I was looking to buy a mattress, but it never occurred to me that mattress sales people can be like used car salesmen. I walk into the first store, Sleepy’s, and this pretty girl comes up to me and starts showing me mattresses. She is having a hard time showing me something that I like and within my price range. Finally, she shows me something a few hundred dollars over my price range and starts the “let me see what I can do” game.

As a side note, she seemed inexperienced in sales, while at the same time, this was the only mattress she showed me that actually felt comfortable.

Anyway, after telling me that the mattress that was normally selling for $1599.00 is only $1299.00 without the box spring, I tell her that it still is $600 more than what I’d like to spend. That’s when she quickly remembers that there was a recent sale and she goes to the manager to find out what the sale price was. Well, it turns out that in the most recent sale they had, the mattress sold for $1099.00 and she would be willing to extend that price if I bought on the spot.

Needless to say that I insisted that I want to go home, sleep on my mattress, compare, and come back the next day. And that’s when the big guns come out: “Let me talk to my manager and see if he can do anything better”. Poor me… I thought that this was a car sales technique only.

Of course the deal only went down hill from there. The manager starts asking what it is that will get me to buy the mattress on the spot!!! He doesn’t understand why I would want to compare with my existing mattress and that, since I like it, I should buy it immediately. And of course if I was committed enough to buy it on the spot, he’d do something better price wise.

Talk about pressure! Thanks, but no thanks.

Then I go on to the next store, Mattress Discounters. There is a salesperson there, who has been in the business for 15+ years. He knows his product. He explains everything to me. He takes his time to show me around different types of mattresses, at different price levels, so I can compare. He does not even mention price. He knows anatomy better than a trainer. And, did I already mention, he never brings up price! He just educates me.

When the time comes to make a decision, I ask about pricing and he gives me the different prices. At this point I tell him that I need to compare with my mattress, and that I will go back the next day. He doesn’t try to get me to buy on the spot at all. He just offers to throw in a cover and honor a 10% discount coupon that they have in their website when I return.

We part ways. I go home, go back the next day and buy the mattress. I ask if they can deliver the following day, and even though it is a Sunday evening he calls me back before closing to tell me that he managed to arrange the delivery for the following day.

Do I hear customer service? Pre and Post sale?  – I think so.

Customer service sells.

- Buddha

Not much else to say right now because I have to get to the airport, but I will post more details in the next few days.

Anyway, it’s been a while since the last time I posted anything and that is for a good reason. I am working on launching a WordPress based site that kicks butt. After all the testing is done, probably a few more weeks, the theme will beavalable as a Premium Theme.

All I can say now is that a theme like this has never been done with WP before. More on this soon.

Joshu asked Nansen: `What is the path?’ Nansen said: `Everyday life is the path.’

Joshu asked: `Can it be studied?’

Nansen said: `If you try to study, you will be far away from it.’

Joshu asked: `If I do not study, how can I know it is the path?’

Nansen said: `The path does not belong to the perception world, neither does it belong to the nonperception world. Cognition is a delusion and noncognition is senseless. If you want to reach the true path beyond doubt, place yourself in the same freedom as sky. You name it neither good nor not-good.’

At these words Joshu was enlightened.

Mumon’s Comment: Nansen could met Joshu’s frozen doubts at once when Joshu asked his questions. I doubt that if Joshu reached the point that Nansen did. He needed thirty more years of study.

In spring, hundreds of flowers; in autumn, a harvest moon;
In the summer, a refreshing breeze; in winter snow will accompany your.
If useless things do not hang in your mind,
Any season is a good season for you.

20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out in Life

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring.

The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”

“Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”

As of today, every post will fall under one of 7 categories. More will probably be added as needed but for now it is just seven. Cheers!

I am starting to think that I should start running these domains on my own platform soon. In the meantime I am in the process of customizing a new CMS platform where I will run a new-old publishing network. I used to operate a network of sites with daily b2b news. At the time there was no AdSense and the whole thing was a journalistic endeavor. After I sold most of the assets to a larger online publisher I let some of the domains expire while I kept other and shut some down.

In the past couple of months I purchased some of the domains I had let expire, and I am preparing to get the whole thing up and running again. This time it will be tweaked to require minimal input from me as it no longer is a journalistic endeavor, but a domain monetizing project. Having said that, I think many will agree that if the content under each domain is relevant and of quality, then the revenue will reflect that.

I just need to finalize the layout of the sites and we are up and running.

The truth is that, prior to parking them with Sedo, most of those names where collecting dust because I didn’t have time to even built a landing page. But two of those domains had their own mini sites prior to Sedo parking and they were doing much better than they are now.

Which means that I need to move my domains to my own landing pages and put some decent content there. I bet that the $3 that Sedo makes me will multiply by 3. Now if I can only find the time…