On Sun, 23 Sep 2012 14:24:49 -0700, Darren New wrote:

> On 9/19/2012 10:37, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> But in terms of selling a service, you want to be vague in this manner
>> to try to sell the service.
> 
> It's not so much that they're selling a service as that they're selling
> information. They package it as a service, because otherwise they can't
> get you to pay for it after they already delivered it. The problem with
> selling information is there's no way for the buyer to evaluate it
> before they already have it irrevocably in hand.

True.

Jim

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Reminds me of the time I got an out-of-the-blue offer for a job 
interview for a position selling life insurance.  I tried to tell the 
caller that I had no experience in that line of work (with the 
implication that he was barking up the wrong tree).  He said, with a 
level of dejection that I now suspect was feigned, "Well, it's not 
everyone who can make $100,000 per year," and ended the call.

Later I got a second call from someone else at the same company.  I had 
nothing to lose by coming to the interview, so I agreed and was given a 
time to show, at a conference room at a local hotel.

I got there, dressed for an interview and bearing a CV, and discovered 
that it was NOT a job interview in the sense of what we envision when we 
hear the words "job" and "interview" in that order.  Instead it was a 
pitch to a group of us (about twenty) to persuade us to enroll in a 
training program to obtain a life insurance sales license.  (If you work 
hard enough, you can earn $100,000 per year in commissions.  That's 
where _that_ figure comes from.)

The fee for the training was $100 (or thereabouts).  After the spiel was 
over, we were directed to line up to be processed separately.  When I 
got to the head of the line the lady handling things asked me for the 
$100 fee, at which point I told her that if I could come up with $100 at 
a moment's notice, I would not have come looking for work.  I added some 
more cross words that I will not repeat here.

That night I went back to job I already had.

Regards,
John

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