Is there no Truth in Selling?

 

A Sales Training event's advert included:…

"Prospects Lie to your salespeople and

they have no idea what to do!"

This especially caught my eye.

 

 

 

 

I am invited to up to 100 face-to-face appointments a year, as a Sales Coach.
As I sit silently, listening and observing, I hear Prospects not being truthful, sometimes by omission or sometimes by deceit. 

It is usually the 'less skilled' buyer who does this, in the belief that withholding and giving incorrect information help the Buyer's 'deal'.

However, Sales people provoke this in many Prospects -

by making exaggerated claims, and push style selling behaviours.
To change the Prospect's behaviour, I first change the Seller's behaviour.

Disclosure encourages disclosure,
open behaviour leads to open behaviour,
and Truth and Trust are a combination that runs together.

We cannot and must not "interrogate" Prospects, but the simple techniques of questioning and summarising overcome many of the "misunderstandings" caused by Buyer 'withholding'.

On the biggest question, "How much is my Competitor offering to sell at?" this is the only time I ask a Prospect for proof, to enable me to price match! <S>