Sales tactics are crucial in almost every aspect of society—in fact, when done right, it can be hard to tell that any sales tactics are being employed at all. We are exposed to sales from a young age and through a variety of mediums, which means, to a point, we’ve incorporated a number of sales approaches as ideology. Newspaper and webpage headings are a good example. They are a form of sales, an advertising tactic that is designed to get us to purchase that newspaper, read that article, or click that link. It’s been employed so often that we hardly notice it is working—until it is done incorrectly. That is, until it somehow leads us to a page that defies our expectations. Then those “click-bait pieces” become all too obvious—unfortunately, we’ve usually already clicked the link before we know for sure.
Living in a society that is preprogrammed for sales leaves us in a tricky predicament. If we aren’t always aware of the sales pitch, then it can, as click bait shows us, leave us vulnerable, susceptible to following a lure and ending up with something we don’t want. But how can we identify those sales tactics when we need to? How can we identify a deal that is worth purchasing without being clouded by a salesperson who is just a little too good, especially when someone comes to your door touting cheap energy rates?
Ask questions.
The most important thing to remember when you are looking at or for any product—including cheap energy rates—is that you have specific needs, and those needs are unique to you. That doesn’t mean you have to know exactly what you are looking to walk away with when you go shopping for cheap energy rates, but it does mean that you should have a good idea of what your needs are. Knowing that information will help protect you from buying into the wrong sales pitch. Asking questions that are specific to your needs will help you identify a salesperson who is inflexibly trying to push or oversell you in one direction, but it can also ensure that a good salesperson can better understand what you need and are looking for, and thereby can set you up with the cheap energy rates that will actually work for you.
What does a good salesperson look like?
We all know that people in sales come with a stigma, especially following controversial run-ins with too-pushy door-to-door salespeople, but there are good people out there, too, and they aren’t all that difficult to identify. For instance, a salesperson that is being too pushy is forgetting to do one important thing: listen. A good sales person is going to listen to you and ask you questions about your cheap energy rate needs, you energy usage, etc. In this way, shopping for cheap energy rates with a good salesperson will feel more like a consultation than a sales pitch.
The easiest way to avoid a bad salesperson—or a salesperson that is too good in the less-than-moral sense—is to do some research on the products you are looking for. Whether you are shopping for cheap rates on electricity, natural gas, green energy, or a combination of the three, learning a little about the types of rates that are out there can go a long way towards enabling you to either avoid a pushy salesperson, or ask the right questions—like whether or not there are hidden 10-day cancellation fees—that will help you determine whether your salesperson is trying to help you, or is just trying to make that sale.
