger shows up and starts in, I ask if they are selling something. Then I glance over at the sign. ugh

 

LOL. This is exactly what I do. I have the sign (Printed on cardstock) taped up right next to my doorframe at eye level. I tend to lean against this side of the door and gently point to it, if neccessary.

 

K

[melissel]

My DH was an insurance salesman, and yes, that is not a politeness issue, it's a sales tactic. You'd be surprised at how many nos turn into maybes that turn into yeses. It's all part of the sales approach...not that that makes it anymore palatable! But these guys are just doing their job, and they have sales managers looking over their shoulders at their numbers, as well as bills to pay just like the rest of us. I imagine the sales profession is harder than ever these days, and it's a fallback job for many, many unemployed folks. They can definitely be annoying, though.

[melissel]

I hear you.

 

We had a hail storm here a few months ago and had roofers DAILY knocking on our door, even after we had signs from another roofing company in the lawn!

 

(We finally put up a sign on the front door that says IF YOU ARE A ROOFER AND YOU KNOCK ON THIS DOOR, WE WILL RELEASE THE HOUNDS with a picture of Mr. Burns under it. It has worked very well. ;))

 

:lol::lol::lol: I love it!!! It almost makes me wish we had more door-to-door people. All we see are the occasional Jehovah's Witnesses and college kids from NJPIRG.

[WTMCassandra]

My DH was an insurance salesman, and yes, that is not a politeness issue, it's a sales tactic. You'd be surprised at how many nos turn into maybes that turn into yeses. It's all part of the sales approach...not that that makes it anymore palatable! But these guys are just doing their job . . .

 

See, this is the core of my rant. That ignoring someone's No is a *required* sales approach.

 

Let's take this idea and put it in another context. When a man pressures a woman for s*x, a no can turn into a maybe and then into a yes. But if he ignores her No, he is still putting himself at risk for r*pe charges! The law says he cannot ignore a woman's No.

 

Yet in the sales field it is *required* to ignore a No. I just think there is something fundamentally *wrong* with this.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I've been known to say (with deep sympathy) "Oh, I'm so sorry." The sales person looks perplexed, "Sorry? For what?" Me- "I'm so sorry that you have a hearing problem - I said, "no." Exit stage left with the door closing firmly.

 

(Then I have guilt for the next hour for having been "rude" to a sales person!)

[WTMCassandra]

I've been known to say (with deep sympathy) "Oh, I'm so sorry." The sales person looks perplexed, "Sorry? For what?" Me- "I'm so sorry that you have a hearing problem - I said, "no." Exit stage left with the door closing firmly.

 

 

:lol::lol::lol:

 

I really like that approach!

[melissel]

See, this is the core of my rant. That ignoring someone's No is a *required* sales approach.

 

Let's take this idea and put it in another context. When a man pressures a woman for s*x, a no can turn into a maybe and then into a yes. But if he ignores her No, he is still putting himself at risk for r*pe charges! The law says he cannot ignore a woman's No.

 

Yet in the sales field it is *required* to ignore a No. I just think there is something fundamentally *wrong* with this.

 

I know. I hear you. The problem is that for a certain percentage of customers, it works. A persistent little old lady talked herself into my house and talked me out of $35 as a donation to a water conservation initiative a few years ago. I initially said no, I wasn't interested, several times. DH made insurance sales off of "doorknocks" where people initially said no thanks. It's just the way the business is. That said, I have gently and politely closed the door on salespeople in the past :tongue_smilie:

[kiana]

I've been known to say (with deep sympathy) "Oh, I'm so sorry." The sales person looks perplexed, "Sorry? For what?" Me- "I'm so sorry that you have a hearing problem - I said, "no." Exit stage left with the door closing firmly.

 

(Then I have guilt for the next hour for having been "rude" to a sales person!)

 

I like this -- maybe I'll start using it. Usually I just say "No, sorry, I'm not interested. Have a nice day!" and then shut the door/hang up the phone. The "Have a nice day" alleviates my feelings that I've been rude by shutting the door ;)

[WTMCassandra]

The problem is that for a certain percentage of customers, it works. . . It's just the way the business is. . .

 

I still think some things are wrong despite pragmatism. I'm not taking issue with you or your DH's previous job, but I'm rebelling against just being OK with it because it works or that's the way it is.

[ladydusk]

I usually say something about it being against our family policy to buy from any company selling door to door. And they always ring the bell during nap time. That just makes me mad.

[OHGrandma]

How to handle a phone telemarketer:

 

 

deleted, I just noticed some really inappropriate links to the the side of the website I linked.

[FriedClams]

I'm getting inspired to make a sign for my house, "Visitors accepted by appointment only. Thank you so much." Think they'd get it?

[Melinda TX]

Have you ever seen the sign that says

"We shoot every third solicitor. The second one just left."

 

That always cracks me up.;)

[stripe]

I once had a shoe salesman who seemed to think he knew more than I did about the sort of shoe I wanted.

 

But worst was when, as a teenager, I was screamed at by a door-to-door solicitor for some kind of food bank for the homeless, when I declined to donate, along the lines of, "You don't even have a QUARTER?!" I think I'm still traumatized by the memory.

 

I agree with you -- high pressure sales are really awful.

