Goal of this blog:
- Educate everyone on common sales tactics – knowledge is power
- Provide visibility into sales interactions
- Hold sales orgs accountable for antiquated selling tactics and short sighted behaviors
A Sales Tactic as Old as Time: Bait and Switch
What is it?
The idea is pretty simple. A salesperson tells you something that turns out to be false. Most people have experienced this be it in a personal relationship or business negotiation but in this world, knowledge is power and
Historical – While there is no specific date associated with the creation of this slick little sales number, its application can most likely be assumed to have started around the snake oil (CBD?) salesman days when people sold out of the trunk of their car. *disclaimer, that assumption isn’t supported by fact it just feels right to the author
B2C Example: People show up to a dealership to inspect a car they were told would be there only to find out that the car was never there and then they are presented more expensive vehicles that they weren’t interested in to begin with. Rest assured, this is no accident. It’s also infuriating to anyone with a pulse.
B2B Example: quoting the price for a particular service only in annual pricing. When the customer agrees and wants to move to month-2-month there is a significant markup associated.
How to avoid it – The best protection against falling victim to this particular sales trick is to:
- Ask questions… lots of them – one strategy is to take control of the agenda setting process to ensure that you are talking about the things you
- Create a running document with the seller to manage expectations and timelines
- Don’t be afraid to walk away
Conclusion
While the name Customer Obsessed seems to be everywhere, it doesn’t always feel that way during negotiations or walking through a buying process. The same way that top rated organizations are using customer feedback to shape their product offerings, organizations are leveraging similar tools to continuously improve their sales process.
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