Bait and Switch
Although I have spent plenty of time around software developers and other IT types, I cut my teeth in sales and marketing. As a result, it always bothers me to hear people disparage the money end of the business by calling the good people out there cheats and liars. People in IT departments seem particularly annoyed at the folks in sales — it’s even kind of a major topic in Dilbert.
Now, I have to admit that there are salespeople out there that make my skin crawl. Indeed, I run the other way when I meet up with someone that can “sell ice to an Eskimo.” I’ve never liked feeling that the guy on the other end of the bargaining table was trying to pull a fast one on me, and I don’t enjoy haggling and the other games that people play.
Of course some people seem to enjoy the back and forth. My wife is one of them. Before we got married we stopped by a local jewelry store to pick out our wedding bands. We were there for quite some time, trying on different styles and sizes. Finally we found comfortable rings that we both liked. The store clerk that was helping us went to the backroom for a minute to get something, and my wife elbowed me.
“We should ask for a discount.”
“A discount? Why?”
“Because we’re buying two of them.”
“But everyone buys two wedding rings. That’s kind of the point.”
As soon as the clerk returned, my wife spoke up and asked for a discount. The clerk looked a little startled, and I’m sure I blushed. But then she said, “Okay, I can give you 10% off.” And so we saved some money.
The issue is that, to me, good salesmanship is all about trust — not something contrived, but real trust based on empathy and understanding, and delivering something that has value. I like to think that the product works as it is supposed to work, the price is what it is, and people buy if they feel that the value of the product meets or exceeds its price.
So I have to say that I really despise the classic “bait and switch” style of sales. While this may sound more like something that a con artist does than real-world, legitimate sales strategy, just about everyone is familiar with the concept of a “loss leader” or the “razor and blades” business model. To me, these are one and the same. Bring someone in under one pretense, and then commit them to something else that is more profitable. It is all about hidden costs and deceiving the customer, and I think it stinks.
Of course none of us is so naive that we underestimate what is going on. When we get a cellphone below cost from a wireless provider, we know that they aren’t offering charity — they are going to make all that money and more from us over the next couple of years while we are under contract to continue to use their service. But the relationship that this creates between buyer and seller is miserable. We will always feel that the service provider is trying to find a way to bump up costs on our monthly bill. And because we feel robbed of our freedom to walk away if their service turns out to be worse than we had anticipated, we are likely to be frustrated at even the most minor of service failures or inconveniences. Intuitively we understand that there is a disincentive for the service provider to do much to retain us, because our switching costs are high and so our tolerance for pain is also relatively high.
To me, this is all really an issue of usability. Or rather, usability is one way to evaluate the relationship between buyer and seller. It starts with the original purchase decision, and continues until the product is no longer useful or the term of service is over.
To me, loss leaders violate the usability principle of clarity, because they obscure the actual cost of the offering. They may also violate the principle of reliability, if there is confusion about the functionality or lifetime of the offering.
When it’s all said and done, as a consumer I will always choose the product that makes me feel most at ease. Though I might have to pay a bit more, at least I will not be looking over my shoulder wondering when it is going to break or when I will have to shell out more money for some adjunct service to make¬†the purchase worthwhile. As a vendor, I will always prefer to have my customers walk away feeling that they have chosen a product on its merits and paid a reasonable price, because then they will be most likely to recommend me to others, and to return to me in the future. In my opinion, this is the only sustainable way to do business.