Respect matters in every conversation, even in sales.

This woman was the one in charge of finances and utility decisions in her household.

A door-to-door salesman knocked on their door and overlooked her.

He insisted on speaking to “the man of the house,” so she decided to play along.

Read the full story below for all the details.

You want the man of the house? Fine!

We lived in a busy estate.

We were in a prime position for door-to-door callers.

Usually, they were fine and polite.

And if I was happy to listen to their pitch, then great.

If not, they were pretty good about hearing “no” and leaving me be.

This woman was in charge of all the finances at home.

In our house, all the utility bills were in my name.

Because I am the financial person in the household.

By mutual agreement, I am the one who knows how many beans make five when it comes to deals and offers.

Therefore, I decide our provider each year and negotiate the best offers.

I know the exact date we come out of contract and am generally organised in swapping suppliers.

A door-to-door salesperson knocked on their door, asking for the “man of the house.”

Sometimes, I do this with the D2D salesperson and other times online or via phone.

It just so happened one year that we had a D2D salesperson.

He knocked in for a utility that was pretty close to its contract end date.

He immediately started his pitch with, “Good afternoon, is the Man of the House there?”

She gave him an honest response, saying the “man of the house” was at work.

Now, straight away, that rubbed me up the wrong way.

I answered no, and he proceeded to ask me when he would be home.

I mentioned that he was at work, but he was welcome to call back after 5 p.m.

That’s when “The Man of the House” would be home.

The salesperson wrote this down in his book, nodded at me, and left.

The salesman was able to speak to her husband.

Sure enough, he called back after 5 p.m. and spoke to the very irritated “Man of the House.”

He asked the salesperson why he didn’t speak to me about all this.

The salesperson backpedaled so quickly and asked if I was there.

Sadly, I was out and wouldn’t be back until late.

But he was welcome to call over again tomorrow and see if I would speak to him.

She met him again, but the salesman was not able to close the deal with her.

As it so happens, I did speak to him the next morning.

With a beaming smile and a smug of tea in my hand, I thanked him for reminding me to check my offers.

I had switched online to his company a couple of hours before he arrived.

Then, I waved him a cheery goodbye.

I believe that would have cost him two sales, as I switched gas and electricity.

Let’s check out the comments of other people on this story.

This user shares a personal thought.

Here’s another random remark.

This person narrates a similar story.

The man of my house is my cat, says this one.

Finally, quick and simple.

Underestimating someone can be the quickest way to lose a sale.

That’s why we don’t hear this often anymore!

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.