[kiana]

I once had a shoe salesman who seemed to think he knew more than I did about the sort of shoe I wanted.

 

But worst was when, as a teenager, I was screamed at by a door-to-door solicitor for some kind of food bank for the homeless, when I declined to donate, along the lines of, "You don't even have a QUARTER?!" I think I'm still traumatized by the memory.

 

I agree with you -- high pressure sales are really awful.

 

 

That bugs me no end, too. Yes, I have a quarter -- but I donate my charitable giving to charities I've personally investigated, and I haven't investigated yours.

[WTMCassandra]

I'm getting inspired to make a sign for my house, "Visitors accepted by appointment only. Thank you so much." Think they'd get it?

 

Nice try, but no, I don't think they would. How about a simple No Trespassing sign?

[stripe]

That bugs me no end, too. Yes, I have a quarter -- but I donate my charitable giving to charities I've personally investigated, and I haven't investigated yours.

Indeed. And if an organization is about helping others and wants voluntary donations, I don't think adult men scaring teenaged girls in order to force them to donate is very charitable. Too bad I didn't report him.

 

Not to mention, there have been American scandals involving supposed charities to support kids' activities that turned out to be rather like farming out children to beg for their adult pimp-like sponsor common in other parts of the world, so one cannot believe just anyone.

[MamaT]

We live in a rural area, so we don't get door-to-door salesmen. We do get telemarketers on the phone ALL the time though.

 

My 12yo dd is the one who runs to the phone to answer it these days, and she has a warped sense of humor. When they ask to speak to an adult, she tells them things like, "My master is having his tea and will beat me if I disturb him." (With a British accent) Or (with fake tears), "My parents recently passed away . . ."

 

We are on a national do-not-call list, but it hasn't seemed to help at all.

[Lawana]

IMO if a salesperson ignores basic social etiquette as part of his/her job, that relieves me of strictly complying with etiquette. Not that I'm nasty, but closing the door or hanging up after the second "no" is not the same as closing the door or hanging up on someone not trying to sell you something.

[babysparkler]

We have a "No Solicitations" sign on our door. It seems everyone assumes the sign applies to all of those OTHER salespeople -- not them. So, when a stranger shows up and starts in, I ask if they are selling something. Then I glance over at the sign. ugh

 

We have one too. It has helped some, but I do have to point out the sign to some salespersons. Mostly, though, they start off by saying "I'm not selling anything, I am just letting all of the neighborhood know about..."

[Heather in AL]

Or, they don't know what "solicitations" means anymore. People don't often have stellar vocabularies these days.

 

I think that's it exactly. At our other house, we put up a "no soliciting" sign JUST under the doorbell. When we still got the salesmen, I'd point to the sign and say "sorry, we have a no soliciting sign" and close the door. It was obvious from the looks on their faces that NONE of them knew what 'soliciting' meant. After about a month, I changed the sign to say "no salesmen! Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts are allowed." This sign worked, and we had no more knocking at the door. It was a sign I made myself on an index card...cut it....laminated it....drilled a hole in the wall under the doorbell....hung it on a nail. Sometimes, I'd see people walk up to the door, so I would watch...they would reach for the doorbell, freeze, then turn and walk away. :D

 

I still need to find a place to put one at this house. For the most part, the only soliciting we have here is a million kids hawking their cookie dough/wrapping paper and LOTS of religious solicitation. We do get the foreigners selling school books and magazines to pay for their college tuition. They are VERY pushy!

[AlmiraGulch]

The ones that bug me the most are the people ringing up your order at the department stores. The all get commission or bonuses or something if they get you to open a credit card and do NOT understand the word no! I don't use credit cards anymore and don't choose to open one, ever, no matter how good the deal.

 

The conversation usually goes something like this:

 

Clerk: Would you like to save 20% by opening up an Ann Taylor card today?

 

Me: No, thank you.

 

Clerk: Are you sure? I'll give you an extra 10%, so it will be a 30% savings today.

 

Me: No, thank you.

 

Clerk: Really? You aren't interested in saving money?

 

Me: NO. I prefer to spend ALL of my money, thank you very much.

 

Clerk: Oh.....umm...well, ok then.

 

Geez!

[Karenciavo]

We had a window and siding guy come by the other day. He tried tactic after tactic to get me to agree to a free estimate, his final attempt included trying to woo me by saying how I could get the money to help pay for my new siding from The Stimulus Package. :hat: He don't know me very well do he? :lol:

[Karenciavo]

Clerk: Are you sure? I'll give you an extra 10%, so it will be a 30% savings today.

 

Me: No, thank you.

 

Clerk: Really? You aren't interested in saving money?

 

Me: NO. I prefer to spend ALL of my money, thank you very much.

 

Clerk: Oh.....umm...well, ok then.

 

 

This is what I always say too. :lol:

[Pajama Mama]

I've had pushy "charities" on the phone. One guy was "shocked" that I wouldn't give to whatever it was. He just kept trying to talk me into sending money. I decided to get pushy back. I told him rather bluntly that we have a child with many medical problems. We regularly give to organizations that we have had personal contact with-Easter Seals, Make A Wish and ds's school. It's my decision to give to what we want-thank you very much. He got quiet after that and said goodbye.