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Do you suffer from the "looter" mentality?
When I worked in sales, the 80/20 rule was definitely in effect - less than 20% of the salespeople produced more than 80% of the sales. In many cases it was more like 90/10, or 95/5.
When I work with salespeople now, the #1 problem I see is the "Something for Nothing" mentality, or as I like to call it, the "looter" mentality (thanks to Ayn Rand for that one), holding them back. Over 80% of the salespeople I hear from want to get the easy sales, but they're not willing to do the work and get the education they need to make that happen. A good example is when I release a product for, say, $97, and small business owners and marketers will review it and tell me it's so great I'm crazy to sell it for less than $500. Most salespeople, on the other hand, will balk at spending even $97 and will demand the information for free.
To make matters worse, many let this looter mentality contaminate the rest of their lives.
Here's an example: Back in March, a customer bought our Insurance Selling Secrets product for $497. It was stated right on the web page, and it's also printed on our return policy web page, that all products priced over $100 carry a 60-day return policy. Well, this particular customer returned it after about 90 days. When we refused to give her a refund, she disputed the credit card charge. Her bank sided with us and agreed she didn't deserve a refund. Then she re-disputed, and again her bank agreed with us. Then she filed a BBB complaint against us, and had an attorney mail us a threatening letter (although it was from PrePaid Legal which, as a policy, we ignore).
Now, think about this: How much money and how many sales could this person have made if she'd spent all that time working, instead of wasting her time trying to get money from us that she wasn't entitled to in the first place?
Here's a person who is basically trying to steal from us, while at the same time failing to work at her job.
No wonder she's not selling enough insurance. In fact, she didn't need our course. What she needed was to learn to focus on getting results, and not on chasing negativity and trying to get things she's not entitled to.
If you haven't read it, Brian Tracy's book "Something For Nothing" is a fantastic read on this subject, and why people like this are destroying America.
Posted by Frank Rumbauskas on November 13, 2007 | Permalink
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Comments
Have you asked her why she thinks she should be an exception to the sixty day rule? If she perceives herself to have a legitimate beef, perhaps it would be good to figure out why. There may be a bug in your product that is preventing total customer satisfaction, and it would be good to get the feedback so you can deter future disputes.
"A good example is when I release a product for, say, $97, and small business owners and marketers will review it and tell me it's so great I'm crazy to sell it for less than $500. Most salespeople, on the other hand, will balk at spending even $97 and will demand the information for free."
People have different preferences. Teetotalers won't buy Lafite Rothschild even at ten bucks a bottle. The internet economy has led to a lot of people giving away products for free in order to make money through other channels. It's a new and competitive marketplace
Posted by: Steve | Nov 13, 2007 1:26:45 PM
You're right, some customers have a legitimate beef and have realistic reasons to return a product.
The issue here, however, is that we offered a 60-day money-back guarantee exactly for those reasons. If you have a beef or are not satisfied with our product, you have 60 days to return it. If you don't do it in 60 days, too bad. Those are the terms you agreed to when you purchased.
Then the customer lied and came up with multiple excuses as to why she should be able to dispute the charge; none of them made any sense and none were true. In fact, it's illegal in most states to fraudulently dispute a credit card charge.
While you bring up a good point, here are my thoughts:
- About 1% of customers who buy a product carrying a money-back guarantee are planning all along to return it and never pay for it. This is a known statistic in the online marketing world.
- This customer had 60 days to return the product for a refund.
The internet may be a new and competitive marketplace. However, that doesn't mean people don't have to play by rules that they agree to when buying. There's nothing in the law that says contracts are not binding when internet commerce is involved. In fact, Congress passed the law that says clicking on "I Agree" is just as valid and binding as signing a physical contract.
Posted by: Frank Rumbauskas | Nov 13, 2007 2:00:15 PM
Well there's always a percentage of shysters out there.
However, my comment about the internet economy was directed toward your first example. Are small business owners and marketers buying your product for $97 dollars? One segment of a market may value a product highly, while another segment finds it to be a commodity. It may be time to start practicing price discrimination.
Posted by: Steve | Nov 13, 2007 2:10:12 PM
Hi Steve,
You're missing the point:
This customer used our product, failed to return it within the 60-day period, and then wasted endless hours using lies and deceit to try and get her money back anyway ... instead of directing that time and energy toward something productive, like her sales job.
You've brought up some valid points but they have nothing to do with the subject of this post. My refund rates are already below 1% so I'm not interesting in arguing about that here.
The point is to tell people to spend their valuable time on positive, productive pursuits, instead of being one of society's leeches who seeks to get something for nothing and who will do anything unethical to get it.
Posted by: Frank Rumbauskas | Nov 13, 2007 2:41:34 PM
You know, I am a bit late on this one. Everyone wants the Magic wand waived over them. Then we will all be perfect at what we do. Kids in school not doing well want it instead of executing a plan. This girl wanted it and Probably still won't execute. Everyone can try to develop the best laid plans in the worl but, without execution, it is all for nothing.
Posted by: Brian Frailey | Apr 16, 2008 7:58:06 AM
