You May Have an Ethical Responsibility to Make the Sale! (Conclusion)

A bit of self-aggrandizing

In the previous two posts, through the power of highly creative and transformative writing, I presented convincing and irrefutable evidence (“convincing and irrefutable”? Isn’t it great to be the author?), that you may have an ethical responsibility to make the sale. And, although initially, you may have had a difficult time getting your head around this concept, by the end of the last post, you were completely won over to my point of view. (You were, weren’t you?)

Okay. I’ll knock it off now before you hit the unsubscribe button.

And now, with appropriate humility, “your author” will return to reality and continue the article

Picking up from where we left off the last post (reprinted with my permission), here is the series of questions I put forward for your consideration:

So where do we go from here? How can we fulfill the ethical responsibility we may have to “make the sale”, do it “without pressuring the customer”, and still avoid having to be “talked off the ledge” the next time we miss a sale?

To address these questions, let’s begin by examining yet another excerpt from the previous post:

If you approach a prospect knowingly lacking in skill, knowledge, passion, or professionalism—just sort of “winging it” to make the sale—then that, my friend, is unethical.

The operative word is knowingly

If you approach a prospect not knowing that you don’t know, that’s not unethical. It’s not exactly good for the customer, but it’s not unethical. In fact, if anything, it may point to a lack of morality on the part of your sales manager. If he or she knows that you don’t know (i.e., you are lacking in skill, knowledge, passion, or professionalism), and they still allow you to go into the field without the proper training and coaching needed to ensure success (a.k.a. make the sale), then perhaps it is their character that should be called into question.

Likewise, if you approach a prospect knowing that you don’t know all that you need to know, and yet truthfully disclose the limits of your knowledge, that too, is not unethical. Again, working with limited skill or knowledge cannot be considered an ideal situation for the customer, however, something certainly can be said for honesty—it is an indispensable attribute in the pursuit to fulfill the ethical responsibility you may have to (ultimately) make the sale.

And now, without further “ado” (archaic 14^th century phrases are such a hoot), I present the following literary segue to gently transition you to the next thought:

Winging it is what usually happens just before the pressuring begins.

Pressure is a poor substitute for professionalism

Simply stated, “pressuring the customer” is morally unacceptable. So then, how do you fulfill the ethical responsibility you may have to make the sale without the customer ending up feeling pressured? The answer is found in the quality of your presentation, and in the passion of your delivery.

When you deliver a passionate, well-rehearsed, and polished presentation, one in which customer need is first established, and then your product or service is clearly and logically introduced as the best solution to address the need, the probability that you will make the sale without the customer feeling any pressure to buy dramatically increases.

In order to inspire your customer to action, you must be prepared to present your product or service so passionately, so professionally, so perfectly, that it builds the customer’s desire to buy from you. The key to making the sale without pressure is to make the presentation so compelling that there will be little need to actually “close the sale” in order to make the sale. Do this really well, and the customer will all but fill out the paperwork for you!

Pressure is what the customer feels in the absence of professionalism.

Staying off the ledge

Regardless of how deeply skilled or knowledgeable you are, irrespective of the amount of passion or professionalism you exude, remember, keep things in perspective. It’s just not possible to make every sale. Should you feel any subtle “tinge of discomfort” creeping up on you someday after missing one, spend a few minutes in honest reflection and ask yourself why you feel the way you do.

If you can pinpoint something specific that you could have done better that may have made a difference in the outcome (i.e. “If I had only been able to better answer that one question…”, or “If I had just been a bit more enthusiastic that day…”), rather than looking for a ledge, challenge yourself to make improvements in that area before approaching your next prospect.

When you understand the important role you play in the customer’s decision-making process, honestly assess each presentation to identify any areas where the message may have fallen short of the mark, remain committed to continual improvement (skill, knowledge, etc.), and always strive to give each customer your very best—regardless of the outcome—you have fulfilled the ethical responsibility you may have to make the sale.

You May Have an Ethical Responsibility to Make the Sale! (Continued)

And now, please return to “reader” and reality

In the previous post, cleverly disguised in the storyline of a self-proclaimed “fun-to-read” allegory (okay, so maybe “cleverly disguised” is a little bit over the top), I audaciously suggested that in some cases, a salesperson may, in fact, be morally responsible for failing to make the sale—a provocative concept that may be initially difficult to get one’s head around.

To comically illustrate my point, I placed you “the reader” into the role of an insurance salesperson who “didn’t want to pressure him” (your customer) into buying a policy, only to read about his freakishly untimely demise in the newspaper a few days later. Knowing that his wife and children would soon be headed down the road toward financial ruin, a “tinge of discomfort” came over you—a subtle indication that maybe, just maybe, you felt a little bit responsible for not making the sale when you had the chance.

Now, all kidding aside, professional selling is serious business. Strip the humorous bits out of the story (Skylab, idiot-proof multiple choice question, etc.) and you’re left with something that reads more like a Greek tragedy than a comedy. The sad reality is that this sort of thing really does happen.

Too often, sales are missed, that could have—and should have—been made. Missed, not because the customer didn’t have a genuine need for the product or service that was being presented, not because the customer “couldn’t afford it”, “wanted to think about it”, or “(fill in the blank)”, but missed for the simple reason that the salesperson lacked the inherent skills, knowledge, passion, or professionalism to properly compel the customer to take immediate action.

Ethical checkpoint

Let’s see if you agree in principle with the following statement:

To a greater or lesser degree—depending upon what it is that you’re selling—failing to make the sale could adversely affect your prospect.

Make sense? If you’re silently nodding you head in agreement, then you probably also agree in principle with the general premise of this article—that you may have an ethical responsibility to make the sale!

Okay, so let’s keep things in perspective. (I don’t want anyone looking for the highest ledge to climb out onto the next time they miss a sale...) Regardless of how skilled, knowledgeable, passionate, or professional you may already be, you’re certainly not going to make every sale. It’s just not possible. So relax. I am not implying that missing a sale here or there somehow makes you a no-good-horrible-unethical salesperson. However, I am suggesting this:

If you approach a prospect knowingly lacking in skill, knowledge, passion, or professionalism—just sort of “winging it” to make the sale—then that, my friend, is unethical.

Unfortunately, when a salesperson’s message falls short of the mark, leaving an otherwise makeable sale undone, the customer is left “at risk” in the future. Whether left “unprotected” (i.e., without insurance, a college fund for their children, a safer automobile, etc.), financially “exposed” (i.e., facing higher prices, expiring incentives, less attractive financing options, etc.), or otherwise “compromised” (i.e., their business is less competitive without the product or service, etc.), it is the customer that is most adversely affected when the sale is missed.

So where do we go from here? How can we fulfill the ethical responsibility we may have to “make the sale”, do it “without pressuring the customer”, and still avoid having to be “talked off the ledge” the next time we miss a sale?

To be continued…