Exploiting Your Communication Skills  "Salesman" or "Con-Man" ?

While the advent of personal computers and the Internet, many would now prefer to send an email to the other end of the office rather than walk there.  While this practice may represent improved efficiency on some occasions, on others it represents a missed opportunity to develop one's inter-personal skills, never mind one's leg muscles.  This mental deficit may appear increasingly irrelevant in our technologically warped world, but at some point in our careers, most of us have to succeed in selling ourselves if we wish to progress down a path of our own choosing.  Like the basic management skills of planning/organization and financial prudence, the ability to understand and use the selling process to personal advantage is a definite personal asset, as well as probably a career asset, in our ever-more complex lives.

The first rule of the 'honest salesman' (in companies that advocate 'best practice', this should not be a contradiction in terms) is to convince himself, or herself, that the product or service to be presented represents 'good value'.  It may be twice the price of the 'other brand', but that is irrelevant if that brand is deficient in even a single aspect of product technology or support.  Those who have most difficulty in selling, are often the ones who have the least appreciation of less tangible qualities such as professional staff to back the product, the artistic merits / style of the product, and even the 'brand name' itself.  Not only would they personally be happy to buy an 'unknown cola brand' at half the price of one of the two big internationally renowned brands, they find it difficult to understand why so many people lack the wisdom to be as 'selective' as they are.  While their refusal to be swayed by often 'superficial characteristics' of a product may be lauded, their lack of responsiveness to these aspects of products probably separate them from the 'average' man or woman who perhaps feels that a few pence or cents extra is a small price to pay for sampling 'one of life's luxuries'.  In other words, these 'intangible qualities' often make the buyer 'feel good' about the sale even if they know yours is not the cheapest product or service available.  Unfortunately there are always some who go beyond the realization that they are good at selling 'the total package' and cross the ethical boundary into the realm of 'con-men' and 'rip-off merchants'.  These pariahs will not stop at presenting genuine product merits but will embellish them to the point of misleading often the most vulnerable in our society.  Unfortunately we have a long way to go before the public is given a true breakdown of the costs associated with each product they purchase so they can decide for themselves how much the 'brand name' and image associated with it is actually worth to them.  In the meantime the onus is on those with sales talent to use it compassionately and those without to consider that others may prefer a 'less technical' or 'less logical' approach to life.

While those who wish to follow a more technical career or who realize early-on that their sales talents are limited, may decide to forego any sales training, most people benefit from at least having a little understanding of the demands and expectations of consumer-driven markets.  This brings us to the second rule of the honest salesman which is to always be prepared to personally support your sale to the customer.  This is basic customer service to anyone who wishes to professionally sell any product or service.  Those who are honest but don't follow this rule will quickly find out that it can be a time-consuming occupation if you continually have to resolve problems arising from having originally misrepresented a product or service.  While undoubtedly there are always some who give less scrupulous salespeople justification in their own minds for walking away from their ethical responsibilities towards their customers and the general public, most people only complain when they feel they have good reason to.  Some genuine sympathy for the customer's predicament goes a long way,  but the best response is to take some positive action even if you fear it may still not totally satisfy the particular demands of the customer concerned.  It may be justifiable in an efficient organization to immediately refer any complaints to someone 'more suitably qualified' in your organization, but if you don't take any lessons from the complaints that arise, then you may sell a lot but never become a 'good salesman' or 'good saleswoman' in professional terms.

The third rule of the honest salesman is to place himself or herself in the shoes of the customer, before the sale is finalized, and ponder whether in similar circumstances he or she would buy the product or service being offered.  (Note that the salesperson who declares that they would buy the product immediately if they were in your position, is probably the one to be most wary of.)  This is particularly difficult to do, if you cannot relate to the 'image attributes' of a product as referred to earlier, and it may even cause you to give bad advice in spite of honorable intentions.  An example of this is seen in the capable and conscientious mechanic who keeps managing to get your broken down car back on the road, when really what you want is for him to give you a realistic overview of the situation so you can determine for yourself at what point the cost of buying another vehicle becomes less important than spending more wasted hours at the side of the road waiting for the break-down van to arrive.  If you cannot evaluate the cost of your own time beyond your basic salary, then it is highly unlikely you will be able to honestly assess and represent a service that in essence is selling someone else's time.  Alternatively, you could decide to trust in someone else's judgment, but be warned that you won't be the first person to discover when problems arise that you have been deceived into mis-selling products.  This discovery is much more likely to set your career back than the career of the person in whom you trusted.   In some areas you may have no choice but to accept the judgments of others as, for example, without prior knowledge and experience of running a business yourself, it may be difficult to assess what constitutes a 'fair price', unless there is an almost identical product or service already in the market.  With a little experience though, you can quickly surmise that in general terms it costs more to run a large company with an internationally renowned brand name than to run a one person business with no marketing budget.  Furthermore, and probably more importantly, many people are prepared to pay more for the added security or prestige that using established  products and services can bring.

If you follow all three rules of the 'honest salesman' as defined above, then you will go a long way to demonstrating to your customers that these words are not contradictory.  Some suggestions to help you in proving this claim are:

Suggestions On Ethically Exploiting Your Sales Skills 

To become and remain a 'good salesman' or 'good saleswoman' is no easy task and requires the individual to continuously reassess his or her own actions:

	Don't get carried away with your own hype - as they say, 'success breeds success', and the more success you enjoy the easier it is to convince yourself that your sales talents are even greater than those your mother led you to believe you were gifted with.
	Stick to products or services you have basic knowledge of - the more essential knowledge you have of a product or service, the less likely you are to unwittingly misrepresent a product or service.
	Know the 'fine-print'  - if you have sufficient knowledge yourself, you can advise potential customers accordingly without relying on ignorance as an excuse for an improper sale.
	Customer service does not end when the bill is paid - a 'good salesman' or 'saleswoman' should make it a part of their job to keep abreast of developments with their customers and should be prepared to willingly inject their time if it appears to be required to resolve any disputes or to keep the customer happy.
	Would you have been proud to make the same sale to your grandmother? - the answer to this question, if you are not a social deviant or totally naïve, should help keep you on the 'straight and narrow' if you are honest with yourself.
	Don't confuse charity with sales ability  - if you give it away then you may think you look great in your customer's eyes but more often than not you will have devalued yourself, as well as possibly your company.

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