CHEATERS NEVER PROSPER
Some all-too common business “cheats.”
Marketing Undeliverables. Marketing produces attention grabbing and enticing stories that attract prospects. Now what do you do with the attention? If you allude things you can’t do to get them to take the next step, you erode confidence (of the prospect and your team) no matter how valuable what you do offer is. Just tell the truth and use that marketing muscle to make it as sexy as possible. Or it leads to…
Underpricing your Value. Lowest price is a strategy, not a technique. If you find yourself consistently turning to this technique to close a sale, then you are either not providing (or communication) value to your prospect. Winning deals at lower-than-expected margins deteriorates your ability to consistently provide value. I know, I know, you’ll make it up in volume. But volume only leads to more bad deals. And this leads to…
Overworking the Team. There are times everyone has to work long hours, but this should be temporary. If your team must consistently work 50, 60 hours a week plus just to keep up with their responsibilities you either (1) don’t have enough staff, (2) didn’t provide them with the correct tools, or (3) are employing the wrong people. If your business is only successful if people are overworked it is not sustainable and non-sustainable business models have little value, which may lead to…
Overcharging your Customers. I’m not speaking against a healthy profit margin. I’m referring to charging for work not performed, or product not delivered, or re-billable expenses not incurred. Whether it occurs by sloppiness (mistake), inefficiency (not knowing), or bad intent (it makes up for where we lost money), such “wink-wink” practices define one’s culture and ultimately undermine performance and trust – both inside and outside the organization, which leads to…
Not Delivering on the Promise. By not exceeding the customer’s expectations, or doing a great job, or even a good job. Which often comes from initially promising things that can’t be delivered, taking us back to the first item in this blog.
Cheaters never prosper – for long anyway. Your reputation comes from your practices and you are your reputation.
www.ClosingStrong.com
“The more people rationalize cheating, the more it becomes a culture of dishonesty. And that can become a vicious, downward cycle. Because suddenly, if everyone else is cheating, you feel a need to cheat, too.”
— Stephen Covey