I was reading AR Ambassador Richard Wessier's recent post "Creating a sense of urgency amid a sea of complaceny" and it got me thinking about the typical attitude of sales people. I must warn you; I am generalizing a bit but I don't think I'm too far off from the truth.
Weisser mentions creating the sense of "overwhelming urgency" to make move people into a buying decision. This reminded me of scenes from the "Boiler Room" where the brokers would use this "sense of urgency" to make persuade investors to dump large amounts of money into stocks (in case some of you have never seen the Boiler Room, I will not say what happens next).
From the fly-by-the-night operations to the sleazy used car salesman to the <insert annoying sales person here>, our society has obviously developed a distaste for sales people in general. Consumers want to feel like they are in control. For those of us that are in sales (myself included), this phenomena has created the birth of the "I'm not a sleezy used car salesmen" sales person.
What is it about the used car salesmen that turns us off so much (we, too, are consumers when we are not working)? Is it the mental image of an unpleasant looking man with the slicked back hair using every sales pitch in the book? Or is our own feelings of insecurity, not wanting to get taken advantage of? It's probably a little bit of both.
The fear of turning a client off through the use of pressure sales tactics has caused the sales industry to move towards the opposite end of the spectrum: to be a door mat to be stomped all over. Our training tells us to be the expert. To be in control and direct the client towards the sale. But our instincts tells us to give everything to the client and take what we can get. Why? Because many of us don't want to give off the impression that we are a sleazy used car salesman. Therefore, we back off when we should push. Especially when the client wants us to push.
Over the years, I've learned that customers want to be told what they need to do. That is why they ask us for our expert advice. Instead, sales people give their customers options. Options means the customer has to make the decision. Usually, options come in the form of not as good, good, and best. This usually translates into cheapest, cheap, and expense.
I understand that customers have the right to choose who they do business with. If they have chosen you then it is your responsibility to make sure that the customer is doing the right thing. If your vision statement is "Do what's right for the customer" and you base all of your actions on this vision statement, then you can tell your customer what to do. You are not misleading your customer because your intentions are good. This is called ethical persuasion. If you are certain that your advice is the best course of action for your customer, be firm with your recommendation. Back up your advice through your past accomplishments and give yourself the credibility to be listened to.
The difference between the sleazy used car salesman and you is trust. Don't worry about pleasing your client's every desire because by doing so, you'll convince your client that you are not the right person to do business with. It is the client's choice to listen to your advice. If your client chooses to ignore your advice, they will soon find out how right you were. Never forget that you are the expert and don't ever compromise that just to please a client because more times than not, you want get a profitable sale anyway.
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