A sales question: Selling stuff you personally can't afford or truly hate....

May be semantics, but I find it hard to believe 70% of Mercedes salesmen have never been behind the wheel of, and driven a Mercedes for even a short distance.

As far as IHOP, I don't give any credence to anyone saying the employees there "probably" don't like pancakes.

I think many if not most sales people don't have strong feelings either way about the products/services they sell.

It's just their job. If they have a talent for selling, they zone in on what is needed to sell that particular product, and do it.

I don't sell anything, but I would never fit into my employer's target market.

not salesmen - employees. It makes a big difference. The sales force is a pretty small component of the employee group.

I have been partner in two art galleries, the second one being by far the more successful, respected gallery.

My business partner in the second one was a great sales person, but also had a good art eye. Me, I've a non-sales persona, have never been interested in talking someone into a purchase, or a landscape design, beyond pointing out good bits if they showed interest. It was arguably a good pairing, with me being a painter and more laid back, and she being an enthusiast and sales closer. Not exactly good cop bad cop, but it tended to work with design clients and gallery customers.

If I didn't like a painting (among a whole show of an artist's work) I'd not push it, but I'd not knock it either. Sometimes a lesser painting (to me) puts others of the person's work in perhaps a better light, a kind of context. My associate would push something I knew she didn't like. On the other hand, that helped us keep food on the table. But, people like paintings for all sorts of reasons and memory connections, and if a person liked it, good.

If I or she truly hated something, we wouldn't show it, even as one among a lot better work by the same person.

I’ve also never been in a job that required me to sell anything. I work in the finance department. Our sales force sells contracts to the dumbest people on the entire planet, maybe one out of 50 actually read the contract before signing it.

That kind of sales diplomacy makes sense to me. Really successful (high sales) salespersons know how to LIE about the stuff they can't stand. But that kind of sell it quick, sell it now attitude just might come back to bite them in the ass if the buyer comes back with the same negative feedback the seller holds for the product themselves but never disclosed during the sale.

So that sales diplomacy you indicated Osso might not bring high sales numbers but would/could in theory bring a greater customer loyalty if the customer learns to appreciate the seller's honesty.

I don't know where they got that stat. I too question the statement's validity but that wasn't my point of this question. Even if they stated that "10% of Mercedes salesmen have never been behind the wheel of, and driven a Mercedes," my question still remains the same. I also wasn't asking about indifference to a store's products. I'm sure almost every sales person has a product they have been indifferent towards in their sales life.


I think you missed the part that this was from a CARTALK Facebook update. Cartalk being a famous auto repair NPR radio program with a big emphasis on the humor. That IHOP statement was meant to be read as facetious and goofy nonfact.

Well, I can be fairly analytic about what I like, which could add to an experience for a gallery visiter, but I didn't just zoom in doing that. People would walk in and look around on their lunch hours because they were comfortable. We would acknowledge them when they entered (bells on the front door knob, corgi barking behind the "fence"). We'd engage people if they wanted and leave them well alone if they wanted. You can pretty much learn to tell if people want to talk a little, a lot, or not at all... and add that if they had questions, just ask.

I've also wandered into a zillion galleries and museums.

I remember Diane and I going into the Peter Findlay gallery in NYC, the guy at the desk having a half sandwich in his mouth. He was wonderful. Let us look and then engaged. He turned out to be another Findlay.

Being an LA woman, I'm very used to exceptionally cool and almost cold people at front desks. It's the snot factor.
Not everywhere, of course, but it is a mode.


I liked that sentence, new sig line.

Ha! All I can attribute that to is that I'm home sick today, and suffering from "I can't think straight syndrome"

Actually, before I started posting this, I just noticed it was from Car Talk. Yeah, Tom and Ray are always fooling around.


That said, I stand my my initial post, and how sales people few their products.

That's not to say they won't tell someone a particular product is not going to suit someone's needs. A good salesman will do that knowing that gains him the reputation of being honest, and could lead to repeat sales.

But, a product is a product.

For many years, I sold real estate. Sold many a house I wouldn't live in if had been given to me. It was never a question of whether or not I liked it...but whether or not the prospect liked it.