Detriments 101

In a previous post I suggested that it is not only a salesperson's responsibility, but in their best interest to disclose the negative as well as the positive aspects of their offerings.

While many sellers withhold detriments on purpose, some omit disadvantages because they don't know what they are. Which isn't all that surprising, when you consider that most salespeople are not trained to seek the drawbacks of their products and services. In reality, there are lots of potential "cons" to any proposal. So many, in fact, that even the most conscientious sales representative can miss one, from time to time.

Daunting as it may seem, identifying detriments is fairly easy when you consider the three components of every offering:

• Products
  
• Services
  
• Terms and Conditions of Sale
  

Less obvious but equally important are what I call "impacts," which are consequences of agreeing to do business together under a given set of terms and conditions.

For example: If a business decides to upgrade its computer hardware and software, two impacts of that decision are periodic downtime during the changeover, and an initial loss of productivity while users learn the new system. Some buyers are willing to accept these impacts, and others are not. In either case, these consequences are detriments because they are potential minuses to a prospective buyer, at least in the short term.

My research suggests that there are ten types of detriments that need to be covered if you want to discover the possible drawbacks of an offering, which are:

1. Omissions – things missing that the prospect wants, like a money-back guarantee.
   
2. Unwanteds – things the prospect doesn't want or need.
   
3. Excesses – stuff the prospect wants that your offer has too much of, like SKUs (stock keeping units).
   
4. Increases – things your offer increases, that the prospect wants to decrease or maintain, like labor costs.
   
5. Reductions – things your offer decreases, that the prospect wants to increase or maintain, such as profit margins.
   
6. Losses – things your offer takes away, that the prospect may want to keep, such as choices and privileges.
   
7. Burdens – unwanted obligations that your offer imposes on the prospect, like carrying additional inventory.
   
8. Limitations – restrictions on things the prospect may not want limited, such as the quantity of product they can buy at a deep discount.
   
9. Variances – aspects of your offer that do not conform to a prospect’s requirements, such as color, quality, and compliance with codes or industry standards.
   
10. Dangers – features of your offer that expose the prospect to new or increased risks, such as the side effects of new drugs.
    

Though incomplete, this list should help any salesperson disclose all the detriments of their offering - something virtually every product, service, and business proposition, has.

© Bradley P. Simpson 2009