As a rule, salespeople excel at touting benefits but stink at disclosing detriments. That is a shame, because sharing both serves buyer and seller alike. As a result, I have long wondered why salespeople fail to cover the disadvantages of their offerings.
Experience has convinced me that salespeople withhold detriments for four main reasons:
REASON #1: TRAINING
Most salespeople do not raise negatives because they have been taught it is self-sabotage, and that it is the prospect's job to find the weak spots in their proposals.
In actuality it is in a salesperson's best interest - and thus their responsibility - to fully disclose the unfavorable aspects of their offerings. Why? Because doing so:
- Engenders trust and respect, which reduces sales resistance.
- Helps separate possible drawbacks from actual ones.
- Brings potential roadblocks out into the open, so they can be addressed.
- Saves time. If there is a showstopper, disclosing detriments exposes deal-killers quickly, freeing the seller to pursue other opportunities.
- Strengthens commitments. If the salesperson enumerates all of the minuses of a proposal, the prospect can make a fully-informed decision. This, in turn, decreases cancellations and returns due to buyer’s remorse.
REASON #2: IGNORANCE
Because sellers are accustomed to casting their wares in the best light, they tend have a blind spot for their negative features. This handicap is worsened by the fact that few salespeople are taught to identify the potential drawbacks of any deal.
REASON #3: SELF-DISHONESTY
Though most prospects would beg to differ, some salespeople think withholding detriments is okay because it is not lying. Whether it is or not, is debatable. What cannot be debated is that keeping minuses to yourself is deceptive, and denying it is intellectually dishonest.
REASON #4: FEAR
In my estimation, fear is the main reason salespeople fail to disclose the downsides of their offerings. Specifically, the fear of:
Because sellers are accustomed to casting their wares in the best light, they tend have a blind spot for their negative features. This handicap is worsened by the fact that few salespeople are taught to identify the potential drawbacks of any deal.
REASON #3: SELF-DISHONESTY
Though most prospects would beg to differ, some salespeople think withholding detriments is okay because it is not lying. Whether it is or not, is debatable. What cannot be debated is that keeping minuses to yourself is deceptive, and denying it is intellectually dishonest.
REASON #4: FEAR
In my estimation, fear is the main reason salespeople fail to disclose the downsides of their offerings. Specifically, the fear of:
- Losing the sale.
- Losing the sale to a crooked competitor.
- Recrimination by superiors who subscribe to manipulative, aggressive, and deceptive sales practices.
While the third concern is sometimes valid, the first fear is irrational, as most sales fail not because they are lost, but because there is no mutually-acceptable basis for the buyer and seller to do business together at a particular point in time. To take these failed sales personally is thus just crazy, and a recipe for chronic discouragement.
And as far as losing an occasional sale to a dirty competitor goes: It happens, and stinks when it does. Every dog has its day, even a MAD one.
Thankfully, sellers who practice full disclosure have more days than their grimy opponents, because they realize that what prospects don't know, can hurt them.
© Bradley P. Simpson 2009
And as far as losing an occasional sale to a dirty competitor goes: It happens, and stinks when it does. Every dog has its day, even a MAD one.
Thankfully, sellers who practice full disclosure have more days than their grimy opponents, because they realize that what prospects don't know, can hurt them.
© Bradley P. Simpson 2009
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