There is an expression in selling:

Never get in the way of a customer who wants to buy something!

Its practical advice, dont you think? After all, if theyre making it easy for you to profit, why slow them down?

Only a fool would do that, or so it seems.

For instance, in the car leasing business, there are some clients who want to have cloth seats, believing them to be cheaper, and perhaps more comfortable than vinyl or leather.

But on many models, having cloth seats actually makes leases much more expensive, because frighteningly few want to buy a used Cadillac with anything other than leather beneath their derrieres.

So, if the expected resale value is less, then the monthly lease payments go up.

Clearly, if the customer is driven by a need to save money, ordering cloth, is outright foolish, but the customer, particularly one waving cash in your face, is always right, isnt he?

Does the seller have a duty to set him straight, to try to talk him out of his choice?

If he does, might it be risky? Could he lose the sale, entirely?

What, exactly, is the ethical obligation of a salesman when a customer wants to buy the wrong thing?

If he really wants it, can it ever be wrong?