Tell The Truth - It Is Good For Business!

Recently I had someone tell me that they liked the fact that I was honest with them about projections for the success of a marketing campaign that they were inquiring about. Social media and online marketing companies have been becoming more and more prevalent these last few years. Anyone with a Facebook account can call themselves a marketing guru. “Real marketing experts” that were trained in schools more than two years ago are floundering trying to figure out how the newest tools are working. There are so many methods that include Google Adwords, blogging, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, webinars, YouTube and more. How they were working last year is different than how it is working today. B2B and B2C techniques are totally different. Some industries are capitalizing on it well, others have not even tried so there is not a real great trail marked out. So now I just tell the truth. If I have done a campaign similar to the one you are asking about I can say so. If not, I have only guess work and theory unless we do some research before we begin. I can also say that research is in your best interest. Costly yes, but better than just shooting in the dark hoping to hit something...

I didn't start out that way in marketing. In the beginning we wanted the client so bad and we believed our own crap. So we made lavish promises and then worked like crazy to try to make them a reality for our client. Sometimes it worked and the client was really happy. Sometimes though the client wanted to reach a market that we were really not that skilled in reaching and it took so many resources to get any action happening that we lost money trying to perform to their expectations. Eventually we got smart enough to charge extra for some of that work and we got really good at certain markets and we could confidently make measured projections.

These days I just tell the truth. I don’t actually need a client that bad anyway. We are not looking for new clients because the process of looking is costly and time consuming and my other business interests are lucrative so it has not been the best timing to pursue. Strangely though that attracts more clients. Tell them you are too busy for them and they want you. Odd people we are…

So there I was talking to a gentleman about the CalgaryBusiness Network and he was saying he wanted Loyal2U to take him on as a client, and why? Because I told him I could not promise him lavish results. He informed me that he had been sold marketing packages of exorbitant prices and got nothing from the experience but the “turn off” was not the result. The “turn off” was the fact that they lied to him. They had said that it would bring him new clients. He did not get new clients.

I like being honest as a selling feature. Why not just be truthful? It is easier to sell the truth. It feels good. Just say, “I can’t make that promise. I feel it should work this way based on these experiences but honestly your industry is tough. It may take planning and time and some consistency to see any results. I feel that a long term plan would bring the best results but I am not making any guarantees.”

I know that if you are in sales you are thinking I am nuts about now. How could one land the sale with that attitude? Recently I was listening to Kevin Trudeau who was quoting a mentor in his life. The man said, “You need to care, but not that much.” It is good advice.

We do need to care about the sale. We need to care about the client. We need to care about getting the contract or the sign up or whatever we are trying to get. We need to care that we can deliver what we say we can deliver. We need to care about being true to ourselves and being an honest and authentic person. Some will like that, but if they say “no” it shouldn't ruin our day anyway. There are other sales. There are those that are not impressed with bragging. There are smart clients that realize that just because we have had great success with Velda’s Grower Direct we may not know anything about the financial industry. So why fake it? It is like a marriage relationship. If you lie about little things or expectations and then your partner finds out, they are angry. They feel they can’t trust you. If you care, then care enough to tell the truth. Isn't that what happens in healthy relationships?

So why not tell the truth and then the ones who actually say “yes” we can go forward with and we don’t have to pretend at every meeting that we are achieving things that we are not. We don’t have to try to act like we understand things that we don’t. We can instead explore options together as a team asking questions and seeking real answers with all of our cards out on the table. Together we can be open looking for answers and bringing in other professionals when we need more information. We can say I don’t know the numbers on that. I believe that it may be this, but that is a gut feeling not an accurate market report or a study. Let’s find some of those and get them onto the table before we make our next move here. We can then brainstorm more effectively and real results are more likely.

If a potential client comes to me and says, “I am trying to achieve X,”  I now say, “I know nothing about X.” I have full confidence to say so. If I have a competitor that specializes in X I refer them immediately, as I realize that the learning process is going to be expensive for both me and my client. If I know that my competitors know nothing about X then I simply tell this potential client that really nobody is having much luck with X (that I am aware of.) I can offer to brainstorm with them on ways to achieve X and possibly we can come up with a workable plan but then they are paying for work effort, planning, research and content building based on the findings - not results. Together with some hard work we may hit on something profitable and if they are willing to take the chance with somebody who admittedly knows nothing about their challenge then we can start an honest relationship and move forward. In many cases I would be their best hope anyway in this market because others don’t know either, although they may not have the moxy to say so…

Isn't it better to tell the truth?

Always Loyal2U

Kerry George

I thought this was cute. The truth about internet dating. Not a good way to present yourself. Definitely leads to false expectations!