(Op-ed by Peter Children)
Re: Front page feature in Sunday’s paper regarding the “at large” forum.
In many ways the feature story offered every thing but the option to choose your own color when the applicators arrive and unload the aluminum siding. Having once sold aluminum siding in my younger days, I immediately recognized a familiar ploy used in that industry.
This is how it works…and believe me when I tell you…. it works. The “contract” we used to spell out the terms between the customer and the siding company would be filled out immediately after the customer agreed to the installation. On the contract form we would use as much verbiage as possible in order to completely fill up all the space available on the contract form. The more words the better it looked to the “buyer” which in this case is you.
And we also threw in a few nine dollar words which looked impressive to the homeowner as well. It made them think we really knew more than we really did. In order to successfully sell, you must first realize that the buyer, which in this case is you, really wants to buy, they just need you to give them a plausible excuse to do so. Now go back and look at the article once more and see if you can find any of the traits I mentioned that coincided with what I just pointed out. One candidate consistently use more verbiage than the others to get to the same place, and that candidate was Kuhn.
Servantez on the other hand answered each question concisely and used the shortest path to get to the finish line. In effect she wasn’t there to side your house. When I sold aluminum siding we used to give away a free aluminum front door with your initial on it as an incentive, so if you are buying what Kuhn is selling make sure you get that free front door…with your initial on it.
Peter J. Children
