How To Say “No” To a High-Pressure Sales Person (Or Anyone For That Matter)

by Celes on Feb 20, 2013 |  Email This Post

I’ve been getting my scalp treated and hair washed at Yun Nam Hair Care for the past few months. While they deliver pretty good service, I absolutely abhor it when my consultant unleashes her high-pressurizing sales technique on me to either make me continue my treatment package or to upsell me some new treatment.

High-pressure sales techniques — Beware of them!!!

It feels as though the consultants have been trained to say whatever is necessary to close the sale, from claiming that the promotion they are offering me is only for this period (absolutely do not believe it’s true, given that I have heard that from them so many times), to saying that they need your confirmation in order to order the herbs (for the treatment) and get it in time for your next treatment session (again, a suspect point), to saying that they are only able to give you this special deal today because their manager-in-charge is not around and they are doing this in secret (seriously??).

While their treatments are effective, I’m not sure if it’s worthwhile paying such an exorbitant price (a couple of hundred dollars, almost) for a weekly to biweekly treatment. Besides, the original scalp problem I had (which led me to try their services) has since resolved, and I would like to hold off on their treatments for a while.

(Also that I plan to travel for an extended period of time soon, which means I want to hold off signing anymore packages with any company.)

So after saying “yes” to my consultant’s past sales pitches, be it to continue the treatment plan or to add on new treatments, I decided it’s finally time to practice what I preach and say NO.

• Consultant: “You know, there are only two rounds of your essence treatment left. It’s time to extend your package. If you just top up $XXXX, you will be able to get 10 new essence treatments at the same price when you bought it two months ago.”
• Me: “Hmm… no.”
• Consultant: “Your scalp has really improved all these months but it’s still in a very unstable state. It’s important that you continue your new essence treatment or else your scalp problems are going to return after that.

  Another 10 rounds of essence will really help to stabilize your condition and calm your scalp permanently.”

• Me: “Okay. But no.”
• Consultant: “When X first washed your hair, she told me how you were losing a lot of hair. We can see all the hair that is clogged up in the drain whenever we do a customer’s hair wash and yours was really a lot. It wasn’t easy but we finally brought your scalp and hair loss issues under control after all these rounds of treatment.

  If you stop now, you will cause your condition to aggravate, for sure. All the treatment and recovery we have done for your scalp in the past few months will totally go to waste.”

• Me: “Hmm… okay. But no.”
• Consultant: “You have only done eight rounds of the essence treatment so far and you only have two rounds left. To be honest with you, all our customers have to go for 20 rounds in total to see the full effects of the essence. 10 rounds isn’t enough at all. Your problems will most definitely come back after you discontinue the treatment.

  To be honest with you, your scalp falls under the sensitive type, so you need proper, regular treatment to stabilize the condition. If you sign up for the additional 10 rounds, you will stabilize the condition of your scalp and maintain your current condition.”
• Me: “No.”
• Consultant: “It doesn’t matter even if you are traveling as you still need to treatment for your scalp, otherwise your scalp issues will return.

  The good thing is that our essence treatment can be changed to ampules, where one treatment is equivalent to three ampules. So your 10 essence treatments can all be converted into ampules so you can bring them when you travel. Other customers get to do one treatment for each essence treatment, but you get three ampules per essence treatment which actually costs more than the price you are going to pay for it. That’s an arrangement I can make for you.

• Me: “No.”
• Consultant: “I think you definitely need at least five rounds of essence treatment. I honestly can’t guarantee that your previous scalp issues are not going to return if you don’t complete your treatment plan with another five treatments. Five treatments at the very least will be better than just stopping in the middle of your treatment plan now. That’s really the best I can do for you.”
• Me: “No.”

At this point, the consultant tried high-pressure selling me for another good 10 minutes, where she basically repeated everything she said above, not unlike a broken record.

She finally gave up when I just kept saying “No” over and over again, and each time with increasing impatience. I could tell she was quite unhappy at the end of the sales pitch since she didn’t get to close the sale, but seriously, as much as I like her as a person and as my consultant, I can’t buy something just to please her or anyone else for that matter. I need to be buying something because I need it and I want it. In this case, I just simply don’t want to continue the treatment anymore.

In case you are wondering why I didn’t just walk out or say “I have to go”, that’s because they grabbed me in the middle of my hair treatment (30 minutes for the herbs to be soaked in the scalp before they get washed out). Pretty smart of them since I can’t go anywhere in the midst of  the treatment, but as the customer, I am the one who hold the decision whether to buy/pay or not, not them. No amount of sales pressure or sales strategizing can change that.

Morale of the story? Just say NO. Then, walk away.

In fact I dare you to say “no” the next time someone asks you to do something you don’t want to. Forget “strategies” where you text your friend to call you, after which you answer the call and pretend you have to go; or indigenous methods where you lie about not having enough money or not bringing your credit card. Just say no. No. And No!!!!!!!!!

You will feel liberated. That I guarantee you.

In fact, let’s practise doing that now:

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

No. 

No.

And…

Feeling good yet? Good.

Check out my comprehensive guide on how to say no: How To Say No To Others: The Only Guide You’ll Ever Need

Had any experiences with high-pressure sales people or high-pressure people before? How did you deal (or not deal) with them? Share them in the comments section.

Images: Tricia Wang, Flaming Dragon

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