ABCO Payroll Services®

By Roger Reynolds

What is the difference between a good salesman and a great salesman?

Answer: Integrity....

When I first read Zig Ziglar's answer to that question in a magazine interview, at first I was a little surprised.

After reading the interviewer's question my first thoughts went in the direction of "A good closer" or "A good prospector". But after giving Zig's answer a little time it started to make a lot of sense to me.... And over the years I have become a true believer in his answer.

My first thoughts turned toward the presidency of Richard Nixon... During Nixon's term as president he had a lot of accomplishments... Ended the Vietnam War, began our modern day relationship with China and took some of the first steps to clean up the environment. But, his lack of integrity is why he is most remembered.

What is integrity? The dictionary defines the integrity I am referring to as: Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.

Our actions and those of the businesses we work for reflect our integrity. It's more than just not lying or cheating.... It can be in the way our product is priced.... Let me give you two examples:

I made a quick stop at one of those national grocery chains that had just introduced a "Preferred Buyers Card". On my way up the aisle I grabbed a box of aspirin from a display with a big $1.99 price sign. (Of course I didn't read the fine print on the sign, I was in a hurry.) When I got to the register not having a "Preferred Buyers Card" the aspirin rang up for $6.99. At that moment the store lost its integrity with me... If the true retail value was $6.99 they couldn't afford to sell the aspirin for $1.99!

When I first started my business I responded to an ad for a postage meter -- $19.99 per month and you got a scale to go with it. The cost was automatically charged to my credit card every month... No where did I see anything about that being a special price for a specific period of time (again maybe it was there, but, who has time to read the small print?), but after a year I noticed that the charge on my card was $48.99. When I gave the company a call they told me the $19.99 was just for the first year.... (Of course after they heard what I thought about their integrity they reduced the price back to $19.99). That company lost my respect with their pricing policy... If it is an introductory offer, make it clear! And don't make the introductory offer more than 50% less than your regular price for a year!... INTEGRITY!

Not following through on commitments equals loss of integrity equals loss of confidence equals loss of client....

Let me give you an example.... One of the national delivery services guarantees overnight delivery. But what happens if a package gets miss sorted or delayed? They reschedule for the next day... and if it's still delayed they reschedule for the next day.... They make no special effort to keep their promises. Will they refund your shipping fee? Sure if you take the time to call and request a refund, otherwise you get billed as if the package was delivered on time.

I see this as a lack of integrity which has led to my lack of confidence and will lead to the loss of my business. Would it cost them more to keep their promise? Sure.... But, not spending an extra $60 or so to get the package on the next flight to the destination city is going to cost them $30,000 in annual billing.

A number of years ago Tom Peters wrote a book, In Search of Excellence, which picked out some of the excellent companies and told what they did to achieve that excellence. One of the characteristics was doing whatever it took regardless of cost to meet the commitments made to their customers.

Your promises must mean something to you and everybody in your organization....

Being ethical is not always what we tell a prospect, but many times is what we don't tell the prospect. (After all they call it "ERRORS and OMMISSIONS" insurance don't they). Don't hide the bad news until you're delivering the policy and the new client has little choice but to accept the bad news. A client is not going to continue to buy from you if you lose his confidence and if he questions your integrity you've lost it!.

Remember: No sale is worth jeopardizing your integrity.

 

Roger Reynolds is President/CEO of ABCO Payroll Services Inc., Roger has obtained an MBA from Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio