by John Graham

We speak forcefully and sometimes even passionately about serving customers and taking care of their needs. We take special pride in these commitments. At times, our words sound so sincere that we convince ourselves that they are.

When a business seminar leader asks participants why they’re in business, the answers are instant. Away from the eyes and ears of customers, the answers reveal quite a different picture. "To make money!" It’s always the first response.

The phone rings and the salesperson says, "Let’s get together. I want to work with you." Work with me? That’s what the caller says, but that’s not what they mean. Work is a code word. "I want to sell you something" is the real message.

Another salesperson asks, "Do you want to save money?" Of course we want to save money — that’s why we pass on this one. "Saving money" is another code. To save money, we must buy something.

As it turns out, the only people who are naïve enough to believe such baloney are those who mouth it. These approaches don’t work as well as they once did. Fewer customers are willing to waste their time. They’re far more cautious and less willing to be led by the nose.

No matter how the sales pitch is couched, the goal is to get the money. Even more to the point, it’s all about figuring out how to get the money and run. So much business language exacerbates the con game and undermines selling credibility. Here are some examples:

We talk about "helping the customer," but the real goal is to load up the customer with as much as possible of what we sell. That’s the way we measure success. Whatever it takes, just get the customer to buy as much as we can. When we talk about "helping," we’re often referring to ourselves.

If we’re selling to retailers, do we think about the next season, or the season after that? Won’t they remember what we did to them? What will they think when they see how much merchandise they were left with? Who cares? Either we’ll be gone or they will and it will be on to someone else.

This isn’t good selling. It’s stupid, even though it looks good on the sales manager’s report. Understanding the customer’s requirements and then preparing a purchasing plan so that orders flow consistently over a period of time might not get you plaudits from the sales manager, but it will produce a higher overall sales volume and a positive relationship with customers.

We say they’re our "valued customers," but what we really care about is shareholder value. The true objective is to do only what’s absolutely necessary for the customer. Nothing more. The customer isn’t king, but a pawn to manipulate as needed. In effect, our actions teach salespeople to be duplicitous. We’re saying that integrity doesn’t count. And then we wonder why a salesperson misleads a customer! We say we’re committed to taking care of customers, but the actual goal is to take them.

We talk about building long-term relationships, but we expect short-term results. We devote our time, energy, and effort into looking at the numbers, rather than looking at the customers. They’re important only in terms of what they can do for us.

An ad agency’s art department made a substantial investment in a high-end color printer. When it arrived, the installers announced that their role was limited to taking it out of the carton and placing it in the office. "Just follow the directions," one said. "If you need help, call the service department. But that’s billable time." And with that, they were gone. This was a national company, one of the best-known names in its industry. Without question, this company has only one interest: short-term results.

We make a point of staying close to customers, but once we get the order, we’re gone. Is it any wonder that customers take longer and longer to sign the order? It makes perfect sense. We all know that the moment we sign the order, it’s all over.

No wonder customers hold out as long as possible. They want to get as much help and information as they can up front because that’s when the salesperson is attentive, helpful, and responsive. Customers know this will all end with the stroke of our pen. When will we get first-class treatment again? When the company wants to sell us something.

We see ourselves as high-minded, but we tell them anything that fits our purpose. On March 27, 2002, Arthur Andersen ran a double-truck ad in the Wall Street Journal with the headline, "Injustice For All." The ad copy was brief:

Really? The ad makes "one indictment" sound as if someone was caught speeding, even though what transpired amounted to a wholesale betrayal of the most rigorously guarded business profession of all: public accounting.

Amazing as it might seem, Andersen — like others in similar circumstances — would have us believe that it’s the victim. Why is it so difficult to see that it betrayed its profession and clients? Doesn’t anyone remember Andersen’s involvement in the Waste Management debacle?

Isn’t it an accounting firm’s integrity that attracts clients? It’s all over when the firm compromises its audit function. The deliberate and calculated destruction of Enron records affirmed Andersen’s culpability. Where’s the auditing without an audit trail?

That’s not all. According to Matthew P. Gardner, managing director of Aon Financial Services Group, the fall of Enron could have "a longer lasting impact on world financial practices in business and insurance than the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11." Gardner’s comments appeared in The Standard, March 22, 2002.

Just one indictment.

Why did it all happen? Does anyone know? It doesn’t take much imagination to think that greed became the guiding principle. And then the next step is easy: tell people anything to get out of the jam.

Then we wonder why customers don’t trust us, why they doubt our integrity, suspect our motivations, and remain less than convinced about the credibility of our recommendations. The salesperson assures the printing company president that "this is the right press for the type of work you want to do." Is it the right press, or is it simply the press he wants to sell?

We talk about listening to customers, but we don’t take time to hear what they’re saying. A study by the Miller-Williams, Inc. research firm concluded that more than half of sales pitches miss their mark –– the customer. Although conscientious salespeople spend time preparing their presentations, 51% don’t fit the customer’s personality. In other words, there’s a failure to take the customer into account.

A community bank was ready to roll out a package of services for small businesses when it was suggested that it might help to test the program on a group of customers. During the session there was little interest in "banking products." At one point, a successful retailer said, "Let me tell you what I’d like from the bank. Once or twice a year, I’d like to sit down with a couple of officers and pick their brains." Why did he want bank officers, rather than his accountant? "The bankers sit on my side of the table. They’re really interested in my business because they’re lending me money."

Your goal is to establish conditions that foster relationships that have meaning for our customers, to enhance your sales credibility, and to convince customers that it’s smart to do business with you.