Too Good To Be True
I got another sweepstakes offer in the mail yesterday. With no money down and a few minutes to fill out a form, I could be entered in a chance to win $1 million dollars in cash. Then, I would also have the opportunity to be a member of this exclusive club which would undoubtedly continue to send me these exciting, limited-time offers for the foreseeable future. There might have been a magazine subscription included, I can’t really remember. My mother used to tell me that if something (or someone) seemed too good to be true, it probably was. It has been sage advice that I have applied to sweepstakes offers, job and volunteer opportunities, and relationships alike. It is also, perhaps not surprisingly, what your potential customers are applying to your own words during a sales call.
No one likes rejection. No one likes to have confrontation, criticism, or aggressive questioning laid out on the table in front of them. It’s part of what makes sales so difficult. As a result, salespeople have a tendency to want to reassure the customer ad nauseam about the choices that they are about to make. Unfortunately, experts agree that this is exactly the type of thing that can put your sales call in jeopardy.
Think back for a moment to that ill-advised high school romance. Consider for a moment how you assured friends and parents that you were certain it was something you would never, never regret. Then consider how you later tossed those prom pictures in the wastebasket with more than a little disgust the next year. Now stop and think how often you assure potential customers that they can be 100% confident in their decision and will never take a backwards glance. It smacks slightly of the false bravado you put on all those years ago when you assured your parents you were 100% certain you wanted to be a trapeze artist. And let’s face it, your customer has had his or her share of those moments too. As soon as those words leave your lips, they will immediately think of that time they decided to travel through the west without a map for the sake of “adventure” and ended up out of gas and alone on a desert road overnight. Don’t make those types of connections for them. Don’t overhype your product until it becomes one of those things that seemed like a good idea at the time.
Everyone knows how important phrasing is when it comes to making a successful sales call. Sometimes, however, even seemingly harmless phrases have a way of getting people into trouble. Be careful of using any phrase that might cause a customer to question your sincerity, especially when addressing their concerns or problems that they might have encountered. Reassuring is one thing, promising them that there won’t be any problems immediately raises suspicion.
We have talked a lot lately about how sales are really coming down to building trust between salespeople and consumers. Don’t turn your pitch into a sweepstake; just be sincere and positive. Being genuine in a sales call is a key component to being able to close the sale successfully.
