Inexpensive and Necessary

by Yi Ok-young

"Agree to your customer's objection to persuade him to buy your product," said Donald J.Moine, a doctor of psychology who studied salespeople. He found that mediocre salespeople generally react to the customer's resistance directly, which every now and then leads the customer to dig in his heels all the harder. If Dr. Moine saw Korean sales clerks, he might consider them as mediocre salespeople. However, Korean salespeople are successful even though they respond head on to the customer's objection to price and necessity.

Korean sales agents do well in selling in spite of their disagreement with the customer's complaint about the price. Moine claims that the best salespeople use the objection pacing--match their remarks to the objections of the customer--to establish a mood of trust and rapport. Then they negate the objection and add the suggestions that lead the customer to buy. However, Korean salespeople, even with strong objections and no bond of trust with the customer, succeed in their sales by convincing the customer of the proper price through explanation of the pricing. That is, when the customer expresses the complaint about the price, the Korean shopkeeper tries to undermine the customer's dissatisfaction with the price by explaining why the product deserves that cost. The clerk shows the customer the product's special function or added new technique, and says that he is selling the product at the lowest price in the market. The salesperson explains the pricing in such a confident manner in order to make the customer feel that he is ignorant about the product or that he knows less than the sales agent. This salesperson makes use of the fact that the average Korean hates to lose face. In this case, the Korean customer tries to save his face by agreeing with the salesperson, "Oh, I know that. That's right." Then after the Korean customer is persuaded of the suitable price, he regards it as useless to go around looking for a cheaper price, which accordingly leads the customer to end up getting the merchandise. For example, one day in a Samsung computer store, I complained to the sales clerk that the model of M7220WD000 was too expensive. Then the sales agent resisted, "This Pentium 4 processor with 128MB rambus DRAM is produced recently and is the best-selling product nowadays. If you search more computers and compare the prices, you will definitely see that it is an appropriate price." After I heard the clerk, I thought I was ignorant about the computers and felt no need to go to another shop for a cheaper one, so I bought that model. Another example of the seller's not pacing the customer's objection to price can be found when a customer asks the shopkeeper to cut the price. When my mother and I found a nice cherry-colored dresser in one of Jang-In furniture stores last month, we asked the sales assistant to sell the dresser at a lower price. However, he insisted that 990,000 won was a giveaway price. In addition, he said that he would have little profit margin or lose money on that deal if he gave the price cut, and asked us to consider the production cost. Afterwards, my mother and I admitted to the salesperson that we didn't think of the production cost and purchased the dresser at the proposed price by the salesperson. Koreans would be likely to buy the product if they hear a nice explanation of the reasonable price from the salespeople.

In addition to the salesperson's rejection to admit the customer's complaint about the price, Korean salespeople are successful in selling their merchandise despite their resistance to the customer's objection that he doesn't need the product. Even when a customer denies the need of a product, the sales agents constantly recommend the customer their merchandise. Through disagreements and direct suggestions, which Moine pointed out that those are the mediocre salesperson's sales pitch because with no common ground they lead the customer to strengthen his objections and not to buy the product, Korean sellers provoke the customer to desire that product. These salespeople are successful in persuading customers to get the merchandise because they capitalize on the Koreans' tendency to possess by rejecting to recognize the customer's need of a product. Koreans went through the poor times up until around 1980s, and they are now relatively wealthy. These people, who were unable to have what they need due to poverty, hope to possess things that can make them comfortable or somethings to boast themselves. In other words, if Koreans feel that certain product can help them look nice, they are inclined to have that goods even if it isn't really necessary. Consequently, Korean salespeople take advantage of this character by insinuating that their products are needed to live a more decent life or make the customer look gorgeous. The salesperson praises the customer for the wonderful looks, and reminds the customer of the joy of having that product by giving the customer an experience of using the product. Then the Korean customer is tempted to have the product to keep that feeling on, and at last buys the goods. When 100 women from the age of 20 to 40 were asked if they have ever bought an unnecessary thing by the seller's persuasion, 82% of them answered "yes." This majority of people buy unnecessary things because they cave in to the salespeople's insistence. One example that shows the seller's resistance to the customer's need might be the case when my aunt entered an electrical store. Even though she looked for a television, not an oven, the sales assistant suggested she have a newly advertised oven. The sales person described how it would be convenient with the oven and how much her children would like some baked food in the oven. My aunt told me if she bought that oven, she could live a more comfortable life. After a few minutes, she, who at first planned to purchase a television, gradually became inclined to have the wonderful oven and bought it instead of the television. Likely, some salespeople recommend the customer other matchable items even though the customer intends to buy only one item, and finally sell the products. My friend Hyoun-a had an experience of getting a blouse along with a skirt even though she needed just one skirt. When she was about to pay for the skirt, the storekeeper repeatedly asked her to put on the skirt with the blouse and then stimulated her propensity to look wonderful and rich. The clerk said that it was really a wonderful match if they were worn together. Also, she added that not everybody could afford the blouse and it was recognized as an expensive and rare one. Hyoun-a, who envies the rich people and didn't have any luxurious clothes, was fascinated to get that one and finally bought it. Therefore, Korean sales agents are able to make the customer buy unnecessary things in spite of the disagreements to the customer because they make use of the Korean's tendency to possess.

In conclusion, although the Korean salespeople refuse to acknowledge the validity of the customer's objection to price and necessity of products, they make the customer end up buying the product. This success in selling goods is based on the fact that Koreans dislike losing their face and desire to possess things. These resultingly enable Korean sales agents to establish an agreement with the customer on the suitable price and to induce the customer to want to have that product. Korean salespeople might be able to weaken the customer's objection and sell the product as long as Koreans have such characters.