Tom and Janet live in a nice middle class neighborhood. About two weeks before Christmas Tom received a call from a local lawn care company stating that they would be in the area doing lawn analyses. They stated that they would be happy to provide a free analysis of his lawn. Being in a hurry and having a slight interest in lawn care Tom said sure. They said that they would look at the lawn sometime within the next week and leave an analysis on his door.

About two days before Christmas Tom noticed the completed analysis hanging on the front door. He took the analysis and looked at it closely and discovered that the analysis really did not provide any valuable information. All the information was generic and contained statements like $$although we cannot see insects in the winter, they could be there $.$

Tom felt that this was not a true analysis because the company did not provide any real information and the analysis was done on a day when there was an inch of snow on the ground. Thinking that the analysis was worthless, Tom threw it in the trash.

Shortly after the analysis and after Christmas, the phone calls began. The salesperson, Fred Jones, was very persistent in trying to connect with Tom. Unfortunately for Janet, she fielded most of the calls as Tom was either out of town or busy. She finally told Tom that he should to talk to Fred the next time he called.

He did indeed call the next day and seemed rather personable at first. Tom explained to him that he had received his analysis and that the information was of little value as it was very generic. His reply was that unlike the major competitors like Tru$-$green, he kept his employees employed all year round rather than laying them off in the winter months.

Fred then went into a fairly compelling sales pitch about how he and his staff would do a great job and would do it at great price. He stated his price at about $$45\mathrm{.}00$ per application for six applications. As Tom continued to put up a resistance, Fred brought his price down to $$35\mathrm{.}00$ per application. Tom continued to put up resistance because he was not convinced that he needed a lawn care service. In the past, Tom had used a lawn service and discovered that he could do the basic care more cheaply on his own.

At this point in time Fred began to get frustrated and he began to repeat himself about getting a chance to do a good job and they would come back and redo the work if it wasn$$t right. Tom began to become frustrated because he obviously was not going to get off the phone until Fred got him to say yes. But in fact Tom told him no many times. At one point Fred changed tactics again by stating what a great price he was giving Tom and that he couldn$$t get it from anyone else at such a great price and that he knew that Tom couldn$$t do it himself for any cheaper.

Fred then asked Tom a particular question. He asked $$if I said I would service your lawn for $$5\mathrm{.}00$ per application, would you be interested $"?$ Tom said $$of course for $$5\mathrm{.}00$ an application who wouldn$$t$?$ Fred then responded with $$Aha$!$ So it is about price! $$ And then he proceeded to tell Tom again how he was giving him the best price out there and then he tried to close again by saying $$look$,$ let me just get your name and address confirmed on our form and we$$ll look at your lawn again in the spring and that way you$$re on our list.$$ Once again Tom said $$no$$ for the third and fourth time. Fred once again continued not to accept Tom$$s $$no$.$

Tom did not want to become rude with Fred, but Fred didn$$t seem to acknowledge that Tom had said no and meant it$.$ Ultimately after two more minutes of his incessant pushing, Fred finally got frustrated, immediately stopped the conversation and said goodbye and hung up$.$ He did not thank Tom for his time nor did he indicate any idea of calling him back another point in time. He just rudely stopped the conversation.

$1.$ Fred's Approach: Was Fred$$s approach to prospecting ethical or unethical considering the fact that he generated interest by offering a free analysis of Tom and Janet$$s yard, but did not deliver any valuable information? Why or Why not?

$2.$ Tom's Role: As a consumer was Tom$$s behavior ethical or unethical by agreeing to the free lawn analysis even though his interest in the service was limited$?$ Why or Why not?

$3.$ Fred$/$Competition: Was Fred$$s mention of the competition and his rationale for doing a winter analysis ethical or unethical? Should it have been as a part of his sales presentation at all?

$4.$ What other things could this Fred have done to save this opportunity even though he might not have closed the sale?