You may not know this, but there are window sales consultants all over the country teaching salespeople the “best” ways to separate you from your money.
When you invite a home improvement salesperson into your house you may be getting someone who has spent years honing his craft. He’s worked on various closing strategies, he’s practiced handling your objections, he has a plan to drop the price at a certain point after you’ve said no enough times. He’s going to call his manager at just the right time to make you think you’ve really warn him down.
Every day people ask me why these companies require both the husband an date wife to be present for the quote or why window salespeople are all so pushy. One of the reasons is that they all learn from the same sales consultants.
You may think you’re just having someone come over to measure your windows at 6:30pm when you get home from work without understanding exactly what you’re getting yourself into. Before you know it you might have signed a $20,000 contract for windows that could have cost $8,000 after a 3 or 4 hour sales pitch. It happens every day, don’t let it happen to you.
Now I should say that I typically really like sales consultants. I like anyone who takes their work seriously and tries to do better today than he did yesterday. Unfortunately I think some companies and salespeople spend too much energy on getting the order at any cost rather than providing a great value and that leads to our whole industry getting a bad name.
It’s certainly the case that there are many good people in the home improvement business, but it can sometimes be hard to separate the good from the bad.
Here I’ll show you a handful of videos about these closing strategies. Notice the people in the audience, sitting there taking in this info. These are the salespeople that work for many of the largest window companies in the country. These are the people who could be sitting on your couch tonight for your free window quote. Or maybe they just left with your deposit last night.
If you have any questions or comments about these videos or any sales tactics feel free to post a comment. This might become an interesting section on the site!
What is the you deserve it close?
What will they do if you want to think it over?
Why do they want the husband and the wife to be there for the quote?
Have a question or comment, post it below. You can also find our explanations of other common sales tactics and replacement window reviews here. Want to get a quote from a reputable company? Find our list of fantastic window companies here.
Hi WindowDog, I just wanted to say you provide a valuable service to consumers in letting them know about many of the old school “tin men” sales tactics/tricks that date from the 1970’s and earlier. I wanted to let you know about another one that can take people off guard when they exercise the 3 day right of cancellation. When a company receives a cancellation letter a customer will get a call from someone in the firm claiming to be the sales manager or customer service manager informing them that their signature is required on something they’ll cleverly word a “deposit return document” or a “final cancellation form” and a company rep needs to stop by to take care of that. They will go to great lengths to insist that it’s just about that and nothing more and it will take literally a minute to complete, hoping that the customer won’t read through their contract and discover there is nothing in it that requires any signature or anything further on their part. Obviously it’s just a way to get another sales rep back in your home to talk you out of cancelling. I have seen several prominent sales trainers advocate this tactic. I’ve often wondered about the legality of it as it’s essentially using a false pretense to gain entry to someone’s home. Just thought I’d pass it on so people can be aware !
Thanks
Just experienced most of these tactics with Window Nation.
Bear with my long story.
I was looking for 11 windows
8 double hung
3 double casings
1st off like other articles stated, the sales people we were very nice and professional. I actually enjoyed some of the sales information and learned a considerable amount about windows. I did have to research later on what really mattered and how much was just hot air.
I was attentive and respectful but felt my entire demeanor change when it came time for the quote. I started to feel nervous for some reason. Little did I know it was because they saw me as prey.
I almost asked them to leave when they wanted us to guess the price and if we were close enough we could get additional dollars off. I had received some other quotes so thought I would be close.
The big reveal and their quote was more than $5,000 than my previous quote. I was honest and even shared this information with the sales representative. He said he was skeptical because he felt the Provia quote from the other guy was low and didn’t include all of the install. He said Provia are even more expensive than his quote so he didn’t mention them. I just shrugged my shoulders.
We said no thanks but learned we can get even more money off if we agree now. We still said no. Sales person was nice and left and said he would follow up.
A day or so later I received an email from the Director of field marking. Magically they were able to secure a big discount on a similar window. This window is even better than the other window they showed me and by the power vested in them via David Copperfiled my initial quote of 18000 is now just 10000 with a better window. Mind you both sales people said the different windows were the best in the nation and I could look it up. I did and neither the Imperial Ls or the Kempton showed up as the “#1 best vinyl window in America on any list”
It felt like a dog and pony show and I hope no one signs a deal after just one presentation. I feel for those unsuspecting souls that would pay almost double after a flashing sales pitch.
From other reviews I believe Window Nation would have done a fine job with a quality window and install. I am just not one for the dirty sales tactics. Just give me upfront pricing.
I can’t recommend them considering how much they were willing to gouge me.
Do your homework and utilize sites like this one.
Oops! Just signed a contract with Renewal by Andersen after a friendly house call and was shocked to read “the fine print” today to discover the 8 double-hung windows average out to $2,176. each including tax and 2.99% finance charge..! Help!