One of the worst mistakes a salesperson can make is forgetting that it’s always and only about the customer and his or her needs and feelings. When you are interacting with a customer your feelings, needs and desires are to be placed on the back burner. In reality, what you feel or need doesn’t matter. Nor should emotions such as guilt ever be used for negotiation when a customer is making a business decision.  If you are looking for a quick way to lose credibility and ruin a relationship with your customer, this is definitely one way to do it!  If you have ever had a customer tell you “to not take it personal, it’s just business” you know this is a pride swallowing moment but then again if you don’t have thick skin, you probably need to look for a different line of work.

Recently I heard a real-life story about a salesperson that recently lost a large client’s business and made the fatal mistake of trying to make his customer feel guilty by telling the customer “you are taking bread off my table”. I’m sorry, when was it the customer’s problem or responsibility to make sure the salesperson’s bills were paid?  The salespersons job is to build a relationship with the customer, earn their trust and then consistently bring them ideas and solutions to help their business run better. Not only does this ruin any trust the salesperson may have built with the customer but it shows the customer clearly what this person’s focus was really on.  The reality of sales is that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.  However, I haven’t known many salespeople that have been successful in sales by using “guilt trips” on their customers.

At the end of the day, who would you rather do business with? A salesperson who is concerned primarily with how your business impacts his or her bottom line or one that is focused on you and your needs and concerns?