More to a deal than clinching a sale

Icame home late from a flight excited to see the improvements to our home gym. I hated not being there for the delivery, but at last I could see the new equipment I’d bought online before my trip.

I made my way to the gym to see the new equipment. But my excitement quickly turned to let-down.

I noticed that the dumbbells weren’t the ones I ordered. I’d used York dumbbells multiple times in hotel gyms and really liked their feel.

Disappointingly, they didn’t deliver the York dumbbells. And worse yet, they delivered two different brands of dumbbells with different grips.

I checked the sales invoice to see if I accidentally ordered the wrong dumbbells. The product status for the York dumbbells was marked and confirmed the next day when we notified this online retailer that they mistakenly delivered the wrong dumbbells. They said the brand I wanted was out of stock.

This made me wonder — why were they listing items when they don’t even have them? And how could they confirm the item when it was out of stock? Why would they ever think it’s acceptable to deliver a substitute product without confirming with the customer?

That’s because they’re only interested in the sale, not the customer. And they definitely aren’t building a relationship.

Their next action made it incredibly clear that all that matters to them is a sale. They shocked me beyond belief, when I received an unsolicited personalised email recommending what else I should add to my gym and giving options for other equipment that I could buy from them. They spent literally zero effort to get to know me, understand who I am, or what my needs are.

They did the old bait-andswitch. They advertised one product and then sold the other. Was this their intention?

They say it wasn’t. But I can’t figure that out, when they don’t list the item they sold to me and there wasn’t even a price difference. They clearly wanted me to be satisfied with their available stock in lieu of what I purchased.

I’m not sure which of these issues to address: don’t order from a local online retailer because you don’t know what they’ll actually deliver; the bait-and-switch tactic, or the somewhat positive trait they exhibited in their bold attempt to sell more to an unsatisfied customer. How about we package these three issues together into one? Build sales relationships instead of peddling goods.

Years ago, I learnt the phrase “He can’t see past the end of his nose”, which means being so preoccupied with yourself that unaware or uncaring of other people and the bigger picture. They lacked the foresight to see that a sales relationship would be more profitable than the possibility of an immediate sale. Are you guilty of not seeing past the end of your nose?

You should always think first about the relationship. A sale without the relationship is just a one-time sale. If you care about building your business, then realise it’s the relationship that will drive your future sales. Sadly, you may be caught in the trap of peddling wares when you should be building sales relationships.

If you don’t have the item advertised, be transparent and offer an alternative. That is perfectly acceptable, honourable and a good way to start a relationship. Think about what you need to do to have regular business interactions.

Ask yourself the proverbial question: would I want to be treated the way that I am treating my customer?

To this online retailer’s defence, they have since offered an apology. But as of writing, they still haven’t taken the return of the replacement dumbbells or made the refund. It looks like it’s only the sale that matters to them.

I hope you’ll choose sales relationships over peddling goods.