Be prepared to show what you “sell”

I just had a very odd experience earlier this week.

I’m trying to help my in-laws move out of their house into an apartment.  One came up for rent in a building they like.  I called the agent who was listing it.

“Are they looking at renting it now?” she asked.  “Because it’s vacant.”

“They might” I replied.  “It depends on whether they like it and if it meets their needs. If it doesn’t, then they’ll wait for the right one to come along.”

“Well, no offense”, she says, “but if they’re not going to rent it, then I don’t want to waste my time showing it.”

Nonplussed, I paused.  “Well I can’t really tell you if it will fit their needs until we see it.”

“Well I’ve just posted some very nice photos on the Internet.  You can see what it looks like there.”

What I said to myself was “You’re kidding, right?  Who rents an apartment based solely on photos that they see on the Internet?”.  What I said out loud was “If you want me to rent it, then I have to look at it before I can make a decision.  You decide if it’s something you want to do or not.”

“Okay, let me think about it and I’ll call you back” she said as we ended the call.

She still hasn’t called me back, and quite frankly I’m not holding my breath.  For her sake, I hope the reason is because the apartment has already been leased.  But the whole odd incident got me thinking …

I’ve always believed that if you want people to buy — buy your product, or your service, or even you — then you need to show them, clearly, in brilliant technicolour, the compelling value that you have to offer.  Which means that you do whatever it takes to help them see, first-hand, what it is that you or your product or your service does to meet their needs or make their lives easier.  Yet this lady was too lazy to even let me see the inside of an apartment that she wanted me to lease.

So … is this okay?  Am I being unreasonable when I expect that those who are trying to sell me their ideas, products, services, or even themselves will do whatever is necessary to make sure that I see the all the advantages and benefits that will accrue to me?  Or is this just an example of the new way to “sell”?  C’mon, tell me what you think — am I on the mark, or am I way off base?!