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In a competitive consumer society effective sales technique is often the difference between a successful business enterprise and bankruptcy yet effective does not mean pushy. No doubt everyone who has purchased a motor vehicle, a house or other consumer product has a story to relate about pushy salesmen yet these encounters can sometimes be turned to your advantage if handled correctly, or in the very least you can have a little fun playing with a foolish, rude or overly pushy individual.

Dealing with pushy salesmen or women does not need to be a negative experience providing you remember and keep one key thought uppermost: you are the customer and you are the one who will make the final decision. Let them push as hard as they like but short of holding a gun to your head it will still come down to you making the decision to part with your money. Here are a few of my favorite methods that have served to make my shopping experiences more fun, and to deal with unwanted or pushy salesmen and women.

Pressure and Haste

There is nothing wrong with enthusiastic sales staff; in fact their enthusiasm demonstrates interest in both you and the product they are selling. There is a fine line between enthusiastic and interested, and being pushy or aggressive. The first time someone indicates in any way you should hurry, this is the time you should pay close attention to details. Ask yourself "Why the rush?" If a sale is genuine and the product is sound the salesperson has already deduced you are in some way interested otherwise you would no be in a shop or making enquires in the first place. This obviously does not apply when somebody approaches you but there is absolutely no reason to hasten any sale no matter the circumstances.

Telling you someone else is interested' or this is the last one left' is probably untrue and my immediate reply to kind of sales pressure is attempted is "OK sell it to them" or simply "No thanks" and I walk away. The look of realisation on their face when their method backfires is priceless and this is where the fun comes into the equation. I have not yet seen a sales representative successfully recover from this major blunder, reactions seem to vary from "umm well are you sure" (watch their face and body language when this happens) through to "OK OK I think I can do a better deal for you". This last reply is a classic because I immediately start to suspect all is not well with either the product or the deal being offered and start digging for more

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