Be Careful With Your Sales Approach

I recently vacationed in Hawaii, and was at the Thrifty rental counter finalizing our car for the next 10 days. As I began walking out the door, I passed by a kiosk with a lady, who I thought was a Thrifty employee, so I made no effort to make eye contact. However, she was able to get my attention by asking me if the group of five (four children and wife) outside was my family--hooked. As I answered yes, she followed it up by asking if I would be interested in treating the whole family to a nice FREE lunch, receive $100 discount on our rental--and wait there is more...a coffee table book on Hawaii worth $75. Well, of course, I said yes--not without a deep suspicion, however, that this was going to come at a price. Much to my surprise, she replied that since they are trying to showcase a new hotel in Waikiki, all I had to do was take a tour of the hotel and I would be entitled to all of the above benefits. Sign me up!

As I completed the paperwork, it became evident that this was not simply a tour of the hotel, it was much more involved. Once I signed the document to receive the benefits, my suspicions were confirmed, she subtly questioned me if I was familiar with timeshare--strike one. Unknowingly, I had signed myself, my wife and four kids in Hawaii up for a two-hour presentation regarding timeshare ownership of this supposed new "hotel".

Reluctantly, my wife and I, along with the four kiddos attended the presentation. Initially we were directed to the free lunch. Much to our chagrin, once we presented our tickets for the complimentary lunch, our server immediately lost interest in providing any type of service close to deserving a tip. Strike two!

We finally met our sales presenter for our two-hour presentation. She began the presentation with the disclosure that if we were uncomfortable with the proposal, we can say no, and she will respect that and end the presentation. Well, that was not the case. Repeatedly I tried to convey that this was not something for our family, but unfortunately she continued ignoring her promise at the beginning of her diatribe. At one point, she even involved her "finance" manager in the discussion to somehow strike interest. We were now 2.5 hours into our meeting and the children were beginning to grow restless. Strike three!!!!

A few lessons here that we need to tease out. First, be sure that you are not making any false or outrageous claims in your marketing. Ensure that your marketing communication is not hyper-inflated. Chances are that you will not be able to meet the expectations of your prospect or customer if your message is not reflective of your capabilities. In the end, this would mean that your customers will never come back.

Second, if you are going to offer any benefits like a free lunch, be aware that simply giving it away at no cost is not always perceived as a benefit, especially when it is mediocre at best. Select your add-ons carefully.

Lastly, stick to your word. If you make promises to your prospect or customer, it is essential that you respect and honor that promise. If not, the likelihood is that they will not return or refer you to a friend or colleague. Remember Net Promoter Score?