Sales Techniques 101

On one of our tours we were taken to an old school that had been converted into a place where they train young girls from the nearby village to weave carpets.  

We watched this young lady weaving with silk and she even let me have a little go.  She could do it at a million miles an hour.  I was a little slower, desperate not to stuff it up for her as she was in the middle of a very intricate pattern.  

A gentleman led us into a showroom where he performed this “dance” of carpets.  

He had 4 other men who would listen to his spiel before waiting for his signal to fling them open.  One after the other carpets were being flung and spun onto the floor in front of us. 

After this performance, a creepy Koshie (Australian TV presenter for those who don’t know) lookalike came and sat down with us.  He didn’t introduce himself and we didn’t know who he was, but after the show he jumped up and started the hard sell.  We were talking amongst ourselves saying which ones we liked, and he joined in telling us that we were in the time of our lives when we should be investing in something...... like a Turkish carpet!  He went on and on and then asked Lu, “What is stopping you from buying this carpet?”  She said, “I didn’t want it, Shellenski said she liked it.”  And then it began..... “Can you see it in your house?”, “What size would you like?”, “Which colours do you want?”..... “What is there to think about?” So I said, “Well, I don’t want a carpet, does that help you?”  “But we can deliver it to your door.”  At which point we told our guide we were ready to leave. 

Next stop, a leather fashion house.  We were lead into a completely set up fashion cat walk room.  We were the only ones in there which made it a little bit awkward when the models strutted down the runway and made eye contact with us all...... which maybe lingered on a little long.  

Half way through the show they pulled Madds and Rob up on the stage and dressed them in leather jackets and brought them out to model for us. 

They were naturals!  Then naturally, we were taken into the next room, the shop..... the difference with this hard sell is that the man just said, “Have a look around and let me know if I can help you.”  

So a leather jacket was purchased and a carpet was not!

Sales Techniques 101