FAQ: Our Answers to Your Questions
As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence actually liberates others.
We collected a number of questions and doubts that came up in the conversations with professionals and colleagues and in the classroom through the months we were working on the book, and in general, when debating the subject of Sales Ethics. We thought it worthwhile to take these promptings and argue them through. We hope they will be useful in answering any doubts you had as you were reading the book. If, however, you feel the need to write to us, please do not hesitate to do so by contacting us at the addresses on the site www.passodue.com.
Is the book written only for salespeople or for companies too? Very often, it seems to be the employer who imposes unethical behavior on staff. This book addresses companies too as they contribute to creating value upstream of the seller and so are responsible for the encouragement of empowering internal relations that will permit the value expressed by the offer system to arrive intact to the customer. They can also invest in putting together a commercial proposal geared to less material aspects related to the relationship between human beings.
The time has now come, however, for salespeople like us to live up to our role of intermediaries between the company and the customer, by taking responsibility for resolving the apparent conflict of interest that may arise between these two actors. The tools we describe in the book aim to enable you to do this. If, in order to ensure our survival, we feel compelled to work for a company that does not reflect our values or that forces us into an identity conflict, then, the time has come to clarify what we mean by the word survival, and we should try to invest its meaning with something beyond economic ends. Being Ethical Salespeople means primarily making choices that respect our values. Also remember that our role is to educate companies through our results. If we are able to create value for our employers while remaining ethical, then we will have provided a positive example that can be imitated and transformed and may become a shared model.
We also want to remind businesses that their employees are their first customers, especially where this member of their personnel must impart differential value to the market. We recommend that executives and entrepreneurs read the book Giving Voice to Values by Mary Gentile—employees will only be able to express their full value if they are motivated and assisted in overcoming conflicts, and thus empowered to complement the product-service system!
We should remind you that customers gauge our loyalty to the organization we represent when weighing up our trustworthiness. It is wrong (as well as contrary to professional ethics) to blame our own mistakes or inadequacies on bosses or colleagues. Every part of our behavior defines us and will be observed by customers, especially our fairness toward the people with whom we work.
But what if the customer, not the seller, is unethical? Is the latter not likely to lose out because of his ethical behaviour? It’s undoubtedly true that customers sometimes take advantage of the good faith of sellers. Unfortunately, there are no ethics courses for buyers, or rather, the only way that a company can educate their consumers is to lead by example. As we said when we presented the issue of trust, the best way to move up through the levels is to be the first one to bestow trust. Theories such as McGragor’s35 show that the law of reciprocity works in the field of trust and if I want to have ethical customers I’ll have to first behave properly with them. Our experience also tells us that, thanks to Sales Ethics, reputation, customer numbers, and loyalty are enhanced. The resulting exponential growth in turnover abundantly compensates any damage caused by any crafty customers.
If two competing companies adopt the techniques of Sales Ethics, then there is no value difference between one and the other, and we find ourselves once again competing on the basis of price. This comment is similar to another very popular question, “If my competitor is selling exactly the same things that I sell, but at a lower price, how do I get the customer to choose me?” No two product-service systems will replicate each other because of the different salespeople involved, each with their own identity, values, interpersonal relations, and way of listening. The same sales arguments may be put forward, but if you act ethically, your presentation and your negotiation techniques will depend on you personally and they will be adapted to both your vision and to the customer. Ethics is not an option that we add on as an extra to our offer, which will be the same for everyone, but rather a process that requires awareness and active listening in a way that is personal and produces different results for each individual.
If a salesperson sells two similar products, how can they choose which one to propose to a customer without betraying one of the two companies they represent? When you gain a deeper understanding of your customers, you will know exactly which product is best suited to their specific needs. Remember that the product-service systems of two enterprises may be similar, but they will never be identical as each will have features that make it appropriate in particular situations. Selling means creating shared value over time, so there will be chances to propose the other company you represent in appropriate circumstances.
By investing in the relationship and concentrating less on the objective aspects of the offer system, are we not running the risk of giving too much power to the customer? We are not giving power to the customer but to the relationship between us, an element that we control and that will make the difference.
If we place the relationship at the center of our offer system, we will be exploiting the most powerful tool available to ensure our continued existence and prosperity in a market that churns out products that are ever more similar, given that we become active participants in what we sell.
What does the company gain if all the power is in the hands of the sellers? The sales professionals and their ability to establish relationships are, and will increasingly be, a pillar in business strategy: An enterprise’s very existence depends on its ability to sell! The organizations that are appropriately structured to accommodate the changes taking place in market logics by delivering power to their sales personnel will not lose control of their business strategy; they only broaden their opportunities for business. Obviously, the sales department, like any other sector in a business, must be organized and equipped with the proper tools and training to manage this power, so that the personnel are aware of their power and the responsibility that comes with it.
