I spent much of last friday running from salesperson to salesperson at my biggest client’s office, writing the following equation on any scrap of paper I could find.
Trust + Value = $
If the customer trusts you, but doesn’t see the value in your product: No sale.
If the customer sees the potential value, but doesn’t trust or like you: No sale.
If the customer sees the value in your product, and trusts and likes you: You’ll have the sale more often than not.
Funny thing is, as little as 10 months ago, if you had enough of one, you didn’t need all that much of the other and you could make a decent living.
If your product had huge value, but you were pretty lousy at keeping your word, and didn’t really care much personally about the people you did business with (and were lousy at hiding it), you could sometimes still make a reasonable living – if the value were high enough.
Similarly – if the value wasn’t really there, but the price point was low, and you were an incredibly warm, genial person and an amazing rapport builder, you could make a good living.
Many salespeople grumble about how the economic downturn has taken a huge bite out of their 2009 earnings, – how it has cost them money.
The problem is that the ‘downturn in spending’ has not been nearly as bad as the ‘downturn in trust.’
That’s right, we’re living in Bernie Madoff’s world, and don’t you forget it.
People have always resisted parting with their hard earned cash due to a lack of perceived value – but now add to that the fear that every salesperson is a possible $50,000,000,000 fraudster in financial planner’s clothing, and your job just got a whole lot harder.
Hunter S. Thompson made a startling remark about Richard M. Nixon when he died. As you may recall, at the time Nixon’s ‘legacy’ (esp. China, and the opening up of American foreign policy) was being praised by all – with an apparent willful disregard for the disgrace he brought upon himself, his party, and the office of President.
Thompson’s remark in The Rolling Stone was something to the effect of:
“That man did more to destroy the confidence of the American people in their elected officials than any other person in history. We shouldn’t be celebrating his life, we should throw his body into a dumpster and set it alight.”
Harsh words indeed, but a similar remark may be made of Madoff in however many years – ‘no one person has done more to destroy the confidence of the buying public in sales people in general than Bernie Madoff”.
If you are in the Financial Planning, Insurance, or Real Estate businesses – or any other field like them – consider getting a new tattoo on the back of your right wrist, just beside your watch. That way 5 or 10 or 20 times a day you can remind yourself of the new truths of a post Madoff world:
Trust + Value = $
