Are you impervious to sales people?

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i tend to research non-regular purchases because that is what i like to do. hehe

non-regular purchases would include audio-visual or entertainment gear, household appliances, computer hardware that is needed and is more convenient (dollar:delivery time) to buy from a store than online... etc.

i like to know as much about what i intend to buy as is possible; this includes trawling forum posts for product feedback, technical issues, and pricing... staticice (click) is also a very handy site for comparative pricing (applies to Australia).

sales staff tend to operate off a fairly predictable script with a little variation depending on how they read an individual... being AS tends to help here as i have good recall, am capable of speedy mental calculation, and i find that dangling emotional carrots (need, fear of missing out, desire/want) in front of my nose does not work.

i may need the product but it can be bought elsewhere, it is not the last one of it's kind in existence... and the factories have not disappeared. hehe

the sales staff get little emotional response and i usually begin to avalanche them with technical details or comparison data for similar models and competitor pricing... this wears them down instead of me being worn down by sales hooks, endless trial closes, and being pushed for affirmation of interest or intent to buy. hehe

sales negotiation is something that has taken me a long time to refine; it does require a lot of legwork in cases and a good measure of mental preparation and stoicism... the better understanding of the product that i am chasing (and the better focus i have) the less flustered or anxious i am likely to become. focus is everything, the experience can be draining but you can always have some time out when you get home with your shiny new toy (or your new toaster ).

I tried working in camera sales because I'm a photographer and thought it'd be fun. Turned out I couldn't talk passionately with customers about photography. Instead, I had to sell them the hot item of the month, despite my personal thoughts about it. One guy came in and the manager tried to sell him on the Nikon D40, and he said he liked Canon better. I chimed in and said, "Indeed", and she reprimanded me for it.

Then I had to go to a sales meeting, and the district manager was telling us how to emotionally manipulate customers. Plus, he told a story about how one sales associate was over-pushing the Extended Service Plan to one customer, and how the customer called to complain. He said he contacted the sales associate to congratulate him for doing his job.

I quit the next day.

The pushy ones mostly make me nervous so I tend to go into avoidance mode. I'm more likely to buy something when the salesperson actually listens to me and acknowledges my needs first rather than rattling off an irritating pre-contrived sales pitch. I usually have a pretty good idea of what I'm looking for and rarely purchase things spur-of-the-moment. I need to think and plan ahead before I do anything. A pushy salesperson is more likely to just annoy me and distract my train of thought making me less likely to buy.

i've never actually heard a sales pitch before. often i'm asked if i need help but i just tell them "no" and go back to ignoring them. sometimes i'll get a sales person who walks with me trying to make conversation, which results in me asking them to go away because they're interfering with my ability to shop. that one usually works quite well as they seem to be worried that i'm offended or they get offended and huff off.