Don’t Make Promises You Can’t Keep

 

I understand that a sales rep is always under tremendous pressure to close a deal – pressure from the sales manager, pressure that comes from competing with other sales team members, pressure the rep puts on himself and pressure that comes from the customer. So, where does that customer pressure come from? Simple – it comes from requests the customer makes during the sales process.

The sales process is basically a conversation between people who are each trying to acquire something that is important to them. For the sales rep, the goal is to close the sale and earn a commission. On the other hand, the customer is just looking for a good deal on a product that will meet his needs. During the conversation the customer may ask the sales rep to do certain things to sweeten the deal – creating pressure on the rep – and the rep will often agree because that increases his chances of closing the customer and getting home for dinner. For the sales rep, this is just a part of doing business, but as far as the customer is concerned, the sales rep has just made a promise that must be kept.

A sales rep may make all sorts of promises to customers when it is getting near the end of the sales quarter or when the rep’s individual sales numbers are falling behind. Unfortunately, some of these promises can be awfully damaging to a salesperson’s career:

Salesperson: "The pricing has been adjusted based on our last conversation and, as you can see in the proposal, we’ve modified the quantity as well."

Customer: "This looks great. I think we can do this today? so long as you can have all of the product delivered and installed by the end of this month. Can you do that?"

Salesperson: "Consider it done."

Later, in the office?

Salesperson: "I just confirmed the sale of two hundred units of the Airfiltrator 2500 with Senterior."

Installation Manager: "Congratulations! That’s a big order."

Salesperson: "You bet it is. There’s only one thing. I promised the client we would have all two hundred units installed by the end of this month."

Installation Manager: "You did what? That’s impossible. We already have four installations taking place throughout the rest of this month, one of them to Deltacorp, our largest customer. My staff is already working overtime to try to meet the aggressive schedule and I’m not sure we’ll get those installed in time."

Salesperson: "But, you have to!? I promised my customer they would be installed."

Installation Manager: "I don’t have to do anything. It is physically impossible for the team to get them installed this month. You’ll just have to tell your customer."

Yikes! That’s a terrible situation to be in. How did it happen? The main issue that one can point to is that the sales professional was too anxious to make the sale and ended up making a promise he couldn’t keep. That’s a tough situation – one that can damage or even ruin a customer relationship. Imagine what that phone call will be like. Will the customer be happy? Why not? Well, there’s a word that some people use for those who make promises they can’t keep. Liars.

The salesperson could have easily avoided the situation by being realistic regarding what was truly possible and not possible. In the rush to have a sales order signed in time, the sales person reacted hastily without checking first with the installation manager. A simple call could’ve avoided a great deal of misunderstanding and future conflict.

I always warn people not to make promises they can’t keep. If you don’t know whether a promise can be kept, or if you are already pretty sure there isn’t a way to keep it, don’t make it. Pushing the potential conflict until a later date in the hopes that everything can be smoothed out is an unwise idea. It may win you some short-term sales but it will hurt you in the long run. A customer may even let you get away with it once but don’t bank on it.

A better way to address the situation would have been to do as follows:

Salesperson: "The pricing has been adjusted based on our last conversation and, as you can see in the proposal, we’ve modified the quantity as well."

Customer: "This looks great. I think we can do this today? so long as you can have all of the product delivered and installed by the end of this month. Can you do that?"

Salesperson: "I checked with our installation manager earlier this morning and the earliest I can have all two hundred units installed is by the middle of next month. We’ll have the crew out to get them up and running by the 15th."

Customer: "I see. I really would prefer them sooner."

Salesperson: "I understand. I could promise them by the end of this month to have you sign our contract but we would end up not meeting the schedule and would fail in our promise to you. I would rather be straightforward with you and set a deadline we can meet and that will be acceptable to you."

Customer: "I appreciate that. I’d rather have it done right and not rushed. I believe we have a deal."

If you only make promises you can keep, you may lose a few sales (but probably not). The good news is that if you only make promises you can keep, you will earn a solid reputation as someone who always keeps their promises. That, my friend, is money in the bank.

 

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August Sales Quick Tip of the Month - Speak Up, Then Shut Up

There may be no more powerful closing tip than this simple caveat: the first person to speak, LOSES. What does this mean, exactly? It refers to that moment in the sales discussion when you feel the time is right to ask for a commitment from your customer. You may phrase your question in a number of ways. The point is, after you make your offer or request, don’t say another word! No matter how uncomfortable the silence becomes, let your customer be the first one to break the silence. Typically, most sales reps get really nervous if the silence lasts more than about 15 seconds and, fearing that something is wrong, they will jump in and say something to break the silence. If you do that, you will take your customer off the hook and you most likely will never get him back. If you will wait, he will eventually break the silence, either by saying accepting your offer, or by expressing reluctance or asking a question. Any response from the customer that isn’t yes is still a new opportunity to clarify and move the process back to the close again, and you stay in control of the conversation.