Truth and Consequences

This is such a basic topic that very little is written about it. Books, chapters are not dedicated to the importance of truth because we all believe in it. Right? Once in while you'll find a magazine article dedicated to truth and its application in selling but that is about it.

Unfortunately, many people believe that truth is in the eye of the beholder, that getting the job/order is the only truth that counts; "my truth is the paycheck!" Recently, a friend of mine was telling me about an argument that he had with his boss. My friends' company needed 8 weeks to produce a product and his boss wanted him to tell the customer 4 weeks. The discussion was essentially that the boss was afraid if 4 weeks was not quoted, they'd never get the job. The point my friend made was if they lied to get the order, they may never get another!

For some reason when it comes to a customer lying it suddenly becomes "shrewed negotiating". It's considered ok for a purchasing agent to request getting a shipment overnight knowing the product won't be needed for a week. Or to say that they are paying considerably less than they actually are. In one prime example of this, I had been trying to do business with a very large tire manufacturer but I'd lose every opportunity and each time I followed up, the same answer was given "your price was too high" . The next opportunity to quote was for a specific product that was distributed by my company and several competitors but by contract I had a "protected" territory and a pricing structure equivalent to everyone else in the USA. The price quoted to the tire company was 10% below my cost and the order was still lost. While talking with the purchasing agent I admitted what I had done and asked him what was going on, diplomatically of course! Somebody else had a better relationship with that PA, he was required to get three quotes and that was that. Lesson learned on my part - DEVELOP A BETTER RELATIONSHIP!

Or perhaps to try to trick the salesman into making a mistake. Several years ago a very large company started having problems with a product that I represented. The product had been installed for about 10 -15 years. When I investigated the situation, it was determined that production had been ramped up so much during that time that my product was being asked to perform twice as well as it had been designed to do. When I advised the customer this, the engineer said "Oh, we knew that. We just wanted to see what you'd say" . Which implied to me that a mistake on my part was being hoped for so that they wouldn't have to spend their money.

I am brutally honest, perhaps to a fault, with my customers and the companies that I represent. It has won me a lot of business because I'm trusted. It has greatly irritated people that I have sold for, from presidents down to folks producing products. Lying or misleading customers only leads to disasterous results down the road and some of the stories that I have heard from customers have confirmed that to me. Now, many times the customers will set themselves up for disappointment and will have very selective memories but being truthful and upfront will win in the long run. "Honesty is the best policy" and "do better unto others than you would have them do unto you."