Wah lau eh, the most suey thing that can ever happen to a salesman happened to me yesterday- on the very first time I had managed to close a deal on a TV set. Somehow I had managed to convince a couple to make a purchase on a 50-inch DLP TV costing $4000+, & my commission was to be $120 for that set. Shiok, I thought. That would be equivalent to 2 days of basic pay. So the exact price, terms & arrangement for the hire purchase was ironed out with the customer & the mode of payment was decided on- the credit card. Great! I had achieved something significant finally!
Alas, maybe the commission was just not fated to be mine… Somehow or another there was something wrong with the only credit card that the husband had brought with him. The transaction mysteriously could not be approved despite several attempts. Finally he gave up & took his card & walked off! & with the couple, the $120 commission disappeared from me too. What else could be worse than closing a deal & being sabohed by the credit card, I cannot think of. Si beh suey ah! As if to add insult to injury, about 10 minutes later, Phillips managed to close a deal on a 50-inch plasma as well, & the transaction went through…
Anyway, guess it’s no point me thinking too much about it anymore. At least I had proven to myself- & the rest, that it was indeed possible to close such deals, because prior to that, no one on my side had managed to close anything better than the 42-inch. So I guess i’ll try again, if ever a chance presents itself again- because the roadshow is ending.
Anyway this roadshow experience was also a learning experience for me as well. 1 thing I had learnt was that while the usual perception is that in Asian countries, the males are the Head of the family as opposed to the Westerners where the husband & wife are supposed to be more "equal" in status, this is not necessarily true- not while they are shopping, at least! When trying to sell to ang moh couples, I had found out that to sell technological products like our MP3 players, TV sets etc, I only had to convince the males in the family that the product was value for money & they would buy. The females kept quiet usually as many of them had admitted themselves that they were not very familiar with the geeky terms & functions & hence did not understand enough of my explanations to try to influence the decision of whether or not to make the purchase. However for the Asians, esp locals, things are different. The "Finance Department" (ie wife) in the family also has got different estimations (usually overestimations) of their understanding of the products, and their ability to make informed choices that often the husbands’ REQUESTS (not decisions) to use their OWN money (which has been surrendered to the wives) to purchase a Home Theatre System or TV set is vetoed by the wife who thinks that a black TV frame is enough to warrant a disapproval in favour of the 1 with a silver frame, Made-In-China TV set with less features costing the same price because a silver frame looks prettier. Isn’t that such an informed choice, especially when recently studies have concluded that TV sets with plain black frames cause less strain than any other colour on the eye after a few hours of watching TV?
Anyway here’s an interesting example of what I’ve encountered. Note: it’s based on a true story! Background goes that husband wants to purchase an LCD TV from us, & wants to get approval from the wife, who is "window-shopping around Plaza Singapura while husband looks at the sets available at our roadshow. Husband calls the wife on the mobile phone to get her to come down to the roadshow to check out the TV set that has caught his attention.
Husband: Hey dear I found a good TV set for our new home, & the price is reasonable too. Come down to the roadshow to look for me k? I’ll show it to you… What? You need me to go up to the second floor to help you carry your shopping because it is too much for you? Weren’t you supposed to be window shopping? Alright then, I’ll go up & help you carry them down. *To us* I’ll be back down in a short while.
*10 minutes later*
Husband: This is the 1 dear. It’s only $3999 for an LCD 32-inch with pretty good features (which I won’t explain to you, dear, because you are too ignorant to understand anyway, except that the frame doesn’t come in pink). It’s value for money, & they are willing to give us a $100 discount. Lets’ get it, shall we?
Wife: What?!? So much money for this TV set? I don’t get it, why can’t we just get a normal $500 TV? Surely we can find something at that price & hang it on the wall as well! *Everyone present almost vomits blood, but trying to tahan & control giggles*
Husband: No dear, this is an LCD TV. You have to get either an LCD or Plasma TV if you want it hanging on the wall. & considering the features this set offers, tha price is pretty attractive compared to most other brands. It’s a good deal. Look at the picture quality, it is one of the best I’ve come across so far- 3000:1 contrast ratio & 3.2billion colour combinations. & there’s also built-in 5.1ch surround sound system. It’s really a good deal considering many other brands are offering similar prices with less features!
Wife: You think you are very rich? I don’t even understand half of what you were saying, & I hate the black colour frame because it doesn’t look pretty! Spending so much money on a TV set, you must be crazy to even think about it! Let’s stop wasting time here. I saw a pink dress which looks good, & I want to buy it. Let’s go get it now.
Husband: But this is a really good set. After the roadshow the price will be different. Anyway don’t you already have a pink dress here? & several others at home? Why do you need 1 more for?
Wife: I don’t care, that dress looks pretty & sweet. I must go & buy it. My sister just got herself a new boyfriend again- her 267th boyfriend, & they may just end up getting married & maybe I could wear it to their wedding. Let’s go & forget about the TV set & go get that dress!
Sometimes I really wonder. Women demand equality (what that stands for or implies, I believe even the women can’t agree among themselves) with the men, but still insist on having doors held for them, to exclusively enjoy the privilege (or curse?) of retail therapy, to have men drive them around etc… What do they want actually? Maybe the ladies reading this could enlighten me?
Anyway here’s something I always like to tease some of my female friends with. It all started when a female friend of mine wrote a statement on a piece of paper to show me, & I made some minor alterations on it & passed it back to her. Perhaps some of you might guess what alterations I had made. I’ll type out whatever she wrote below. Have fun playing around with it:
A woman- without her, man is nothing.
