“Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator…. You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”
In this example, I was the lad. And the Senator was the salesman who showed up to sell me carpeting.
I’ve got this small room that I’m turning into a home office. Pretty basic stuff: some paint, a desk, and in this case, carpet. The current floor is comprised of crappy vinyl tiles that no matter how I try, will not look even remotely clean. The solution: carpet.
Having succumbed to the influence of advertising, I called Empire. You’ve seen the commercials, everyone has. 800-288-5300 … EmmmPppiiiiire. Anyway … sure enough they’re perfectly polite and a sales representative will be at my house between 9 and 11 today.
Mark shows up – he’s in a rush. Today’s his birthday, and he wants to measure my room, show me samples, and write the deal. Personally, if my birthday fell on a SATURDAY, I’d definitely take the day off, but maybe the man is dedicated to his trade. Or perhaps it’s the end of the month and he hasn’t met his quota yet.
Mark measures my “dumpy little room” (seriously, that’s what he called it!), asked me if I planned to “move the rest of the junk out” (one bookcase and a lamp) prior to installing the carpet, and he asks me if I had a budget in mind.
Apparently my budget was WAY below what he had in mind. Shocker!
I told him that I got a few quotes already, and they ranged form $350 – $500 for a certain quality of carpet and installation within 3 days. He told me that there was NO way he could do the job for less than $400. And if I agreed RIGHT NOW, he’d have people in here and installing on Monday.
As an aside, this guy was LOUD. The room shook when he spoke. Not in the “powerful, commanding, hot guy” type of way. This was the (sorry to some) pushy-New-Yorker-with-an-agenda style of communication. As a salesman, your first impression shouldn’t be one of aggravation. But this guy seemed put out to be in my living room this morning.
I asked him to write up the quote, so I could compare it against the others I’d been given. Even though I couldn’t stand the guy (seriously, I wanted him OUT of my house…), a deal is a deal. If what he was offering was better than the others, I’d go with him.
No chance. Either I agree on the spot or the deal’s off.
Finally, annoyed enough, I showed him to the door.
He calls me 20 minutes later. I think I can do it for $300. I’m only 10 minutes away. Should I come back so we can fill out the paperwork?
Nope. Sorry. Not a chance.
Lesson here: If he were a nice enough guy, I’d have done the deal. He wasn’t. I’d rather pay a bit more money, but not loathe the experience. I’ve made a personal policy to be the good guy, to help out other good guys, and basically build a little good guy network.
It hasn’t let me down yet. Sorry Mark…
