It’s Christmas Time in the City…
Which means it’s time for giving, for showing love to the less fortunate.
You’ll notice that from the increased number of donation letters in your mailbox.
It’s the season when every organization finds a way to give back to the community (while promoting itself to the public). *a win-win approach
Now, I don’t mind giving a little bit of something. I’ve already done that through other (donation) commitments but one thing that I haven’t done before was to be a part of a “donation hamper” to a less-fortunate family.
This “act of sharing” (I became part of) was initiated by other employees at work.
We were split into different teams. Each team is assigned a family they will give gifts to. And each team member is responsible for buying a gift for one of the members of that chosen family. The family member we were assigned wanted a vacuum cleaner.
Now vacuum cleaners are not cheap. And so we split the price 3-ways. I checked out the “discount” stores and found one that was 50% off (at Canadian Tire). While that sounds like a good deal (which it was) the shopping experience wasn’t as good as I thought it would be.
Not sure if this is a “guy thing” but my shopping strategy is simple: Get-in. Buy the stuff. Get-out.
**The Plan**
- Head straight to -the vacuum section
- Find the vacuum
- Place vacuum in the cart
- Take the cart straight to the cashier
- Go home.
No more looking around for other deals.
Upon reaching the cashier, I was distracted by a…
Sales Person
She initiated the conversation by saying…
“You get 16% off on top of the 50% off you already got from that vacuum”
Conversation in my head: Hmm why not. But what’s the catch?
“There are no annual fees”
Conversation in my head: Ok so no fees. No catch I assume…?
“You receive coupons in the mail to get more discounts towards your future purchases at the store”
Conversation in my head: This does not benefit me at all. I rarely go to this store. I’m only here for the cheap vacuum. Not interested.
“It will only take about a minute to sign-up”
Conversation in my head: Oh what the hell, why not? I don’t mind helping her out if it’s only going to take a minute. It’s Christmas for f*cks sake. Why not donate a few minutes of my time and a signature for her sales commission. Consider this act as “helping”.
Then I said, “Fine…sign me up”
Note: By now, not sure if you already figured out but she is getting me to sign up for a credit card. She is a staff at the store. Not some random person walking around asking people for their personal information.
So she did her thing, scanned my license with this device that captured pretty much all the information she needed (in less than a minute). *technology these days
When everything is all done. I took out my wallet, pulled out my go-to credit card then the cashier gave me a “what-are-you-doing?” look and says,
“It’s already paid…”
“Sleight of Hand”
I was like “What?! How?”
“With the credit card, you signed up for…”
Then I responded with, “But that’s not what I want to do! I wanna pay for it using my existing credit card”
Credit Card Salesperson butted in, “Oh sorry sir, I did not realize, I thought you agreed to do that as I was mentioning it earlier” *BS
I was like “WHAT?! I didn’t agree with that. You assumed I wanted to pay for it using this new credit card” *in a calm but disappointed tone.
At this point, she knew she fucked up—big time.
But I kept my cool, I did not yell at her or caused a scene but I let my body language show her how disappointed I was.
She offered ways to fix her fuck-up but none of those options sounded good to me. They sounded complex and I didn’t want to add any more complexity to the situation. The fewer things I worry about, the better my life would be. So screw the complicated “fix”, I said…
“Screw the fix, let’s leave things as is and move forward. I’ll wait for the mail and just pay it online later.”
That’s exactly the reason why I don’t want to sign-up for another credit card: to reduce the number of credit cards I need to manage.
I only need three credit cards:
- For earning travel points
- For back-up (in case a credit card goes kaput on me)
- For grocery discount points
That’s it, that’s all I needed – regardless of the discounts of getting another credit card can offer.
“Discounts” are overrated – you save more and the company also makes more (because you buy more; because you save more) *another win-win marketing tactic
However, it stings when you forget to pay for your credit card bills on time ESPECIALLY WHEN the amount you owe is very little (like $10.00). I get stung because the amount is so small that I forget about it. Which could then screw up my credit rating.
She kept saying…
“I’m really sorry sir…”
She must have said it for at least 10x.
She doesn’t really know how else to relieve my disappointment. But I can tell she felt sorry.
Side Note: Handling things in a calm manner, leaves a much heavier scar about the experience. I use “guilt” as my way of tattooing it in her forehead: Do not to use misleading sales tactics that fucks up the image of the whole sales industry.
Prior to this (as her way of winning my “business”), she would chat me up and drop “little compliments” mentioning how I’m polite, unlike other people who would tell her to “Go away!” like a leper.
I was polite because I understood that she meant no harm, that she was just doing her job. But after the whole “slight deception” thing happened, my “inner-asshole-self” couldn’t keep the thoughts in my head from coming out. I said something along the lines of…
“Now you understand why most people want you to fuck off. It is exactly because of what happened just now. I’m going to let this thing go. But I hope this doesn’t happen again. I could’ve been a dick and ask for the manager and complain about how you did things without my consent. Tsk tsk *shake my head* unethical…”
After that incident, she and I learned a valuable lesson:
Me: become better at catching the “catch” behind the sale
Her: do not assume and do things without the customer’s consent.
I don’t typically use the word “unethical”. That only came out because I’m studying…
Ethics
..in selling insurance.
As a salesperson, you are prohibited to do things your customer may regret in the future. You should always think about their best interest.
It was a bad call on her end for thinking she is doing what’s best for me. I can tell she is new at selling. That’s why I had to let her fuck up go because I wanted her to learn and share what she learned to others (while on her break talking to her colleagues about her fuck up). *Guilt takes a toll on you
But if no one gives her another chance, then how else is she going to learn? Anyway…
I’m finally done reading the textbook on ethics. Now I can do those practice exams with a higher chance of passing.
Or perhaps attend those free trainings because now I (at least) have an idea of what the training or studying session is all about.
Insurance License Update
The goal of acquiring my license is more impossible to achieve now especially that the holidays are coming.
There is almost always an event every weekend. Which makes it challenging to find the time and even get into the right mindset of studying – because everyone around you is too busy getting into the holiday spirit.
I’m happy if I can at least get certified.
Plus, I don’t want to deprive myself of enjoying the holidays too.
Looking back to [Week 1] when this journey of “self-development” started, I think I’ve achieved/grown a lot since then.
What about you?
I’m sure you’ve grown as well. Maybe not in the areas where you wanted to improve but I’m sure you improved in some way, shape or form.
I find it conflicting when people say “don’t change” or “stay the same” because in reality, we are constantly changing (little by little) every day.
Slow evolution – no not in a “monkey-to-human” kind of evolution but the evolution of becoming the better version of yourself.
