Sales Prospecting Perspectives

Sales Character: What You Do When No One Is Looking

  

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Just read a great blog by Bob Terson entitled, "What is your word worth" .  I could not agree more that honesty and integrity are the cornerstones of success in business and in life.  The following paragraph in Bob’s Book, Selling Fearlessly: A Master Salesman’s Secrets for the One-Call-Close Salesperson sums it up nicely.

In Chapter 41, Credibility, I said it this way: “Always tell the truth; get caught lying and you’re burnt toast—deservedly so. Don’t sell anything you believe is not in the prospect’s best interest. Don’t promise anything you can’t deliver, that’s a lie, too.” I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “Your word is your bond.” Truer words were never spoken. If it isn’t true, if you don’t mean it, if you’re not going to follow through, don’t say it! If you’re cavalier with your word, it’ll come back to haunt you, it’ll demean you in the eyes of the people you do business with, it’ll do untold damage to every aspect of your being. Don’t allow that to happen. I don’t care if you have to move heaven and earth, make sure you never break your word.

In my experience, many sales people, desperate for the sale are tempted to stretch the truth; some might even go farther in an attempt to make a sale.  I will tell you this, not only will this not help you get the sale, it will come back to bite you.  Your word and reputation, once lost can never be fully recovered. I tell my salespeople not to be afraid of objections, don’t avoid the tough conversations, in fact seek them out and address them head on.  You will show the prospect that you are honest and confident in the value you can provide.  By instilling confidence and setting proper expectations with your prospect, you will improve your close rate, your retention rate, and your referral rate considerably.  Doing the right thing, while sometimes difficult, always pays off.  Get it over with, have the difficult discussion now and you won’t have to have an even more difficult one later.

As a CEO and a Dad, leading a life of high character is more important than ever.  Over the past twenty five years I have seen a number of ups and downs and many opportunities to make decisions that would have had an immediate positive effect for me and my company.  Some of those decisions were no brainers where everyone wins.  Others were, let’s say borderline.  Not illegal, not necessarily immoral but borderline, I would benefit, the other party not so much.  Some would say that's the rough and tumble world of business, to some extent I agree, but only to a point, it has to feel right.

A few examples come to mind:

• We consistently go the extra mile for our employees.  Not surprisingly we enjoy some of the highest retention, referral, and productivity rates in the industry. 
• I recently negotiated in a very honest and straightforward way with our new landlord and was rewarded with a large concession on our rent.  
• We decided to go above and beyond for a customer even though they were in the wrong and we were protected contractually.  Our main point of contact upon taking a position at another company, brought us on to provide pipeline development for her field sales reps, and is now our biggest customer.  As a sales guy, there is simply nothing better than a repeat customer.

There are many good reasons to do the right thing.  One of my favorite sayings is “What goes around comes around”, I’m a big believer in Karma.  So go out there and do the right thing it will be good for you, your customer, and the sales profession.  Everyone wins.