White Lies Clients Tell You When They Choose Your Competition

June 24, 2009

Have you ever thought that the reason the client gave you for choosing a competitor didn’t sound like the truth? Did it sound like a bald-faced lie? Or was it like the end of a bad date — “It’s not you; it’s me”?

Here are five white lies clients tell you, along with the underlying reality:

  1. The white lie: Your proposal was good but we need to spread the work around.
    The truth: Your representative is brilliant, but we hate him. He is inflexible and makes the staff lose their desire to live.
  2. The white lie: I thought you guys do the best work, but my staff recommended the competitor.
    The truth: Two of my technical people said you screwed up the last project and ran over budget, and no one would listen to us.
  3. The white lie: We are in a holding pattern right now and are trying to reorganize the project.
    The truth: We don’t have any money — and if we did, we are not sure we would spend it with you.
  4. The white lie: We have decided to review all the proposals again.
    The truth: Your proposal was not very clear (neither was your project manager), and we are using your proposal as a last resort, as a worst-case scenario.
  5. The white lie: You will get the next one.
    The truth: Someone has a better relationship with us than you do and will have to screw up before you have a shot.

A white lie is polite way of saying “We don’t like doing business with you.” Having a good relationship, giving a clear presentation and making sure your clients feel heard and appreciated are three assets that the most successful have in common.

A lot of very talented people and organizations are overlooked because they think being the best is good enough to win. Unfortunately, people don’t choose what’s best; they choose what they are the most comfortable with, whether it is the best or not.

1 Comment | sales, success | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn

Managers: Hiring Top Sales People

January 20, 2009

Successful managers know where to find good sales people.

 Be careful of hiring sales people who dont have a job, most good sales people are employed. Most good sales people are headhunted out of an existing job.

You can hire a headhunter or just call the sales department of a company with good people. However, building great relationships with customers and asking them to keep an eye out for people who are discontent might be a good idea. (This should be a heads up to managers of top producers who are taking them for granted.) There are great sales people in corporations who would go with a small company for more opportunity, flexible schedules, a bigger piece of the pie, prestige or even an equity partnership. Corporations change their commission structure and give them fuzzy explanations. So, people are looking for something better. They want control of their destiny.

Do you have an enticing offer?

Sales Management Training
Sales Management Speaker Garrison Wynn

Leave a Comment » | Business Growth, management, sales | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn

Bamboozled by Behaving Badly

November 6, 2007

One of the discoveries of the Wynn Solutions research  is that behavior eventually betrays skill. It does not matter how talented or smart you are if no one wants to work with you. Its like: What do Tonya Harding and Michael Jackson have in common (besides the fact they are both Caucasian women)? They are talented people whos’ abilities were overshadowed by their weird/bad behavior. If people don’t like your behavior they look for reasons not to trust or agree with you. They see your actions and efforts through a filter of distrust. Even people who hate Michael Jackson would rate him as one of the most talented singer-dancers of all-time. The two bestselling Albums in history are “Thriller” and Pink Floyds “Dark Side of the Moon” (which proves that people apparently never get tired of dancing and smoking pot). The sales of Thriller dropped dramatically as Michael went through his court dates, baby dangling and strange lifestyle encounters. Understand I’m not saying that Michael is guilty of a crime, but he’s at leased guilty of nine counts of being big-time weird. The last I heard of Tonya Harding she was “Mud Boxing”. I’m not an expert in the sport but I’m pretty sure you are not at the pinnacle of your career if you are a fighting in mud for money. My point, I think we understand that there is a lot more to success than being the best; but are we truly aware of how our behavior reduces our impact and opportunities on a daily basis?

2 Comments | Leadership, sales, Success Qualities | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn

I’m late, but willing

October 30, 2007

I guess I should have started blogging five years ago when I was told it was “the thing to do”.   So I’m late, but willing!  That is not the story of my life however; usually I’m early and demanding, which leads me to my thoughts today. Do I expect too much from the people around me? My wife, my kids, my staff, the garbage man (I expect them to pick up all of the garbage not just a few select pieces. Is my garbage being judged on its content?) In my business, I teach people how to be more influential how to be more effective in leadership, change, sales etc. So I know what the research says we are supposed to do and what works, but its not that easy when you have expectations that you believe should be met and those around you are not that particularly interested in meeting them regardless of the trust and stability of your relationships. The research shows that lowering your expectations is a pretty good start but how can we do that on a personal level and how low can you go?          

Leave a Comment » | Leadership | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ginger Dailey Wynn

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