Last week I gave you my first four Commandments of Marketing. They pertained to your product or service. Here's a recap of what they were (click here to read the full article):
1. Setup no other god before the one true God.
2. Know your customers and solve their problems.
3. Have an excellent product or service.
4. Use no hyperbole (hype) in your marketing.
This week I want to talk about the ethics of dealing with customers.
5. Keep your promises.
Under promise, and over deliver. This is a tough one. Especially for service providers. I've felt the pressure to promise the customer anything to get the deal and make the sale. I've caved to that pressure plenty of times. The only thing it gets you is late nights, or missed deadlines, and disappointed customers.
6. Guarantee your work.
A guarantee is just a formalized promise that your product or service will perform as advertised. However, with the guarantee comes the risk of return or loss to you the marketer. A guarantee removes the risk from the buyer and places it on the seller. Guarantees are wonderful marketing tools. However, don't offer a guarantee you can't back up.
This concept was brought home to me one morning when my partner and I were presenting our mortgage services to a group of real estate agents. In the heat of the moment I rattled off the words "We guarantee our work." A savvy agent shot back the question "What will you do if the loan does go sideways?" Suddenly I realized that my words were empty. We weren't in the position to make any real refunds. I shot back quickly "We guarantee we'll feel real bad about it!" Everyone laughed, and the moment was glossed over. Everyone knew our guarantee was just words. So if you offer a guarantee, make sure you can fulfill it.
7. Don't stretch, color, or repackage the truth. Don't lie.
If selling your product or service requires a lie, even a little white lie, then you need to get a better product, or develop a better service.
I once sold an advertising product that could only be sold if a certain specific lie was told to create urgency in the mind of the buyer. In fact, during the training program the instructor came to this part of the sales pitch and said "This is the only place in the script where you actually have to lie."
I went through the training program telling myself I could sell the advertising without telling the lie. A week in the field talking to numerous business owners proved that I couldn't sell it without the lie. In fact, the only sales I made that week were made when I included the urgency creating lie. I quit to look for a new job.
8. Do not cheat your customers.
This is related to keeping your promises. Using cheap building materials and charging for premium grade materials, falsifying your hours, using bait and switch tactics all hurt you and your customer. When you are dishonest, you are essentially stealing from your customers. At some point they will discover your dishonesty and you'll pay the price in word of mouth denunciation.
You also step out of God's covering when you cheat your customers, removing his protection over your business and life. Proverbs 11:1 says, "God hates cheating in the marketplace; he loves it when business is aboveboard" (The Message). Your cheating separates you from God and blocks his blessings.
I hope you enjoyed the first eight Commandments of Marketing. Watch for my next post where I'll wrap this series up and talk about how using good emotions in marketing is always better than using bad ones.
Brett
