There is an old mantra in sales – Under-promise and over-deliver. While many salespeople follow this axiom and, on the surface, it has good intentions, it really tells you to do one thing – Lie to your clients. If you are in sales, try this interesting concept – Tell the truth!

The theory behind the "under-promise and over-deliver" concept is that if you over-promise, your clients will be upset with you when the final results are not what they expected; they may bad-mouth you and this will, most certainly, cost you any potential future referrals from them. If you under-promise, the final results will always be better than expected and your clients will be quite pleased with you. They'll tell their friends and you will get more referrals and sales leads in the future.

Now, here is the problem. If you under-promise, you may lose out on the current sale. Your customers or prospects may end up buying from a salesperson that over-promises. What good is under-promising to make prospects happy in the future if they never actually become a customer in the first place? And, you should not over-promise because that will upset your customers; angry customers are not good for business. So what should you do? Don't under-promise. Don't over-promise. TELL THE TRUTH!

What happens when you tell the truth? People will like you. People buy from people they like. That's not a sales tip. It's not a sales technique. It’s human nature. People will always be weary of pushy salespeople or salespeople that they think are dishonest. Don't be one of those salespeople. Be yourself, people will like you, they will buy from you, and you will sell more.

The concept of under-promise and over-deliver, while seemingly innocent enough, is a sales technique. Sales techniques are manipulative and they’re of an old-school sales mindset. Today, great salespeople tell the truth and they use a consultative sales approach that aims to help the customer rather than manipulate them for their own personal gain. Try it. Tell the truth and, you too, will be great!

Author's Bio: 

Tino Buntic is the creator of TradePals, providing free B2B and B2C sales leads to business professionals and entrepreneurs in cities across North America - That's free sales leads without cold calling!