Sales Ethics-To
Tell or Not To Tell
Here’s
a great question I received the other day while doing a training program on
Sales Ethics. “If I
don’t tell my customer about a certain feature we don’t have, is that lying?”
Excellent question!
EXERCISE:
1) Make
a mental note of what you think the answer is?
2) Now,
give a reason to justify your answer before you read the rest of this article.
In
order to answer this question fully, let’s take some scenarios:
Scenario 1: The customer asked about that specific feature, how do you
answer?
A good salesperson would answer the question honestly by saying they don’t have
the feature and then go on to emphasize all the other great features-benefits
that product does have.
Scenario 2: The customer never asked about the feature, so should you
mention that you don’t have it?
This scenario has a two-part answer.
Answer 1: If the customer never mentioned directly or indirectly (explicit or
implicit) the need for a feature, my answer would be “NO”, you don’t have to
mention your product doesn’t have that specific feature. Why bring up an
objection that means nothing to the buyer? Doing so will only make the
buyer wonder what else you don’t have and it can create a more difficult sales
process.
Also,
some customers will seize on this weakness as a way of leveraging the
salesperson to lower their price or make other concessions by ‘pretending’ it
really was an important feature under consideration. If this happens to
you, it is the customer who is now being unethical.
Answer 2: If during the course of the conversation the customer either states or
hints of the need for that specific feature, then “YES, it is your obligation to
inform the prospect that you don’t have the feature. Not doing so would be
unethical.
Scenario 3: If during the sales investigative process you realize,
even though the customer doesn’t, that they could benefit from your
‘missing’ feature, should you then mention it to your customer?
My answer would be “NO” with a minor caveat.
First,
it isn’t your responsibility to educate your client on what ‘they’ need,
especially if your product falls a little short. Remember, you’re a
salesperson at this point, not a consultant. You’re paid by your company to
sell, not to divulge information that could hurt your company. Informing
the customer and undermining your sales may get you brownie points with the now
not-so-potential client, but will kill your sales revenue.
Now, for the minor caveat. If you’re looking to establish a long term
relationship with this customer because: a) you’re selling them other
products/services or b) you want to build credibility, then I would say the
answer should be “YES” when it comes to disclosure. By telling a customer
that they need a specific feature without them ever asking for it, and knowing
you don't have it, MAY (emphasis added) give you long-term credibility.
But like beauty, appreciation is in the eye of the beholder. Being
forthcoming and upfront won’t always guarantee you an ‘at-a-boy’ or the future
business, but it could position you as a company confidant; person to be
trusted. This positioning could be more lucrative in the long run and may
be worth sacrificing a minor sale.
In summary, your fiduciary duty is first to yourself, then your company and
finally the customer. I put YOU first because you must first insure that you are
not compromising your personal ethics neither for your company nor your
customer. Remember, at the end of the day when the deal is done, you’re
still stuck with yourself.
Walt
Disney said, "Decisions are easy when your ethics are clear." My hope here
was to help you define and refine your ethics so your decisions in the future
when confronted with the opening question, to tell or not to tell, will be
easier for you.
Download a
FREE copy of my book, The Corporate Inferno.
A Fantasy
Novel on Ethics in Business.
Good
luck. Victor Gonzalez
Victor
Gonzalez, leadership & business motivational speaker and author of the upcoming
book, “The LOGIC of Sales Success”. For more information on Sales
Training or Keynote, please contact Victor at
victor@thelogicofsuccess.com
Copyright © 2004 by Victor Gonzalez All rights
reserved. This article MAY be reproduced in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, as long as the author’s name,
website and email address are included as part of the article’s body. All
inquiries, including information on electronic licensing, should be directed to
Victor Gonzalez,
victor@thelogicofsuccess.com,
www.thelogicofsuccess.com
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