Sales Integrity

Last week I attended a 100 anniversary celebration of one of our customer's being in business. A great accomplishment in and of itself. A number of dignitaries including Harvey McKay well known sales speaker and author were present.

It dawned on me the theme, integrity in business was not a subject that is aired frequently. It gets lost in all the strategies and tactics that clutter the literature and discussions in the sales world.

Often in our sales training classes we are asked how do you convince people to buy from you. This frequently has an implicit nuance of manipulation of the truth to get the business.

Our response is always tell the truth, never unrealistically embellish the facts. Stick to coupling the customer's need with your products and services and value will be apparent. Sales training that winks at integrity and subtlety puts it aside for the sake of the sale is simply wrong.Treating everyone with dignity, respect, and honesty is the right thing to do. Integrity never goes out of style!