How to Throw a Bed at Someone

My wife and I were recently furniture shopping, specifically for a bed, and came face to face with a very persuasive salesperson. Sorry, that doesn’t do it justice. This salesperson could sell you a parachute and life insurance in the same conversation and you would still come out of it feeling good. I think that’s a bit better.

So we walk into the home furniture store and are immediately eye-locked by this woman across the room. You know those predators whose head and eyes stay still while the rest of their body moves towards you so as to not panic you into fleeing? That kind of look. Once she got into striking range, it was already too late. The siren song of salesmanship had begun and we were awash at sea.

I’m sure we have all heard of the phrase, ‘assume the sale’, where salespeople talk as if you were already going to buy it, it’s just a matter of helping you get past the finish line. Well, not only did she assume the sale, but she did it in a manner of your childhood best friend who snagged a stash of cookies from her home and ran straight to your house to share it with you, and only you.

Not once in the whole interaction did we feel any sales pressure from her. Normally a salesperson would break the facade and reveal their intentions, but the whole way through had the vibe of a friend helping you buy some home furniture.

She had some lines that stood out that must have been from a sales script template and normally would have felt forced but she delivered it like your own personal cheerleader as you scored a price touchdown for a bed.

“This model is usually out of stock and takes 5-6 weeks to be delivered, but you guys got sooo lucky! I can get it to you in under 2 weeks!”

“I’m going to try and get a good deal for you guys, let me see if I can get my manager to drop the price.” (comes back a few minutes later) “Okay guys, get ready to get so excited cause I got you an amazing price. Get ready for this!”

By the end of the interaction, we bought much more than a bed (which was all we wanted to buy to begin with) and yet felt totally satisfied. Despite being so conscious of being sold too, we couldn’t help but marvel at the sales technique and execution and even reached out to her after she closed the sale. We asked her to divulge whether she used a sales script or any sales techniques on us but she kept it professional and never once admitted to using any sales tricks. The last message we exchanged went like this.

Us: “Anyway, we thought you did great and just wanted a peek behind the (sales) technique.”

Her: “I would say honesty is the only technique!”