How many quotes should I get?
I would say that this quote below is the only one you’ll need to remember.
“It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that’s all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.” John Ruskin 1819 – 1900
The simple act of purchasing a product or service hasn’t changed, nor will it, as long as the purchasers remain human. We all like to think that we have a strategy when it comes to purchasing a product, to ensure we don’t pay too much or little, but instead get the right products at the fairest price.
Techniques deployed range from researching your purchase on-line, buying the cheapest, the most expensive or the going for the middle quote, you’ll only buy a brand name, or from a local supplier, you may buy something because you simply had to have it then and there, or you had a good feeling as you connected with the salesperson. In general, the professional salesperson knows how you think, listen, feel, speak and ultimately buy, it’s their job, the better they are, the more sales they achieve, the better their lives can be, whereas you, unless of course you’re a professional buyer are going to be buying our type of products hardly ever.
Countless books have been written and will be written to assist salespeople to try and get you to make your purchase with them and not a competitor. You could say its little wonder that salespeople have not got a glowing reputation and could be viewed as manipulators, and I would be no different in my mistrust of them as you probably are. The fact remains however that only a small minority of salespeople are able to sell sand to the Arabs, or ice to Eskimo’s and they are ones that you need to look out for, as anyone who can sell anything to anybody is a con man not a sales professional.
Therefore, what’s the difference between a bad salesman and a professional. A sales professional will have your best interest at heart, genuinely wanting to help you get the right package for you. They will listen more than they talk, they will have pride in providing quality products/services as they practise what they preach, you’ll receive expert inside knowledge, they will not mind you shopping about, nor will they be looking to knock the opposition and the most telling part is that they will walk away from a possible deal if its not right for you or the company.
How many companies you decide to get a quotation for is up to you, personally I think 3 is enough due to having it drummed into me from childhood, I have also bought due to many of the reasons detailed above, and fortunately I’ve not had a bad sales experience, maybe I have been lucky, who knows, but my advice is that to really make the right decision it has to be the combination that suits you at the time.A good sales professional will make dealing with them a pleasure, not a chore. Whilst it’s always healthy to remain a sceptic when purchasing, its also good to know that the best people are on your side, not their own.Buyer beware but don’t be scared into buying.
