J to me: “Why do you look stressed, mom?”
Me to J: “Well, there’s this client I’d really like to land, and I’m not sure how my pitch to them went.”
J to Me: “Just play hard to get, Mom. It works every time!”
(Maybe she should write a pop-business book with the “advice from a teenage girl” angle. She could call it: “Okay, So, Like, Who Moved My Lip Gloss, Right?!”)
13 Responses to “Counterintuitive business advice from a teenage girl”
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And, she’s absolutely correct about that – or so I was always told.
Like, Okay….Riiiiiiiiiight?
Makes me think of my daughter. Just gotta smile!
(Here from Instapundent)
I can’t tell the diff between a game and when a woman is really not interested any more, and nearly got into legal trouble because of it. If a woman acts like she’s not interested, I’m gone. (Don’t say “no” if you mean “Yes”. Does that sound familiar?)
If a salesman (or saleswoman) is not interested in my business, I’m gone.
I agree with Phillep. Life is too short to deal with people who play games. “No means no”, or so I’ve been told.
(Here from Instapundit)
@Phillep
I could not agree more!
And it seems that more and more people aren’t interested in my business; at least from the lack of response I get when I walk into their establishment. Which is strange given the business climate today…
I agree that customer service sucks.
Everything from those “cash” registers that don’t have a read out on the customer’s side of the counter, to gum chewing salesclerks (they’re not just teens either).
As for the girl’s specific advice, her view of life might cause her some misery later on. Right?
I would love to read thi spost but the BlogHer banner is covering most of it! ARGH!
I second the gripe about the cash registers that don’t have a customer side readout.
(Also here from Reynolds’ site)
Playing hard to get, that is the sort of game that I expect from people with an adolescent mentality. And whenever I encounter it I shut down and disengage, no matter the situation.
A real problem these days considering that there aren’t that many real adults left, or being raised for that matter. Good luck putting your daughters advice into operation.
I am totally put off by what I see of any salesperson or anyone making a pitch to me when I can tell they are using ‘sales techniques.’ The one your daughter described is particularly obvious, such as the ‘takeaway’ or the ‘you have to act now to get a special deal’ or the “No, I won’t come back; if you don’t sign the contract now, the deal’s off.” I made a large purchase recently (about $4000) where the salesman’s actions completely turned me off one company. After he played his little games, (he tried all 3 of the above) I wasn’t even interested in the quality of the product he had to sell.
I do agree that in personal or business relationships, you shouldn’t act desperate or cheapen yourself. If that’s what your daughter meant, that’s commendable. But ‘playing hard to get?!’ That just sounds like the bad parts of the 1950s to me.
“I have no pretension whatever to that kind of elegance which consists in tormenting a respectable man. I would rather be paid the compliment of being believed sincere.”
All – I think J was doing the 13-year-old advice equivalent of mixing metaphors. She’d heard this advice, and wasn’t quite sure what it meant or how it would apply in a biz relationship, but I thought it was cute that she tried to help me out by offering her words of wisdom
-kag
I immediately thought of the Steve Martin story about the painful shoes. After rejecting every shoe in the store, the woman asks the salesman if there are any others. He says yes, there is one pair, but it is completely unsuitable for the woman. The shoes are ugly, he says. The shoes are badly made, he says. The shoes are painful to wear, he says, and horribly expensive. They are one-of-a-kind shoes, and he would not bother the woman with even looking at them.
She insists. He reluctantly agrees, brings out these horribly ugly shoes, which need to be wedged onto her feet, which hurt horribly and cannot be walked in for more than a few steps before the pain becomes unbearable.
She of course buys them.
The story is more about the psychology of the customer than that of the salesman.
I would think your daughter’s advice is interesting if your customer was unable or unwilling to express an honest opinion of your presentation. In that case, a simple acceptance of their decision saves you unnecessary angst and effort if they decline your services.