What is sales ethics?
During the sales meeting, it's all about fairness of argumentation, sincerity of promises and consideration of the customer's true interests.
Once the sale has been concluded, it's about respecting commitments and defending the customer's (and supplier's) interests.
"Deceivers, I'm writing to you, expect the same" (La Fontaine)
If you were to take away just one rule from this book, it would be this: respect the ethics of salesmanship. When asked "What qualities do you think make an exceptional salesperson?", honesty is the most frequently cited virtue.
Too many salespeople tend to attach importance only to the immediate sale, the sale at any price, obscuring the major interest which consists in satisfying customers to build loyalty. What's the point of a sale if there's no resale? How can a company grow with a fleeting customer base? The only valid rule for building customer loyalty is to serve them well, without ever doing them any harm.
(...)
However, those who cause the greatest damage to their functions, as well as to the company they represent, are the merchants of false promises. False promises about quality, performance, delivery times... In this field, there's something for everyone.
(...)
What is sales ethics? During the sales meeting, it's the fairness of the argumentation, the sincerity of the promises, the consideration of the customer's true interests. Once the sale has been concluded, it involves respecting commitments and defending the customer's (and supplier's) interests.
[b]Finally, halfway between deontology and "commercial etiquette", the salesperson will know how to go beyond the formal framework of his or her function and, whenever possible, provide his or her customers with a few free personal or professional services for which there is no obvious quid pro quo.
That said, elite salespeople themselves admit that these "gifts", whether gratuitous or masking a self-interested attitude, are a particularly powerful cement in the buyer/seller relationship. Their loyalty-building power is remarkable.
Here are a few examples of the most effective attentions:
- Send customers to your customers.
- Send your customers documents, information and press articles relating to their market, their concerns and even their passions.
- For the New Year, don't forget to offer a personalized gift that differs from the eternal fountain pen in the company colors (which implies that you have discussed extra-professional subjects with your customer and identified some of their personal interests). The philatelist will be offered a beautiful collector's stamp, the travel enthusiast a book on faraway islands, the music lover two opera tickets, etc.
- Congratulate your customer on a high-profile event.
- Give your customer the opportunity to satisfy a passion.
- Find a paid internship for your customer's student children, or find them a summer "job".
The star salesperson is the one who, while respecting the principles of deontology, develops a genuine partnership with his or her customers. Of course, it would be illusory to think that this type of privileged relationship can be forged on a first visit. It often takes several months before a lasting relationship is established, marked by mutual respect and even affection. But when the seller succeeds, when buyer and seller are on the same wavelength, it's virtually impossible for a competitor to dislodge the "established" seller.
Here's a convincing example of a sales success that can be attributed in large part to respect for ethics. All sales specialists, however quick to individualize, are unanimous: selling life insurance is one of the most formative experiences for those wishing to learn sales techniques.
Having made contact with the Axa Group, I travel to Nancy to follow Thierry d'Halluin, the top salesman at Alpha Assurances (the Axa Group's life insurance unit)... Do you think I met a manipulative, boastful or smooth-talking salesman? No! The top salesman at Alpha Assurances (600 salespeople) has nothing in common with the caricatured image we once had of salespeople. Thierry d'Halluin defines himself as a wealth management consultant: "I don't sell products, I recommend solutions that correspond to a given need," he likes to say. "The life insurance salesman who "places" a policy without checking the customer's expectations is comparable to one who places a bomb. Sooner or later, it may explode in his face."
In fact, Thierry d'Halluin attributes his success to his unconditional respect for the rules of professional ethics. It is with these in mind that he has become a champion of wealth management, combining the skills of the banker, the legal advisor, the tax expert and the insurer: to advise his clients in their best interests.
"First of all, when a prospect comes to see me, on the recommendation of a customer, I work with him to draw up a social and asset assessment of his personal situation. This involves weighing up their personal assets (movable and immovable property values, liquid assets, family allowances, old-age pensions, etc.) against their immediate or future desires (e.g. to ensure the most comfortable retirement possible: to cover their inheritance rights in the event of death, as well as an education annuity for their children, etc.), in order to highlight - with the help of specific software - the problem areas or overdrafts in their situation."
"Once this first stage has been completed, the next step is to study the solutions. When the customer comes back, I present him with different solutions, drawing his attention to the one I think is the most extravagant for him. I make sure that each of my recommendations is well-founded, so as to prove to the customer that I have fully understood his problem and that I respect his wishes".
My immediate commission doesn't matter," says Thierry d'Halluin, "I'm only interested in the quality of my services. My remuneration, my profit, if my work is well done, automatically follows. Because my clients are well aware of the seriousness I bring to managing their case and defending their interests, and I do this in several ways:
- by always informing them accurately and completely, even if it means selling them a product that is less profitable for me; but in this case, I never forget to let them know the financial sacrifice I am making for their satisfaction;
- by not hesitating to provide a free service. From time to time, I also organize round-table discussions for my customers on a theme likely to be of interest to them, such as "how to legally pay less tax", and I bring in a specialist in the field, such as a tax expert, to lead the meeting and answer questions:
- never failing to thank them for the confidence they have shown in me by investing with me.
Once they've earned their trust, they reward me by..:
- by increasing the assets they entrust to me to manage (by buying more) ;
- by remaining loyal to my firm. In this respect, I'm proud to say that more than 90% of my clients are loyal;
- by recommending my services to their friends, colleagues or family members. After all, my best advertising is provided by my customers. So much so that today, I only work through relationships...
"For me, it's a certainty: you have everything to gain by serving your customers well, defending them and respecting them!
Before closing this chapter, I'd like to pass on to you this ultimate law of salesmanship, which is in line with the respect for ethics: love your customers! Between you and me, you owe it to them. Do they not honor you by entrusting you with their most precious material asset: their money? To love your customer is to praise him sincerely, to spare his self-esteem, to call him by name, to really listen to him, to want what's best for him, to share his joys and worries, to make him feel important, to be capable of gratuitous attention, to know his passions, to have esteem for him, in the belief that he deserves it... And all this without giving up your personality, because "yes-men" never make good salespeople.
Believe me, the elite salesman really loves his customers, and they love him back... with regular purchases!
Source: " Vendeurs d'élite - Techniques et savoir-faire des meilleurs vendeurs " - Michaël AGUILAR - Editions DUNOD - 4th edition (1st edition legal deposit = 1st quarter 1992) - Over 20,000 copies sold.