Transparency Demands Truth

The sales game is changing so quickly it is hard to keep up with the rule changes. 

Is throwing a double 6 still the best extra turn? Likewise, what our clients expect of us is evolving at an equally stimulating rate. I think the fundamental shift started with the advent of the internet and in particular Web2 technology.

There was a time when your business was like a SUV with dark tinted windows. No one could see inside. You could literally do anything inside and the world just simply did not know how you run your business, treated your clients or even treated your staff. It was like being able to sing terribly out of key with no one the wiser.

All of a sudden the internet removed the tinting on our windows and people can now actually see inside as you ride by singing.  Then Web2 not only took the tinted windows away, it kicked you out of the SUV! Now you find yourself on the bus along with everyone else. You are now under huge scrutiny 24 hours a day from everybody - including our clients – an not sure if you should hum, let alone sing.

Such scrutiny means there is nowhere to hide as potential buyers can check your website, on-line feedback, blogs and comparison pages from supposedly unbiased sources. Or they can ask their social networks for anybody who has heard about you or used you before - and they will trust one word from someone they know more than anything you can produce.

And there is no more suffering in silence – oh no!  It is easy to voice dissatisfaction in so many highly visible places very quickly.  There are many examples of people getting a million views on YouTube within days.  Such a viral complaints process means that bad news is no longer told to just 13 people but now to perhaps 1.3 million people.

Such transparency demands truth. It is no longer an option in sales. When everything you say and do is on public display it becomes a mandatory requirement. With clients able to comment and report on ‘un-truths’ or something they perceive to be in conflict with other information, your only option is to be truthful and transparent.

This requires true intent on the part of all involved at every level of the organisation. The true intent to REALLY put the customer first, not just give this sentiment lip service.

Now I can hear you all saying ‘but we are customer focussed. They are our reason for being here.’ 

Really? Perhaps a few quick questions to see how you rate might be enlightening;

1. Many organisations have a vision statement, or mission statement. Would customers say the same thing if you asked them to make your vision statement for you?
    
2. The company board or governing body is the seat of corporate intent. Is it focussed on the balance sheet and bottom line profit or tracking customer excellence of experience? Could your board identify the ROI on a great customer experience?
    
3. Does your marketing team focus on simply selling product or are they trying to empower the customer to make the best educated decision?
    
4. Does your sales team love their customers or achieving sales targets? When the customer is not there is the conversation around “Got one across the line” or “made another client happy today?” Do they have customer focus or commission breath?
    
5. Is the way you talk to customers face to face the same as the way you talk about them to your colleagues behind their backs?

While the questions are obviously polarised to the extreme and the reality is somewhere in the middle, which side of the middle did you land on more often than not?

Here is the real message – it has to be GENUINE intent. You cannot fake it.

Have you ever been served by someone you knew did not care? Or someone has lied to cover up the fact they did not know? You can think of examples right now – right?

Do you think the people you serve and sell to can also tell, or do you think you can hide it when no one else in the world can? Get serious. We have an inbuilt instinct that detects when someone is not being totally honest with us – we just know. And we turn off and disconnect from that person.

They can spot it in you too. Intent has to be genuine or it will backfire horribly on you and simply confirm to the client that you are not to be trusted

 .

< Back