Just as a doctor’s prime directive is to “never do harm to anyone”, a salesperson’s first objective should be not to offend. That sounds easy – simply avoid calling your clients obscene names. While that’s certainly something I’d recommend steering clear of, it’s not that simple. People can be offended in a variety of ways. While some clients will be more sensitive than others, it’s best to assume they will all belong to the “easily offended” group.
Most of us have five functioning senses: sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste. That means we’ve got five ways to be offended.
Sight
Many business owners have logos printed on their company vehicles, shirts, or hats. This is a great marketing strategy, but can be quickly undone when coupled with a controversial slogan or image. Some topics to avoid:
- Politics
- Religion
- Gay rights/rainbow flag
- Confederate flag
- Animal rights/PETA
- Gun rights/NRA
- Fair Tax
Envision this scenario: Suzy Liberal is driving behind a truck with a sign that reads “Smith’s Custom Furniture”. She is interested, and makes a mental note of the website address. A few seconds later, she notices a “Tea Party Conservatives” bumper sticker. Incensed, she hastily discards her mental note.
Your choice of clothing is important, as well. Advice on this subject is not one size fits all – a suit and tie isn’t necessarily the answer. Your clothes should be clean and pressed, and coordniate with your furniture and cabinetry. A pair of overalls with a white shirt would work well for a builder of country pine furniture, but wouldn’t work for a hip, contemporary furniture maker.
Smell
Don’t encourage your clients to flee the meeting prematurely. Keep a spare shirt and a package of mints handy. I recommend that you avoid the following:
- Body odor
- Strong colognes or perfumes (Go easy on the Old Spice, Captain!)
- Incense and overpowering air fresheners
- Cigarette or coffee breath
Hearing
Assume that you can be heard from the moment you pull into a client’s driveway until the moment you leave and are safely away, and act accordingly.
- Don’t use a familiar tone with clients until you’ve been told otherwise. Use Mr. and Mrs., Sir and Ma’am.
- Avoid political or otherwise controversial comments (“We should never have gone to war in the first place!”).
- Refrain from bad mouthing your competition.
- Speak clearly, don’t mumble, and use proper grammar.
Touch
Obviously, groping a client is a sure way to lose a sale, but more everyday forms of personal contact can distract clients from your message.
- Your handshake: Limp fish? Vice grip? Sweaty palms? All three should be avoided. Make sure your hands are clean and dry. Shake hands warmly and firmly, and don’t linger overlong.
- Personal space: Don’t invade it. Men especially should pay attention here – women are extremely sensitive to this.
Taste
It’s true that you’d have to go to great lengths to offend a client’s sense of taste. I include it here as something to be aware of.
Maybe some people are just too sensitive. But that’s never going to change. Consider this: would you rather tell the world who you voted for in the last election, or avoid offending a whole party’s worth of potential clients? How difficult would it be to simply not smoke in your vehicle on your way to a client’s home?
Doug Turner lives in Atlanta, GA with his two cats, several hundred books, and a whole lot of woodworking tools. He earned a BFA from the Atlanta College of Art in 1996, and has been designing and building furniture ever since. His interest in marketing, website design, and search engine optimization grew from his lack of money to spend on advertising. His belief is that the internet is “the great marketing leveler” and has been the foundation of his guerrilla marketing efforts. He has worked with several small businesses developing website and identity designs, low cost marketing strategies, and social media marketing campaigns. You can see more work from Turner Custom Furniture on Doug’s website, and read more marketing advice from Doug on his new blog Handcrafted Marketing.
Comments
Sound advise Mr Turner.
Thank you. I was concerned that I might offend people with my post about not offending people...
Good to cover the basics.
You might add Context. You are dealing with a customer who is, likely, unknown to you. A pet peeve of some people is the salesman who wants to immediately act like he/she is your pal. A friendly demeanor is fine, but reign it in already. It takes a bit of effort and time to SINCERELY get to know somebody. Posers just trying to ingratiate themselves to get a sale? They try taking presumptuous shortcuts. Avoid that. It's very disrespectful.
Gee, meant to say "rein" not "reign." Doesn't appear to be any way to edit comments once they're posted.
I agree, Old Shavings. I can't stand an overly friendly salesperson, even if I'm going to buy a pair of shoes.
I found your logic to be well founded and easy to read and grasp. It is a shame that not everyone who needs to read it will find it for now. Eventually they might. The topic extends to more than furniture making.
I made comments that I blurted out and regretted later. Like the arrow, a word that is slung captures more than your imagination.
The comments following an article offer insight, humour, and a little depth to the conversation. Thank you for providing it.
Thanks Algae2010. I have received a lot of positive comments from sources outside of this site as well. I wasn't sure how people would take statements like "avoid bad breath...", but I guess it never hurts to touch base with the basics of selling once in a while.
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