About 8:00, somebody knocked on the door. John got up to answer it, and some young girl asked him about having a free carpet cleaning done. Not thinking, he said "sure." It was a Kirby vacuum salesman. They just left about 15 minutes ago. Without making a sale.
I felt bad for the guy because he really did a good job, but the timing just isn't right for us to put out that kind of money, even though his boss came off the price by 2/3s. Yes, you are reading that correctly--by TWO-THIRDS! Go price a Kirby if you want to find out how much it was. It's amazing to me that salesmen can come down that much.
While the guy was cleaning out the shampooer in the bathroom, John looked at me and said, "At least we didn't have to feed him spaghetti." I'd just been thinking the same thing.
We'd been living here about a year, maybe two, when somebody called about giving us an estimate on having new windows put in. John set up the appointment on the same day that our minister was going to be coming over for a visit. However, John David wasn't coming over until about 6:30 or 7, and the window guy was supposed to be here around 4. No biggie. We figured he'd come do what he had to do and be gone by 5, 5:30. I had a big pot of spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove. 5:00 came and went as did 5:30. I finally went ahead and fixed the noodles and bread for us to eat. He was still here, so we invited him to have dinner with us. And he accepted. Talk about awkward! And trusting on his part. Who's to say I wasn't some crazy woman who would've put something in his spaghetti?
When John David got here, the window guy was STILL here trying to convince us that we needed to replace our windows. Of course, he had to call his boss. Twice. And of course, the price was dropped from almost $30,000 to just over $10,000. And we didn't buy the windows either.
I know that sales is a hard job. It isn't a job I'd care to have. Ever. John worked in sales for 10 years, and nothing made him more frustrated than to work his tail off trying to make a sale only to have the group tell him they were going with the competition. If I had to guess, this guy probably works for commission only, or if he does get a salary, it's probably minimal. He kept saying he only needs one more point to win a trip to Sandestin. I hope he gets his point!
Wow...almost 11:00. I have GOT to hit the hay. 5:30 will be here much sooner than I'd like. I hope you all have a GREAT Friday eve. I'll probably post about Bama's signing class tomorrow. That was my intention tonight, but obviously it didn't happen.
♥
3 comments:
I've been in real estate for 3.5 years, and it has been so hard on me that I am thinking it's time to do something else. It's killing me, and it certainly isn't worth it.
But if there's one thing I can't stand, it's dealing with salespeople who don't understand the word "no" or play the big guilt trip on you. Ick.
Would it help any if I said, "Bless your heart." That is supposed to be the southern cure all for most anything. Do you remember the Bible salesman that came to our house one Saturday when we were cooking out? He sat down and ate with us and as I remember just about cleaned up whatever was there. I think he was a college kid and probably hadn't had a home cooked meal in who knows when, even if it was only hamburgers.
It is true they need to make a living, but be a little more in tune with the people you are trying to sell.
awwww how nice of you to invite him to dinner...
sales is such a hard job...
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