If I have managed to sell ice to Eskimos because I convinced them that mine is better than anything they’ll find around, have I not created customer value and value for myself? It depends on whether this value is real or not. The value may be intangible but it must still be real. If you are an Eskimo and you buy ice because it responds in a real way to your intangible needs (such as esteem, status, and self-realization) and these in turn become tangible benefits, then you have made a good buy anyway! But if the person selling you the ice based their deal on hot air (excuse the pun) and generated no real value either tangible or intangible, then you the customer will eventually realize that you have been duped and will not make any further purchases but rather you will warn off future customers. In the medium to long term, such sellers will have destroyed the value for themselves.
Must an ethical salesperson always say “yes” to their customers? As we said when discussing how to deal with objections, the customer is “right at the center of our work” but not always right! Being ethical in sales means promoting efficiency by respecting the customer’s and our own value, but we must not give in throughout the exchange but rather guide customers toward the generation of shared benefits. In addition, we should encourage our customers to explore their deepest needs and motivations, of which they may not be aware themselves. Even if we were to satisfy every desire they express, we still might not satisfy them fully.
If all I do is give customers what they need, then anyone can sell. Yes indeed! If you know exactly what the customer wants, it is simple to sell and results can be obtained with relative ease. Yet do you really believe that a professional’s worth should be judged by the effort they put into performing their job? If your work is a continual effort, it means you don’t really love what you are doing. We prefer to replace this “unethical” concept with a key word: commitment. Then it would be true to say that to understand what people really want and what we can offer them, it requires considerable commitment!
But if the customer only has so much money and can’t afford to spend any more, what can Ethical Salespeople do if they don’t have products in that price range? Not all negotiations end with a purchase: That’s just something we have to accept! Even if you do not finalize the deal you can exchange value in other forms (consolidate the relationship, gain trust, gather information, and so on). Remember, however, to analyze whether this budget limit is real or just the result of our poor presentation skills.
If the customer arrives wanting to spend only a certain amount or objects that the product “costs too much,” how do I know whether it’s a real objection or if they are just pressing for discount? In our experience, if you respond to this type of objection by immediately lowering the price, your offer loses value. We suggest you guide the conversation so that you have the chance to draw out the deeper needs and motivations that brought the customer to make this demand, and gather information that you can use to continue the negotiation on a new basis (see Phase 4).
For example, if you understand that your customer wants to make a good impression on his superior by spending less of the allocated budget, then it will be useful to highlight aspects of your offer that will enable them to explain the choice to the boss (effectiveness of the solution over time, safety and reliability, and so on). If, as you explore further, it becomes clear that the spending limit is a real constraint, continue by proposing a more economical option that will still meet the principal needs expressed.
What happens if the seller and the customer have two contrasting opinions and it’s impossible to find a point in common on which to build the agreement? Ask yourself two questions: “Have I asked everything that would allow me to fully understand the motivations behind a specific objection?” “Have I considered all the components of my offer system to find a common denominator with the customer’s statement?” In most cases, it will be possible to identify a shared ground on which to base the agreement. On the other hand, maybe you just don’t have the right solution for the customer but you can still consider it worthwhile to build up the relationship as this may bring rewards in the future.
W. Brian Arthur’s theory talked about competition for resources and how we can move beyond that by adopting alternative strategic models. But what if the scarcity is the customers themselves? A market characterized by a limited number of customers is a market that by definition must be expanded, otherwise it is likely to implode. Rather than competing with your rivals to grab the last buyer, you should concentrate on attracting new customers from outside and expanding the market. There are two ways to do this: Either expand your products or services range to include new elements that could attract a new segment of consumers, or increase the popularity of your niche by attracting new buyers to your sector. The former solution involves innovation; the latter requires efficient networking with customers to expand the scope of relations. In both cases, opportunist preying on customers and destructive competition are unnecessary and erroneous attitudes.
We said that in incremental negotiation, we must give something extra to the customer, but what is this extra? Do I have to give more to all customers or just those in whom I choose to invest? The extra that Ethical Salespeople give their customers is often connected to the area of relationships. You do not necessarily have to give more in a material sense, but rather something less tangible such as extra attention, a pleasant undercurrent throughout the exchange, or esteem and gratification. The Maslow hierarchy illustrated how these elements of our offer appeal to needs that appear higher in the pyramid and therefore are more important to the customer. If we ask the right questions and listen actively, customers will tell us what they like to receive as that little extra bit. This surplus is a real investment made in the relationship, and like all investments, it must be targeted and based on choices that only a proper analysis can help us to accomplish. That’s why we suggested you study customers before, during, and after the negotiation. If you realize that a particular customer is willing to transform that extra they received into something they can share with us and with their network of contacts, then the investment will be more than justified!
You said that I have to fill in the customer’s informational asymmetries. But long-winded explanations can annoy the other party and give rise to objections. So what exactly should I do? Information asymmetries are resolved by giving customers the necessary information to guide their choice, using clear and effective words. The two statements do not contradict each other, and your skill as a sales professional manifests itself in your ability to formulate clear sentences and choose positive words that empower the decision-making capacity of the customer. If you are providing surplus or superfluous information (as sellers who want to show off their technical knowledge often do), then you are not responding to your customers’ request for knowledge but rather confusing them and increasing their uncertainty.
Certainly, you must not hide information from your customer, but only explain how your product or service will respond to their needs once you have clarified exactly what these are.