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Words that betray our true motives
Talking our way out of sales
by John Graham
We speak forcefully and sometimes even passionately about serving customers
and taking care of their needs. We take special pride in these commitments.
At times, our words sound so sincere we actually convince ourselves of our
sincerity.
When a business seminar leader asks participants why they are in business,
the answers are instant. Away from the preying eyes of customers, the answers
reveal quite a different picture. “To make money!” It’s
always the first response. And it’s expressed with such speed and
conviction to suggest the question is so obvious it’s meaningless.
The phone rings and the salesperson says, “Let’s get together.
I want to work with you.” Work with me? That’s what
the caller says, but that’s not what she means. Work is a code word.
“I want to sell you something,” is the real message.
Or, another salesperson asks, “Do you want to save money?” Of
course we want to save money and that’s why we pass on this one. “Saving
money” is another code word. To save money, we must buy something.
As it turns out, the only people who are naïve enough to believe such
baloney are those who mouth it. These approaches are not working as well
as they did at one time. Fewer customers are willing to waste their time.
Customers are far more cautious and less willing to be led by the nose.
No matter how the sales pitch is couched, the goal is to get the money.
Even more to the point, it’s all about figuring out how to get the
money and run.
So much business language only exacerbates the con game that undermines
so much selling credibility. Here are a few examples:
1. We talk about “helping the customer,” but the real
goal is to load up the customer with as much as possible of what we sell.
That’s the way success is measured. Whatever it takes, just get the
customer to buy as much as we can. When we talk about “helping,”
we are often referring to ourselves.
If we’re selling to retailers, do we think about the next season?
Or the season after that? Won’t they remember what we did to them?
What will they think when they see how much merchandise they were left with?
Who cares? Either we’ll be gone or they will. And it will be on to
someone else.
This isn’t good selling. It’s stupid, even though it looks good
on the sales manager’s report! Understanding the customer’s
requirements and then preparing a purchasing plan so that orders flow consistently
over a period of time may not get you plaudits from the sales manager, but
it will produce a higher overall sales volume and a positive relationship
with customers.
2. We say they are our “valued customers,” but what
we really care about is shareholder value. The true objective is
to do only what’s absolutely necessary for the customer. Nothing more.
The customer isn’t king; the customer is a pawn to be manipulated
as needed.
The strategy that counts is to figure out how to get the most for one and
minimize what goes to the other.
In effect, our actions teach salespeople to be duplicitous. In
effect, we are saying that integrity doesn’t count. And then we wonder
why a salesperson misleads a customer!
We say we are committed to taking care of customers, but the actual goal
is to take them.
3. We talk about building long-term relationships, but we expect
short-term results. We devote our time, energy, and effort into
looking at the number rather than looking at the customers. Our backs are
to the customer. They are only important in terms of what they can do for
us.
An ad agency’s art department made a substantial investment in a high-end
color printer. When it arrived, the “installers” announced that
their role was limited to taking it out of the carton and placing it in
the office where it was to be located. “Just follow the directions,”
one said. “If you need help, call the service department. But that’s
billable time.” And with that, they were gone.
This was a national company, one of the best-known names in its industry.
Without question, this company has only one interest: short-term results.
4. We make a point out of staying close to customers, but once we
get the order, we’re gone. Is it any wonder that customers
today are taking long and longer to sign the order? It makes perfect sense.
We all know that the moment we sign the order, it’s all over! The
salespeople, the support staff, and anyone else packs their bags and are
gone.
No wonder customers hold out as long as possible before consummating a deal
or signing an order. They want to get as much help and information as they
can up front because that’s when the salesperson is attentive, helpful,
and responsive. We know it will all end with the stroke of our pen.
When will we get the first-class treatment again? When the company wants
to sell us something.
5. We see ourselves as high-minded but we tell them anything that
fits our purpose. On March 27, Arthur Andersen ran a double-truck
ad in the Wall Street Journal with the headline, “Injustice for all.”
The ad copy was brief:
One indictment.
28,000 Andersen U.S. men and women.
5,200 retirees.
85,000 family members.
All put at risk.
It’s simply unjust.
Really? The ad makes “one indictment” sound as if someone was
caught speeding, even though what transpired amounted to a wholesale betrayal
of the most rigorously guarded business profession of all: public accounting.
Amazing as it may seem, Andersen, like others in similar circumstances,
would have us believe that it is the victim. Why is it so difficult to see
that it betrayed its profession and clients? Doesn’t anyone remember
Andersen’s involvement in the Waste Management debacle?
Isn’t it an accounting firm’s integrity that attracts clients?
It’s all over when an accounting firm’s audit function is compromised.
The deliberate and calculated destruction of Enron records affirmed Andersen’s
culpability. Where is auditing without an audit trail?
That’s not all. According to Matthew P. Gardner, managing director
of Aon Financial Services Group, the fall of Enron could have “a longer
lasting impact on world financial practices in business and insurance than
the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.” Gardner’s comments appeared
in The Standard, March 22, 2002.
Just one indictment.
Why did it all happen? Does anyone know? It doesn’t take much imagination
to think that greed became the guiding principle. And then the next step
is easy. Tell them anything to get out of the jam.
Then, we wonder why customers don’t trust us, why they doubt our integrity,
are suspicious of our motivations, and are less than convinced about the
credibility of our recommendations. The salesperson assures the printing
company president that “this is the right press for the type of work
you want to do.” Is it the right press, or is it simply the press
he wants to sell?
6. We talk about listening to customers, but we don’t take
time to hear what they’re saying. A study by Miller-Williams,
Inc., the research firm, indicates that more than half of sales pitches
miss their mark––the customer. While conscientious salespeople
seem to spend time preparing their presentations, 51% don’t fit the
customer’s personality. In other words, there’s a failure to
take the customer into account.
A community bank was ready to roll out a package of services for small businesses
when it was suggested that it might be helpful to try out the program on
a group of customers who would be asked to use the program.
During the session there was little interest in “banking products.”
At one point a successful retailer said, “Let me tell you what I would
like from the bank. Once or twice a year, I would like to sit down with
a couple of officers and pick their brains.” Why did he want officers
from the bank rather than his accountant? “The bankers sit on my side
of the table. They’re really interested in my business because they’re
lending me money.”
Most of the talk about “value-added” is just that, talk. All
that counts is what the customer values. Everything else is off-base, window
dressing, or nonsense. More than likely, all three. The task is to understand
how to deliver what the customer wants. If we don’t, someone else
will. Count on it.
In order to create customer confidence that translates into more sales,
it’s essential that business question its words, ideas, and concepts.
The objective is to cut through anything and everything that makes making
the sale more difficult.
The goal is to establish conditions that foster relationships that have
meaning for our customers. The objective is to enhance sales credibility
and to foster confidence in your customers so they are convinced that it’s
smart to do business with you.
© 2004 Graham Communications
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John R. Graham is president of Graham Communications,
a marketing services and sales consulting firm. Mr. Graham is the
author of four books on marketing and sales, including Break the Rules
Selling: Success Strategies that Beat the Competition (Superior Books).
Mr. Graham writes for a variety of marketing and sales columns for
business and trade publications and he presents his Magnet Power presentations
at company and association meetings. He can be contacted at 40 Oval
Rd., Quincy, MA 02170; by telephone at 617-328-0069; by fax at 617-471-1504;
or by email at j_graham@grahamcomm.com. The web site is grahamcomm.com. |
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