I was enjoying my meal when a neatly-dressed guy approached me.
“Hi, good afternoon Miss. Sorry to interrupt your lunch.”
“Yes, you ARE interrupting.”
“This would take just a few minutes. 5 minutes tops. Promise!”
“5 minutes is too long. I need to eat my lunch.”
Bet you encountered this a lot of times, don’t you? Just when you thought you could enjoy your food on a hot, sunny day, someone approached you, apologizes and began talking even when you’re not in the mood of talking, nor do you want to listen.
“5 minutes, just 5 minutes, Miss. We have a new product that you won’t find at any store with THIS price. For only RM10, you get this colorful storybook with pictures, beautiful pictures. If you buy this today, you get a CD too. Children’s sing along CD.”
“I don’t have any child at home to buy that for.”
“Well you can buy for your niece. Nephew maybe?”
“Nor do I have any niece or nephew.”
“Err.. buy for your friends maybe?”
“Why would I wanna buy them THAT? Anyway, times up. 5 minutes. Thank you but I’m not interested.”
“OK, here’s my business card. If you decide to buy the book, just let me know.” He handed me his business card.
“Sales executive?? They go out and sell items to random people these days??”
“Yes, Miss. I’m Mr.X, Sales Executive of X Company.”
And then he left.
Wow… I didn’t know high post people actually go out, carry stuff on their back/shoulder and approach people mid-lunch to promote their items. In fact, most of the business cards I got from them stated “Exec”, “Manager”.. some even go as high as “Director”.
Maybe I should change mine to: Cindy, Freelance Makeup Artist Executive.
how much do u charge?
June 28th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
If I get into this situation, I’d normally say “sorry not interested!” and then tell them straightaway that I didn’t have money with me. That will surely drive them away.
June 28th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
Oh baby, the commercial fields is being harder and harder nowadays. Think that thanks to globalization, competence is increasing and you have to be active the 10% of your time. If you miss a minute, a new firm/product/sales guy can appear and steal part of your market portion.
Poor sales executive, you didn’t give him any chance and you even shamed him LOL !
June 28th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
I hate salesmen esp. those who pretend to be deaf! I could smell and spot them from afar. I would just give them this murderous look if they don’t buzz off…
June 28th, 2007 at 11:32 pm
Zewt : Very “executive” price.
Ann : Hmm.. must try that one next time!
Me, Myself and I : I didn’t mean to shame him! It just.. came out of my mouth. Hehehe..
Nessa : Yeah, they can get really irritating sometimes. Especially when they insist on talking when you’re obviously not interested. I know they’re just doing their job, I understand. But when they get the “No”, they should know that we really meant “No”..
June 29th, 2007 at 3:58 am
I usually give them the few seconds window for them to do their pitch. How can I say “no” without actually seeing what they’re selling, right?
If I’m really not interested, I’ll just tell them, “Sorry, I have no interest in your product”. Most of the time, the salesperson is polite and would excuse himself.
June 29th, 2007 at 7:42 am
But you know what I like about them? Their ‘persistency’ and ‘enthusiasm’ to sell… good virtue for self-development, I think…
I hope someday I can give my BizCard to somebody with the title of NETREPRENEUR !!! hehe… :p
June 29th, 2007 at 9:25 am
I got no prob with them. They all also ‘cari makan’ like us. I’ll let him finish his pitch then if I’m ok I’ll buy. If not then I’d just say no thanks.
June 29th, 2007 at 10:32 am
I got no problem with them… coz i ever did this thing too during my “no job” period.
But my wife… wow.. NO!, it’s indeed NO!. Kesian them
OTOH, on the other hand lah, they sometimes can be iritating too lah… like me doing to you
June 29th, 2007 at 11:37 am
i tot normally those ppl dun haf cards *cough. only paper maybe? wuah…that’s new for me
*lol…ei i could make a card leh..
Mod CSP forum wahhahahahah XD
June 29th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Yea, director of a one person firm. LOL!
I don’t think they can do it here that way, as it’s clearly considered invading privacy here.
Why don’t you call the restaurant manager…”I guess you two have something to tell each other.”LOL!
June 29th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Them direct selling people, I don’t blame them. They are trained to finish their sales pitch whether you want to buy or not, and some of them work their butts off.
As for titles on business cards, would you believe that I once received one from an American lady at a water treatment expo in KL and her title is “Supreme Commander” of her company?
June 30th, 2007 at 11:57 am
i am actually looking for make up artist for my fiance during our wedding… so… do define executive price?
June 30th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Zewt getting married? wow, ok, coming from me, congrats Zewt
June 30th, 2007 at 6:17 pm