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Here’s a list of the three words that make me cringe the most whenever I hear or see them:
1. Discount.
Whenever customer’s ask us if we have any discounts on offer, my heart sinks! After we explain that discounts only exist after a company has added money on in the first place, just to take it back off again, they see the light as it were. Most consumers out there now realise that a company isn’t just going to take off money willy nilly, they know it’s already added on and taken off.
2. Deals.
I HATE this word. To me it screams ‘cheap and tacky’. It always reminds me of the type of customer who tends to be a bit of a DIY, hands on kind of person, looking for the cheapest of the cheap, and generally comes out the with the line : ‘have you got any deals on at the moment?’
God I hate that word!
3. Sales.
A mix of the two reasons above really. I think the word ‘sale’ has been plugged as much as it can be plugged, I think the general attitude of consumers towards a sale is: ‘oh look, the sales on again’. Customers have wised up a lot and realised that in most cases companies add a margin on, take it back off again and disguise and advertise it as a ‘sale’ or ‘discount’.
I think you could put my frustration of these words and tactics down to the fact that, rather than use these techniques to hood-wink those who aren’t as alert to these methods, as a company we just price the job in hand as keen as possible in the first place. We make this absolutely clear to our customers and I think they appreciate this. We get a lot of positive feedback from our customers commenting on the honest and straight forward approach to our pricing methods. What we also see a lot of now is customers asking for the bottom line price straight away, no flanneling or pretend discounts, which suits us to the ground!
1. Discount.
Whenever customer’s ask us if we have any discounts on offer, my heart sinks! After we explain that discounts only exist after a company has added money on in the first place, just to take it back off again, they see the light as it were. Most consumers out there now realise that a company isn’t just going to take off money willy nilly, they know it’s already added on and taken off.
2. Deals.
I HATE this word. To me it screams ‘cheap and tacky’. It always reminds me of the type of customer who tends to be a bit of a DIY, hands on kind of person, looking for the cheapest of the cheap, and generally comes out the with the line : ‘have you got any deals on at the moment?’
God I hate that word!
3. Sales.
A mix of the two reasons above really. I think the word ‘sale’ has been plugged as much as it can be plugged, I think the general attitude of consumers towards a sale is: ‘oh look, the sales on again’. Customers have wised up a lot and realised that in most cases companies add a margin on, take it back off again and disguise and advertise it as a ‘sale’ or ‘discount’.
I think you could put my frustration of these words and tactics down to the fact that, rather than use these techniques to hood-wink those who aren’t as alert to these methods, as a company we just price the job in hand as keen as possible in the first place. We make this absolutely clear to our customers and I think they appreciate this. We get a lot of positive feedback from our customers commenting on the honest and straight forward approach to our pricing methods. What we also see a lot of now is customers asking for the bottom line price straight away, no flanneling or pretend discounts, which suits us to the ground!
>I thought you were going to say:
1. Renegade
2. Conservatory
3. Guy
RCG
>It's a pity that the majority of the younger crowd really do not see it this way. A lot of the elderly are experienced enough to realise this if looking for a conservatory, etc, but the young guns will search and search for better prices for double glazing…despite losing quality.
>Exactly, the majority of our customer base is 45+ years old and have the experience and knowledge to really understand what a 'sale' is. We try and educate the younger ones to understand that what you sacrifice on price, you sacrifice on quality and security.
>No no! Though I did contemplate:
1. Safe
2. Style
3. UK
But that technically wouldn't be three words, plus I think I'd have just been stating the obvious for all of us!
>1. Quality
2. Over
3. Quantity
>That last one was a response to the sales grabbers!
>Hi DGB – I disagree. Sales and special offers make the world go round. You've just got to look at the biggest and most successful names in retail to realise this, I'm sure they can't all have it wrong. However, I do see your point but it's a totally different way of selling and can work if done correctly as I have no doubt that you must do. I think different styles suit different businesses but consumers do love to negotiate.
>Hi David
I do see your point of view. If a company was geared up to sell middle of the road products and not the best, then 'sales' and 'discounts' would suit the image of the company or the product the company sells. Where as, as you've mentioned, were a company set up in a totally different manner where it wouldn't suit our image to be using 'sales' or 'deals', we sell purely on the strength of our product and repuation. It seems to work for us :)!
Hows business at your end?
>Hi GB – we must be the exception to the rule because we sell the best products driven by offers and discounts and business is really good.
However, the special offers method works for us as we usually sell over the phone and our customers like to think they can negotiate. Actually, some of them are too good at it.
>I think the nature of every company is different, each will use their own tactics and utilise them the best way they see fit. There is no right or wrong way to sell at the end of the day. It also depends on what type of customer you're dealing with.