Saturday, a salesperson for a security company came to our door. I cut him off after about 2 sentences – but felt guilty doing so. The guy was a bit worn-around-the-edges, and he looked like he could have used the sale. But we cannot afford to pay the monthly fees for such a system. And thankfully, our neighborhood has low enough crime that we really don’t need it. (Nor do we have that much a thief could fence easily – except the computer I am typing this on.)
Should I have felt guilty? Or should I have felt good about not wasting his time in presenting a pitch that would have fallen on deaf ears?
One way to kill the guilt has been this… When it’s hot outside, we offer door-to-door salespeople a cold drink. But I didn’t think to offer him a hot cup of tea.
So it’s Johanna-post-comments-on-Shiny-Bits week … My husband, who you know had a sales position (not door-to-door!), was happy to get straight “nos” from people, because like you said, it wouldn’t waste either person’s time. But where he had a hard time was when he would approach people who he knew were faithful Christians, yet who suddenly pulled out a whole new face, being completely rude and condescending, merely at the point of the first brief seconds of conversation. Somehow it seems justifiable to treat sales people as sub-human …
Living on the pkwy I get guys coming by all the time trying to sell me stuff. I actually did buy the system from the ADT guy. It was a good deal and we get a break on our house insurance. Still, I have the guilt thing going too when I cut them off and send them on their way. I usually get alan to answer the door.
Being a sales man myself, I always try to get the salesperson to really SELL me on their product. I ask relevant questions and challenge them to improve their “pitch.” Then I say no. I don’t feel guilty because I imagine that I have helped them prepare for their next prospect. Hadn’t really thought about offering them something to drink though, that would be a good thing to do.
Had not thought of that, Tim. Good idea for being a help to the salesperson!