They probably don’t. We’ve known for decades that “sales people lie.” I know you don’t (no one every admits to it), but prospects THINK you do. And of course, we know prospects lie.
Seth Godin’s blog this weekend about Vague Claims was about the realtor who advertises “Top 10 Realtors In Nation.” He maintains, if you can’t be specific about something don’t claim it.
We say, “If you have to lie to get noticed, then don’t expect the rest of the sales relationship to be based on honesty.”
This is especially true of you sales people who come in to the prospect’s office making un-demonstratable claims. “We can save you money!” “We’ll enhance your business.” “We’ll get you on the first page of Google.”
Lies, all.
Then, we sales people flip out when we make yet another unsubstantiated claim–and the prospect doesn’t believe us.
Don’t you understand that you started all this lying by putting forth something without proof?
Solution: Make No Claims
Then, its easy. Besides, why are you so intent on making claims the prospect may care nothing about?
- The Realtor above says he’s Top 10 In Nation, but maybe I don’t want that. Maybe I want someone down the list that I feel can take care of me. Someone who has more time (and isn’t as arrogant).
- You say you want to cut costs for me. Maybe that’s not my #1 concern. (Be careful about that assumption.) Maybe it’s more important for me to know what those costs even are–before I can cut.
- You say you can “grow my business.” Maybe I don’t want that. Besides what “grow the business” means to you is totally different than what it means to me. (And you haven’t even taken the time to ask me about it)
Find out what the prospect wants–where their mind is–what’s on it–and why they invited you in. (Oh, you begged to get in? Trouble. We’ll have to deal with that one in the next post.)
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According to the late David Sandler, prospects lie – all the time! What’s more, it’s apparently morally Ok for prospects and customers to lie to salespeople – somehow the rules of situational ethics apply differently. But, the rules are usually written by those who also write checks.