Even Though Your Product Has Problems, I'll Buy It Anyway

If your product or service has some shortcomings, be sure to tell your prospects right at the beginning. Contrary to what most believe, this may actually get you one step closer in achieving the sale - If you know how to covertly persuade them to see it your way.

Why is that so?

First off, your prospects will find out about these shortcomings after they've bought your product anyway. Now wait a second. You must be thinking "yeah, but so what, they've already bought from me and I've already made a sale off them".

The greatest salesman in the world will tell you this is definitely wrong because you want recurring customers to keep coming back to buy from you. If you disappoint them by not telling them about the problems upfront, not only will you lose this customer, you'll earn a bad reputation as well when he starts bad-mouthing your name to everyone he encounters. As you and I probably already knew, negative news such as this spreads like wild fire.

Soon, nobody wants to buy from you.

By being blatantly honest about the problems your product have, people will appreciate your honest personality. They'll perceive you as someone with sincere integrity interested in truly helping them solve their problems, not just another sales guy trying to rip them off their money (perception of good guy image).

State the problems upfront, then explain to them why these problems aren't really an issue. You'll sell a lot more this way simply because of the 'good guy' perception as mentioned above. And the fact you're being totally different with all the other sales people out there who boast about how perfect and flawless their products are, further confirms their perception of this 'good guy' image.

Always justify your product's shortcoming with a reason. A real life example is the local auto mechanic shop I go to whenever my car needs to be fixed. I remembered the first time I went there, I was a little skeptical about the quality of their services. Well you really can't blame me for that. After all the shop was dirty, the customers' waiting room was small and wasn't air conditioned, there were no magazines to be read, no water to be served, and there weren't even enough seats to accomodate all the customers.

As I was waiting for my car to be fixed, I noticed a sign that says (I don't remember the exact wording, but here's what it basically said: "Yes, we know the waiting room you're in now is cramped with no AC, not enough seats, no beverages, and certainly no newspapers or magazines of that kind. But please note that we're dead serious about fixing your car and we guarantee it will be fixed and treated with the highest care possible. Also know that without all the AC and beverages stuff, we were able to provide you with our service at such a low price. We pass the savings back to you, because we understand what really matters is your car gets fixed, not how good you feel in a spacious AC room reading some FHM magazine".

Covert Persuasion Tip: Acknowledge any problems your products have and state them upfront. Then explain to your prospects why those problems aren't important. Make them perceive you as someone honest who is interested in helping solve their problems, not just another sales guy trying to rob them off their hard-earned money.