I went to a timeshare presentation once, fully with the mindset of saying no. It was scary how, at certain points, I started to actually open up to it. But I just kept to my script, saying no, even when they pressed. At the end of the day I don’t need to convince them they need to convince me.
At some point it was done and I got my discounted theme park tickets or whatever.
But I can easily see how the high pressure sales process works on people. They have a bag full of manipulative tricks.
It’s funny when engineers think they are immune to sales and marketing. Strength is knowing your human weakness and avoiding it, rather than having super will power.
This was probably the influential topic I had in English class in HS (ads work on everyone, perhaps even especially on those who think they have no effect).
I took it to heart and consume extremely little media with ads, because they are so insidious.
I just tell them I have to sleep on all big decisions, which isn't a "no" so they have no recourse. Except the one time where, after multiple levels of sales people whittling down the commitment to around $500, the head sales person came over and said something along the lines of, "you're just here for the tickets, aren't you". That's the only time I even broke my script and said, "yes, and I've been here for 90 minutes, so where do I pick them up".
I went to one of those Disney vacation home pitches and the sale pitch was very convincing.
You've just paid about $10K for your ONE Disney vacation for your family of four. For just a little bit more, you could come to Disney as many times as you'd like, stay in your own modern condo and and have park perks. It essentially "pays for itself" if you take two or more full Disney vacations each year.
The sales pitch for any timeshare is similar. For slightly more than the cost of 1 trip, you could have 2+ trips (just pay for airfare!).
> At some point it was done and I got my discounted theme park tickets or whatever.
My aunt used to do this. Fit the profile of a mark - retired school employee from the northeast visiting Florida. She'd go on the hotel retreat or get a nice meal in return for listening to their pitch. Never budged on the high-pressure sales tactics.
I’m glad that my mind tends to instantly shut down anyone who starts to fast-talk me or pressure me into something. I don’t any big choices without giving it a week to cogitate in my brain. If they can’t wait on that then well it’s of high probability it’s a scam/partial truth/ReallyBadChoice(TM)
At some point it was done and I got my discounted theme park tickets or whatever.
But I can easily see how the high pressure sales process works on people. They have a bag full of manipulative tricks.