--- title: "Selling Stupidity: the story continues..." description: Home improvement sales people are not known for their intelligence, but this one took the biscuit - and dunked it... image: https://www.inflexion-point.com/hs-fs/file-302736315-png/images/paramecium-vertical.png --- This is a search field with an autosuggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. # Selling Stupidity: the story continues... ![Bob Apollo](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/78fa41976d534cacbb0e22e151bc6816) Post by [Bob Apollo](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/author/bob-apollo) September 11, 2013 ![Selling Stupidity: the story continues...](https://www.inflexion-point.com/hs-fs/file-302736315-png/images/paramecium-vertical.png) Home improvement sales people are not known for their intelligence, but the Anglian Windows sales person who just knocked on my door while I was struggling to get half-a-dozen urgent client projects finished was almost certainly in the lower quartile, which probably makes him the intellectual equivalent of a Paramecium. ![paramecium vertical](https://www.inflexion-point.com/hs-fs/file-302736315-png/images/paramecium-vertical.png)Without pausing to check whether this was a convenient time to talk (my body language undoubtedly indicated that is wasn’t) he went straight into his spiel, apparently not noticing that all our windows had recently been replaced by an organisation that employed sales people that at least had the basic ability to listen. Once this was pointed out to him, he then ran the full gamut of my unlikely requirements, including replacing my soffit boards, doing a rip and replace on my guttering, or changing the solar glass in my conservatory for, you’ve guessed it, another type of solar glass. ## An utter shower I at least had the satisfaction that I was listening to this drivel from the shelter of my comfily insulated hall while he was standing in an increasingly heavy shower of rain with the drops collecting on his cheap looking bright green clipboard. Let’s hope his canned pitch didn’t start to get all smudged and blotchy before he could unleash it on the next pensive punter. ## When is a sale not a sale? But, just as I thought I had heard it all (and was desperately trying to not hear any more), he delivered the piece de resistance. Upon being told I wasn’t interested in buying anything, he brightly responded “*I’m not trying to sell you anything - just giving you a quote*”. At which point he heard the reassuring sound of my recently installed triple-insulated front door being firmly closed. Who is training these sales people? More to the point, who is recruiting them? Do they really think that winding these unfortunate souls up to pitch without listening dozens of times a day is actually going to generate sales amongst any but the weak minded? ## The real customer experience Don’t they realise that spending millions on expensively produced TV ads featuring faded personalities shutting out fearsome gales is all for nothing if the actual customer experience - the one delivered by these excuses for sales people - just creates a negative reaction bordering on outright hostility? Now, hopefully your sales people have an average intelligence somewhat higher than the pond life that dripped onto my doorstep this afternoon. But are you absolutely sure that some of them aren’t antagonising their prospects rather than aligning with them? I’m not sure that the Anglian sales manager knew or cared. You need to… ###### Tags: [Complex Sales](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/topic/complex-sales) ![Bob Apollo](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/78fa41976d534cacbb0e22e151bc6816) Post by [Bob Apollo](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/author/bob-apollo) September 11, 2013 Bob Apollo is a Fellow of the Institute of Sales Professionals, a regular contributor to the International Journal of Sales Transformation and Top Sales World Magazine, and the driving force behind Inflexion-Point Strategy Partners, the leading proponents of outcome-centric selling. Following a successful corporate career spanning start-ups, scale-ups and market leaders, Bob now works as a strategic advisor, mentor, trainer and coach to ambitious B2B sales organisations - teaching them how to differentiate themselves through their provably superior approach to achieving their customer's desired outcomes. [Follow me on my website](https://www.inflexion-point.com) [Follow me on LinkedIn ](https://uk.linkedin.com/in/bobapollo) [Follow me on Twitter ](https://twitter.com/bobapollo) ### Comments ###### Related Articles ### [“If Only it Could Be Yesterday Again” – Rika and Sayuri Ishikawa’s Story](https://www.inflexion-point.com/Blog/bid/61730/If-Only-it-Could-Be-Yesterday-Again-Rika-and-Sayuri-Ishikawa-s-Story) Posted by **[Bob Apollo](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/author/bob-apollo),** **May 11, 2011** Jonathan Farrington is the inspiration behind this week's Sales and Marketing Success Conference in aid of the Japan Relief ... ### [Rethinking the Sales Pipeline: From Seller Stages to Buyer Journeys](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/rethinking-the-sales-pipeline-from-seller-stages-to-buyer-journeys) Posted by **[Bob Apollo](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/author/bob-apollo),** **Jan 06, 2026** For decades, sales pipelines have been built around the seller’s activities. Familiar stages like discover, qualify, demo, ... ### [When the Status Quo isn’t the Status Quo Anymore](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/when-the-status-quo-isnt-the-status-quo-anymore) Posted by **[Bob Apollo](https://www.inflexion-point.com/blog/author/bob-apollo),** **Mar 20, 2020** In most complex B2B sales environments, our most significant and consistent competition typically hasn’t come from another ... 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