
Our First Response to a Sale — Emotional or Rational?
Yesterday, I went to shop for grocery from Big Bazar (an India grocery store chain).
Offer of sale
A sales guys approached me and asked me to buy profit card (a membership card issues by Big Bazar).
Cost of card was 10000 bucks and I could use this card to buy stuff worth 12000 (plus some occasional special discounts and offers) over a period of 12 months (using a max of 1000 bucks per month from this card) and any unutilized amount will be carried forward to next month (until 18 month). Which means, if I don’t shop for six months then I can use 6000 bucks (6 x 1000) in 6th month but I’ve to spend these 12000 in maximum span of 18 months.
Customer’s emotional response
My first response (mostly emotional) was no, I somehow felt, I’ll be restricted to buy stuff from here and I don’t come here often so I’ll end up wasting my money and most of the time, all these cards/schemes have some tricks (fine prints) which will be revealed later. The person kept pushing for it but ultimately I was able to push him away by saying
I’m just not interested in blocking my 10k upfront and use it conditionally (1k per month) and that too, at your defined conditions.
Seller’s emotional response
He moved away gracefully with a smiling face and asked me to talk to him in case I change my decision or need any further help !
The stimuli
While waiting for my turn in check-out queue, I saw a billboard talking about the profit card and almost at the same time, I saw that guy approaching other customers. Somehow it made me think , let me evaluate this card financially, so I asked below questions to my self.
Customer’s synthesis
- Can I afford this?
(Answer: Yes) - Is my money safe with Big Bazar?
(Answer: Yes, it’s a big company and doesn’t look going anywhere) - How often do I visit Big Bazar?
(Answer: 2–3 times in a year at least) - How much is my average bill on these visits?
(Answer: 12–15k) - How much is the benefit in terms of money?
(Answer: 2k (12–10k) + some occasional offers) - What are my other instrument/scheme options? Can I invest this money somewhere else and get better returns?
(Answer: One of the safest investment in India are FDs (Fixed Deposit) with banks and they yield around 7% return. Which means, if I invest 10k today I’ll get 10700 at the end of year.)
Customer’s decision
Whoa !
Within few minutes, the card changed from financially bad choice to a good choice (thanks to quantified questions). But I was still wondering why Big Bazar was offering such a card. I thought:
- It ensures them of 10k sale
- Limiting 1k per month allows them to sell more as most of the customers (at least the ones I know) spend much more than 1k on a single visit.
I called the guy again, asked him to point me to exact clauses for the claimed benefits in TnC & a few other minor clarifications.
I finally bought the card and felt happy that I’ll make 20% profit.
The analysis
How my negative emotional response turned into a positive emotional response !
I think, the graceful exit of the sales guy kept me away from thinking him of someone trying to trick me and it’s this good gesture of him which worked as a catalyst when a stimulus was provided by the billboard.
My financial calculations (hopefully not erred ;) ) and reasoning from Big Bazar’s stand point, convinced me of the genuineness and suitability (to me) of the product. However, I think Big Bazar could also have helped customers with financial analysis.
The lesson
Asking yourself questions, sometimes, may help you overcome the prejudice you are holding !
Comments
Thank you for reading !
I would request you to comment, if this was a good decision to buy profit card and what do you think of my analysis of Big Bazar’s decision of offering this card and what better could Big Bazar do?