Fear of Commitment and Satelite TV
I’m fed up with the cable company. I called the number on the satellite-TV brochure and made it very clear I was fact-finding and not buying. It became clear to me that the people answering the phone were there for one thing only; to close a sale. Here’s how it went: Ring, Hello I need some information about… Oh, let me transfer you to… after being transferred repeatedly —a quick trip to India where conversation lasted about 30 seconds until the foreign guy realized he couldn’t move me from questions to purchase– I finally ended up back in the US. A young all-American sounding “Amy” picked up my traveling [roaming] call and went through her scripted greeting. I told her I was just getting information. She proceeded to tell me about the benefits of satellite d-TV. All the while looking for opportunities turn me to a buyer and close a sale. I was amazed at her dexterity in listening and countering my questions with an open door and an invitation to just step right through and seal the deal today. She worked hard to close, and I worked hard at saying “no.” I had steeled my self to not commit. For me non-commitment was a situational choice. For some it is a character flaw, or the manifestation of a deep-seated fear of saying “yes” and then regretting the decision.
Why do people avoid commitment? Why did I resist the siren call of cheap TV, free dvr, free HD box and billions and billions of channels for 24.95 a month? I wanted to know all the fine print. What are the hidden costs? What are the surprises that will show up on my bill in 12 months? Simply put, I didn’t commit because I wasn’t clear about what this thing was actually going to cost. I didn’t want to cinch the deal and then get an unexpected bill for a life-time obligation of hard labor just to be able to watch CBS.
I wasn’t able to buy in to the sales pitch because I wasn’t clear on what I was committing to. If the salesperson had just referred me to a website that would itemize everything I will be billed for, how that price will change in a year, what I could expect without surprises, I would have bought in. As it stood, all the salespeople were pressing for closure and vague about those pesky little details like … well, Sir, at the end of 12 months your bill will go from 24.95 to 71.45 per month… No, after my phone call, I wasn’t ready to commit. That’s for sure.
I used to work with single adults at my church. I often joked that if you wanted to break up a single’s party, just shout out the word commitment! The guys would scatter like cockroaches when the light comes on. Why are terminally single guys so terrified of the word? I suspect it is that they aren’t clear on what exactly they are committing to.
The Bottom Line: Fear of commitment results for a lack of clarity in expectations. Clear expectations, whether good or bad can be faced, accepted, and that makes commitment and buy-in possible.
PS… Enjoy The Commitment Phobe
