The Hard Sell
By LESLIE ADRIAN
SALESMEN and advertising ex- ecutives are proud of the kind of nagging approach to selling that they call the 'hard sell.' Sales resistance is there to be broken down, and some of these gentlemen will go to any lengths to do it. The British Code of Advertising Practice goes some way towards pro- tecting the private citizen from the old trick of putting a coupon in the advertisement, then sending round, not a bunch of cir- culars or a sample, but a well-trained, tough- talking salesman. It once took me two hours of a precious evening to persuade an Encyclo- predia Britannica representative (whose fire I had drawn by innocently filling up an inquiry coupon in a newspaper) that I did not want to buy twelve unique volumes bound in full red morocco. Years later, when I spontaneously thought more seri- ously of buying a set of Encycloptedia Britannica, it was the memory of this ghastly evening that stopped me doing anything about it.
The Code says on this point, 'Where it is the intention of the advertisers to send a represen- tative to call on persons applying for particulars of the articles advertised, such fact should be
apparent either from the advertisement or from the particulars subsequently supplied and the recipient should be given an adequate oppor- tunity of refusing a call.' For some traders, to give the sucker the faintest opportunity of refusing anything would be the height of folly. .1 cannot see any way, short of legislation (and that would be interpreted as an infringement of individual liberty, no doubt), of stopping the unscrupulous. They are not going to take the slightest notice of the Advertising Standards Authority. And they care little about the liberty, in terms of privacy, of others.
A reader complains of the practice of tele- phoning a potential customer at home (he was disturbed on a Sunday afternoon by Renault, who offered him a car to try). I recall an occasion when I was telephoned repeatedly at my office and at home by a Canadian life assurance com- pany who wanted me 'to accept a leatherbound address book with my initials lettered in gold.' But they would not post it to me, as I sug- gested. They wanted to give it to me personally. and then, presumably, try to compel me to take out an insurance policy. They kept after me for two weeks, at which point I was exceedinglY offensive to the caller (a young lady with a pleasing voice). The calls ceased. There is nothing in the Code about this kind of nuisance, yet I am sure that the Advertising Association would not defend it. To illustrate the cool self-confidence of the perpetrators. let me quote from Renault's letter to my corre- spondent. 'Naturally we regret that you should consider a direct approach of this nature "un- desirable practice" but feel that if you had, availed yourself of the opportunity you wont" agree that the Renault R 8 justified such an ' approach.' The practitioners of these irritating arts have lately discussed the advantages of `telesales (Yon can depend upon them for the ugly jargon match their activities) over direct mail. One nt these is that the telesales operator 'cannot be consigned unread to the waste-paper basket.' Re- sponding with professional alacrity to this, judgment comes the comment, 'However, I should have thought that there was a great placer for telephone selling following a mailing in orde to make appointments for the sales force. . The only defence, then, is to destroy all eft; culars unopened, refuse to answer the telephone er and ignore the front door bell. Otherwise, th may follow the ordeal that was undergone bY 3 Spectator reader, again at the hands of Encycio- . predia Britannica, whose methods do not see° , to have changed much in the last ten years. He Was got at by the phoney market-research ploy. Vhe salesman arrived, accompanied by a friend, speedily disposed of the questionnaire, 'which was incredibly- naive,' and then embarked upon an elaborate selling routine which proceeded from a request to use the victim's name in an adver, tisement,via a request for the names of fain' other Prospects, to a firm demand that he most have 'today' a decision about buying a set of ER.
1 he price began at £258, with several premium otters tossed in as lures, and descended gradually along a series of easy payments offers (interspersed with negatives from the prospect) to a 'cheap' edi- tion at £132. My correspondent comments, 'It's horrifying to think of the number of people who are pressured by that nasty "decision today" con- -thtion into a commitment they can ill afford. It IS made worse when one realises that the price can be forced down by such an enormous arnount.' - Unfortunately there is no protection for the Public from this kind of nuisance, and perhaps the time has come for the Code of Advertising Practice to be amended to include a reference to doorstep selling. A recent book summarising the law in this connection, Modern Adverasing Law, hy Peter Langdon-Davies (Business Publi- cations, 21s), has nothing to say on the subject at all.
Instant vin rouge is a joke of course (though I hear that they are canning it for the French Army) but instant garlic or, as the makers dub it, lazy garlic is not. Made in Italy, and retailed in a plastic container shaped like a head of garlic, it comes in the form of a brown powder that you are supposed, presumably, to spray on your food. Compared with a freshly crushed clove of the real thing, Agliolina, as the Italians have named it, gives me the feeling that laziness must be the deadliest of the seven sins if it leads to things like this.
When Lord Hailsham paid his celebrated visits to the North-East it is possible he over- looked a product that has not been much heard of outside the county of Northumberland. On the Holy Island of Lindisfarne (whence came Bishop Eadfrith's famous gospels) they have been making a herbal liqueur, using malt whisky and honey, for centuries. The only place in London that sells it, to my knowledge, is Fortnum and Mason. Lindisfarne isn't cheap at 50s. a bottle, but it makes a patriotic change from Drambuic.
Among the specialised holiday organisers Erna Low is to be congratulated on her initiative in arranging three for blind people, mainly centred upon musical events. She hopes to col- laborate with the Organisation for Blind People in Florence as part of art Italian fortnight. In Switzerland she is arranging a holiday at Rossiniere, Vaud, to coincide with the Montreux Music Festival. Her third plan is for a week at the Edinburgh Festival in late August. The Erna Low Travel Service is at 47 Old Brompton Road, SW7 (KENsington 0911).
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