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Writer's pictureJennifer Krueger

Just Get the Sale! Is Hoodwinking* Your Customers Worth it?



The short answer is NOPE. 


Hello my Curious Salespeople! 


My whole mission is to help salespeople not only be more effective at what you do, and also feel more genuine and proud as you sell. 


Most salespeople WANT to feel honest. Genuine. Helpful. Proud of what we do. 


And yet, often there is a tug-of-war between being genuine and still making sales numbers, especially when you know your company may have system delays, delivery issues, quality inconsistency and other hiccups to the great service you promised (and sold!) your customers. 


So how much do we share with our customers? 


Balancing promises with reality is a constant struggle, especially when we don’t have control over all the elements of the customer experience. 


The question “How open should I be with my client about potential issues?” almost always comes up in group trainings, strategy sessions, and coffee shop conversations!


Now’s there’s research to prove that honesty and openness is the best way forward for you AND your customers.

 

Here is the link to the new study (2023) by Alex B. VanZant, Jessica A. Kennedy, and Laura J. Kray that states:

“while deceivers might emerge with a better deal than if they’d played it straight, they’re also less likely to be satisfied with the experience- and those negative feelings cascade downstream.” 

It turns out that if you “hoodwink” your customers- you feel terrible.-not just now, but for the long-term.


Even if your customers never find out that you knew there were issues ahead of time, the sale and the relationship is tainted for you by unconscious or conscious guilt, which shows up in your long-term behaviour.


You become more negative towards the sale and the customer, especially if you benefited in a big way from the deception (with a large commission etc.) 


So my Curious Salespeople, my message is always: 


Be as Honest as You can. 
Be Open. Be Real. Be Genuine. 

AND Recognize that there will be challenges. Get Creative on how to fix, move, work around the challenges in collaboration with your client. 


You Were Made to Sell Better. 


Cheers,

Jennifer


* Work Cited

VanZant, Alex B., et al. “Does Hoodwinking Others Pay? The Psychological and Relational Consequences of Undetected Negotiator Deception. ."” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp-pspi0000410.pdf, 2023, p. 24.

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