Often in sales, people like to talk about “best practices.” Always have an agenda, always follow up, be 5 minutes early to everything blah, blah, blah. Here’s one. Honesty is the best policy. Yes, as our fouding father Ben Franklin says, all best practices should fall under the umbrella of honesty. This it the case for many reasons, some of which I will highlight further in this post.
Honesty makes you more like a person and less like a robot. Let’s face it. One big issue with being a “sales person” is that others view as more of a robot than a real person! As we have talked about in class, asking questions not realated to the sale, and getting to know the person are a big way to break down this barrier. Honesty and vulnerability help to dissolve this myth. Say a client asks you a question that you are unable to answer. Rather than lie, or make something up, be honest with them and say “I can’t answer that question right now, but I will find out for you.” First off, this makes you seem more human because as humans, we don’t know everything. Also, it let’s them know that even though you don’t know, you are going to do everything in your power to find the answer for them. Being vulnerable helps move the meeting from a “sales” discussion to a regular, personal conversation.
Honesty is crucial in todays information symmetrical society. As we talked about in class, we no longer live in a culure of information asymmetry. Buyers can do research online and find a million different sources and facts to check on, and compare products and services. Often the buyer knows more about the sale in terms of overall picture of what you are trying to sell them vs. their needs/wants, and so being honest is crucial. If yuo were to lie or make something up in a sales situation, but the buyer had done his research and knew you weren’t being honest, you would blow the sale, and probably never get business from that person ever again. Keep your business. Be honest.
Honesty aids your efforts as a brand ambassador. On the flip side, honesty can help keep and win a lot of business. Let’s say your price is higher than another companies’, but your lead time is much faster. Let’s also say your client balks at your higher price. You can humbly and honestly tell him, “Mr. Smith, although our price is higher, I know your time is of the utmost importance to you. With that in mind, I wanted let you know that we have guaranteed next day delivery. And if it doesn’t come next day, I will personally bring your product out to you.” Boom. You win the sale. Not saying that it is going to be that easy but you get the point.
Be honest. Be vulnerable. It helps.
BoweryJE22
this is a great post. honesty builds a great foundation for lasting networks and return customers
I think your thoughts here are great–honesty truly is at the foundation of all the best qualities of a salesperson. It boosts your relatability, improves your transparency (which serves to build customer trust), and communicates a value of the customer over your own self-interest. When you’re honest, you aren’t trying to manipulate your client into seeing your products as somehow valuable to them if they aren’t actual qualified clients. You are forced to truly listen to customers.
Honesty is the best policy. So many times, as Pink says, we are stuck with pre-determined notions of a salesperson. one of those is that they are dishonest. I think that individually, salespeople have the opportunity to change these notions, one sale at a time.