I’m trying to buy a pocket door for our bathroom and discovered that Masonite manufactures the perfect one. I look on their website and find a local re-seller and the first one that pops up is Florida Lumber. Great, they are open Saturdays! Chris pops down to place the order. The door should be no more than $450
Florida Lumber suggests an alternative manufacture that will cost between $650-$1100 and take 5-6 weeks to order. They also tell us that Masonite is out of business. This seems odd since Chris and I were both on their website that day. Plus, we can’t wait 5-6 weeks. Chris leaves empty handed and calls Masonite direct.
Masonite is NOT out of business. They are alive and well, shipping products all over the US. Home Depot is now a re-seller so we call them, order the door, and are told it will be in in 9 days. Price is as originally expected. When we asked Masonite why someone would tell us a lie about them they responded with:
“Oh well, that’s what re-sellers do when they want to start carrying other products”.
SASS Lessons:
- This is the obvious one: DON’T LIE! Did I say that strongly enough? To the Florida Lumber leadership team: Is it common that your sales team lie to your patrons? How much business are you losing as a result? Why would you put up with such an unethical team member?
- Masonite: Why do you put up with this behavior from your re-sellers? Take them off your website. Driving potential buyers to Florida Lumber, knowing that they are telling people you are out of business, is knowingly driving customers away from you.
Remember, lying causes nothing but problems. Honesty and integrity is what makes a successful salesperson. <– Click To Tweet
Perhaps I should send them all a copy of Honesty Sells?