THE SALESMAN THAT CRIED "HONESTLY"

SMACK NOTE:  A special shout out to Marci Alboher of the New York Times and all her readers.  Quick FYI- Sales Smack is a weekly blog with new posts available every Monday morning.  Hope to see you back next week!

Inside the caverns of every profession exists a sacred scroll of rules within the rules, the unprinted do's and don'ts, always and nevers of an industry.  Collectively, they serve as a vocational compass that guides us across the formidable waters of inexperience and uncertainty.  However, access to the unpublished edicts of a profession are not a worker's entitlement.  They are earned and learned through personal experience, happy hours, and a healthy dose of common sense.  In sales, the scroll's length is infinite because our success is primarily based on human understanding.  Each new customer, each new encounter presents a unique need and solution.  Therefore, salespeople are always discovering unopened treasures of professional wisdom.  This being said, there are a few unwritten gems of advice, as in most industries, that take priority in our business.  First, and foremost, salespeople must always acquire the customer's trust.  A sales rep that can't establish trust is like a stud race horse with ED; your value is dramatically diminished.  So how do we capture a customer's confidence?  What are the do's and don'ts to gaining a buyer's faith?  It all starts with the word honestly.

The word "honestly", the phrase "to tell you the truth", or the expression "if it were me" are practically taboo in the world of sales.  The reason, of course, is that salespeople have built a well deserved reputation among the public as being disingenuous.  Consequently, we're consistently forced to use different diction and alternative strategies for earning a client's trust.  Some of these techniques include: sharing independent research, leveraging competitors against each other, name dropping, incessant flattery, alcohol, and showing pictures of our family.  When a rep learns to manipulate these angles, he/or she has graduated to another level of sales.  Ultimately, the goal is to become a verbal pickpocket; to sell your customers without their ever knowing.  The rule not to use "honestly" on a sales call may appear obvious, but to tell you the truth, most reps don't even hear themselves say it.  My first few months in sales, I was one of them.  I was the salesman that cried "honestly."

During my inaugural trimester on Planet Entry Sales I didn't learn much about how to direct a sales call.  Trainers were perpetually unmotivated and the "supervanagers" typically didn't know more than the average rep did.  Instead of experienced instruction, I relied exclusively on straight, unfiltered Manlo bullshit.  That meant using "honestly", "to tell you the truth", and "if it were me" virtually every other sentence.  Here's an example of how those calls usually sounded:

Bill: Hey, Mr. Nevabuy.  How ya doing this afternoon?  It's Bill Manlo with Virgin Yellow Pages.  I'm calling about your current listing in the local phone book.  I was curious if you had a couple of minutes.

Mr. Nevabuy:  You said the local Virgin Yellow Pages, right?  There's so many phone books now a days, I don't know who to trust anymore.

Bill:  (Fake laugh) I hear ya.  Hey, if it were me, I'd be just as careful, but you can trust me.  Honestly.

Mr. Nevabuy:  Fine.  So what's this about?   

Bill:  Well, to tell you the truth, I'm calling to confirm the accuracy of your listing in our upcoming directory.

Mr. Nevabuy: Sure. Go ahead.

Bill: Are you still located at 12345 W Noshot Dr., phone number 555-5555?

Mr. Nevabuy: Yep.  Thank you. (starts to hang up)

Bill:  Wait!  Mr. Nevabuy? 

Mr. Nevabuy: Yes?

Bill:  I also needed to verify that you still wanted your business listing under "Plumbing Contractors" in the yellow pages.

Mr. Nevabuy:  That's fine.  It's free, right?

Bill:  Sure it is, but honestly, right now, your listing is just a needle in a haystack.  You could generate a lot more business with just a little bit more information.

Mr. Nevabuy:  What the hell are you talking about?

Bill:  Well, if it were me, I would consider adding a little color to my name.  Maybe, include your website, hours, and emergency service.

Mr. Nevabuy:  How much will that cost?

Bill:  Honestly, the question isn't how much will it cost Mr. Nevabuy.  It's how much will you make?

Mr. Nevabuy:  Is this a sales call?!  Are you a god damn salesman?!

Bill:  Actually, I'm a yellow page consultant Mr. Nevabuy.  And if you give me a couple more minutes, I can help you improve your exposure in the phone directory and, at the same time, tighten the gap between you and your competitors. 

Mr. Nevabuy:  (dead silence)

Bill:  Honestly.

Mr. Nevabuy:  Nah, not this year.  Maybe next-

Bill:  Mr. Nevabuy, I know you're skeptical about advertising.  Hell, if it were me, I would be, too.  But the truth is, that yellow page advertising works.  Think of all the different yellow page users (I regurgitated NEDICT from my training manual) - Newcomers, Emergency buyers, Dissatisfied customers, Infrequent shoppers, Comparison shoppers, and Transient buyers from out of town.  We connect buyers with sellers.  The people calling you have cash in one hand and the phone in the other.  Yellow pages is direct to consumer advertising.  It's not a guessing game like radio, TV, and the newspaper.  This medium guarantees results.  Honestly.

Mr. Nevabuy:  Okay.  Okay.  Fax me a proposal to the same phone number, and I'll take a look at it over the weekend.

Bill:  Honestly?

Mr. Nevabuy:  Yes.  Goodbye Bill.

Bill:  Yes sir, take ca-

Mr. Nevabuy: (Click)

As it usually went, Mr. Nevabuy never bought.  I used the word "honestly" so many times that I'm not sure my mother would have trusted me.  Fortunately, a short time later, I learned through a drunken colleague at Bennigan's what I was doing wrong.  I made the necessary adjustments, and nine months later I was on my way to outside sales.  I still use the word from time to time, but it's on Gandhi rations.  Honestly...

Bill Manlo

QOW: What do you consider is the most valuable pearl of wisdom in sales?