There are a couple of used car forecourts locally where as soon as I set foot on them I know I'm going to be subject to method selling and high-pressure sales techniques.

Cocky salesmen seem to think that they're going to sell a car at a fat profit everytime somebody shows the slightest interest in a vehicle. If you live in Hedge End, Botley and/or Swanwick I'm sure you know who I mean. Frankly, it puts me off visiting them, but I thought I'd have a quick look today to see what was around.

Sure enough, within a minute or so of walking through the gates, I was approached by a spotty salesman asking "How can I help you?".

 

"Well you could give me the space to browse please" was my reply.

"What are you looking for ?" was the salesmans response, ignoring my answer and obviously still keen to stick to the method.

"I'll know it when I see it", I said.

"We've got 400 cars in stock and can usually find something for everybody", said the salesman.

Which I essentially ignored, terminating the conversation with a nod and moving on to look at the next vehicle. Having won round one, I was finally left to browse in peace...

 

Actually, there were two cars on the forecourt that interested me, but knowing what the company is like and having established that they haven't changed since the last time I was there, I didn't enquire any further....

Other forecourts that I visited later in the day (outside of Hedge End) were more relaxed and the proprietor had a much more productive conversation with me. I was left to browse and went of my own accord to ask about particular vehicles that I wanted to look at more closely...

Which sales technique do you respond best to...?

And which is more successful overall...?