Trying to steal the pro’s measurements
The first time this happened to me, I was a little surprised even though I had been forewarned by colleagues.
The customer asked me to quote a particular product. So after measuring and figuring, I presented the quote. The exchange went like this:
Customer: “Oh thanks, that looks great!”.
Me: “Do you have any other questions?”
Customer: “No – well – the only other thing I need is the measurements.”
As I mentioned, I was a caught off guard, so I fumbled a bit before informing the customer that the company policy was not to give out this information.
Others were less direct.
Customer: “What did you get for that window? I’m wondering how far off I was.”
Me: (offering unhelpful replies) “Oh, 35 & change” or “about 2 ½ feet”.
I caught some peaking over my shoulder and jotting down notes.
One of these sneaked up and snapped a picture with his phone.
“Very slick!” I said. He was embarrassed but would not own up to his motive.
You see, most of these folks have NO intention of buying…from the pro. They figure it’s a free consultation and they will use the pro’s numbers to order online.
One lady was a bit demanding.
Customer: “I need the measurements.”
Me: “Why would you need them?”
Customer: ”Because I’ll have to give them to another company so I can get a second quote.”
Me: “A reputable pro won’t want to trust my measurements, besides, you’ll want to see what they have to offer.”
Customer: “But they’re MY measurements!
Me: “They’re your windows but the measurements are mine”.
A smarter customer would let it go at that but…
I had a colleague who would encode his measurements by adding 2″ to each dimension and let the customer see and copy them. One guy called back furious. He had ordered high-end product online with the bogus numbers and was stuck with $1000 worth of product he could not use. Oh, well.
Give the pros the benefit of the doubt. We weren’t born yesterday.