In my previous post, i talked about my relative’s extremely unpleasant experience at a reknowned beauty salon. Jane (the staff) wants Lynn (my relative) to upgrade her facial package from one that costs $630 for 10 sessions to another that costs $2,270 for 20 sessions which by the way is a whopping 50% discount. And since beauty and skin care products are just a rung below nuclear physics in complexity, Lynn should not bother herself with the details and trust the sales pitch. Just hand out her credit card and sign up like a meek and dumb lamb.
Hard sell tactic: Confuse and Convince
Any reputable company will have brochures itemising all products or services offered in their packages. So why aren’t these printed materials used? I’ve a theory for this. It’s called “Confuse and Convince” and it’s quite simple:
- First you overwhelm your prey with information by verbally running through only the benefits – unless you’re good old Jane in which case you won’t even want to stress out your customers with such mundane details.
- Then you tell them that they simply have to sign up now. In fact you should be on the alert whenever you hear “it’s now or never” or “the sale will end tomorrow”.
Users of this tactic avoid using itemised brochures and especially comparison charts because this is like giving potential customers bullets to fire back at you. These are some reasons why unethical salesmen dislike printed materials:
- When customers can see the differences in words in addition to hearing about them, they are able to retain and manipulate the information better. They can then better decide whether it’s really worth spending more money.
- Health-conscious customers can ask questions regarding the side-effects of skin-care products. Do you know that quite a number of ingredients used in cosmetics are carcinogenic if used in high concentrations?
- Customers can bring the brochure back and think about it thus avoiding impulse purchase. This also helps customers who don’t understand the product well (say financial products) to ask for second opinions.
I’m sure Janes the world over cannot understand why someone would want to understand the cost and benefits of a purchase before splurging money on it. I can almost hear them sigh in annoyance, “it’s mere peanut, why think so much?? Just give me the money!!”
There are more victims than you think
Lynn’s experience is more common than you think. I have heard of hard sell in the beauty industry but i thought it only happens in heartland salons. Lynn’s experience has proven me wrong. According to statistics compiled by the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE), 46 complaints were filed against companies in the beauty industry between Mar 2004 and Feb 2005 – ranked 3rd among all industries. Of the common complaints, hard sell (i.e. using undue pressure to get the person to buy item) is ranked second. I’m sure this incident is merely the tip of the iceberg. I’ve sent CASE an email to find out more about complaints in the beauty industry which i’ll update here.
Tags: Hard sell
The art of persuasion employed by these salons are really quite unsophiscated. If the customer or client is being ‘made’ or ‘forced’ to purchase an item, the salon has already failed in its endeavour.
Why you may ask? It is simply because the patron once she has gone back home to cool off would immediately realize her foolishness of being persuaded to buy more ‘unneeded’ stuff or services. In this case, since you are able to articulate so clearly what happened, I am sure you have already advised your relative that she had been ‘conned’.
Perhaps, if the salons had employed more subtler forms of persuasion, Lynn would have actually felt that she had gotten good deal and start becoming a ‘maven’ and sing to her friends and colleagues what a great deal she got. Malcom Gladwell had mentioned this in his book, The Tipping Point.
Therefore, I think hard sell tactics are not dangerous per se, as sooner or later the reputation of the salon would suffer if it continues its practices which are borderline unethical as people will talk and the gossip may eventually become truth. That will really hurt its so-called brand name.
But then again, if you think carefully, the salon was just putting emphasis on the greed or kiasuism of the patron by telling her that the discount is only for now, and will not hold tomorrow. So, in truth, the patron really needs to exercise self-control and not be kiasu… easier said than done… especially in Singaporean context.
Subtle forms of persuasion or hidden ones (friends or families who do the selling of products/services do not disclose their personal interests, eg. MLM marketing) pushes the envelope of ethics even more towards the borderline.
Awareness of such techniques of salespersons is not sufficient, ultimately it is still the mental readiness to walk away from the so called ‘GREAT or FREE DEAL!’ that the salesperson is offering.
In a nutshell, I quote a japanese saying:
“TADA YORI TAKAI MONG WA NAI”
[NOTHING IS MORE COSTLY THAN SOMETHING GIVEN FREE OF CHARGE]
Hi WiseGuy,
Thanks for your comment!!
Hard sell may be “dangerous” for some. I know of elderly people who are misled into buying mutual funds/unit trusts by unethical “relationship managers”. These salesmen prey on ignorance and greed. Just because people want a good deal or are greedy doesn’t make it right for unethical people to push their products indiscriminately. If you’ve ever gone to banks, especially those in the heartlands, you’ll know what i mean.
Unethical salesmen rationalize their unethical behaviours. Ethical salesmen do what’s right. In my opinion, doing what’s right is simple. Just treat others the way you’d want to be treated.
For most, hard sell is just plain irritating. We, the customers, don’t deserve it. And that is why i’m writing these posts.