Selling: is it ok to lie? (You’ve spoken)

Hola Grumo amigos, or should I say Grumigos?

Quick recap since last Wednesday.

On my previous email I shared with you my concern with the some shady tactics a good number of marketers employ to get people to join webinars and to purchase their products.

Then I asked you to share your thoughts regarding these two questions:

– Is it ok to manipulate if our underlying intent and desire is to create genuine benefit?
– Is it ok to lie if we truly believe our product will have a positive impact on our customer?

So here is what went on… WOW!

I received about 60 passionate replies with your opinions. It took me two days to go through all of them and reply to ALL of them (Note to self, don’t ask questions unless you want to spend the rest of your life answering emails)

I’ll give you a quick recap of the most thoughtful answers, but before I do, I just want to THANK all of you that took the time to contribute your thoughtsand in doing so helped me shed some light into this controversial topic.

Here are the main 5 takeaways I extracted from all your answers:

1. It’s never ok to lie even if we truly believe the outcome of our lie will benefit our potential customer
2. It’s ok to use sales tactics as long as they are ethical and we are upfront about our intentions
3. Don’t fall for shady tactics just because they’ve made other’s millions.
4. Find your own voice and only use strategies that match your values
5. A webinar is an opportunity to build trust with your prospects so make sure you treat them with respect (golden rule) and focus on providing as much value as possible. If you do a good job some of them will be more than happy to invest in learning more from you when you offer them the opportunity to do so at the end of the webinar

Your answers have been very helpful to tackle the webinar world with a new perspective that sits well with my Grumo morals (Grumorals 😉 ).

With these new insights I’ve sat down with my partner Brad and we’ve been redoing all the slides on our current webinar slide deck so it feels more authentic, more fun, more valuable and less “salesy”.

I still don’t know if these changes will help our webinars convert better but at least I already feel better about they way we are approaching our upcoming ones.

And now, as promised, I’d love share with you some of the most insightful answers I received to the question: “Selling: is it ok to lie?” :

“My answer is, hell no, it’s never ok to lie or manipulate our clients. That may be considered naive by some, but it only takes one client to believe that they have been played, even if the end result is what they wanted, and your reputation suffers. It’s part of our job to strive to make our product as excellent as is possible and then be eloquent and creative in how we show that to our potential clients” –Laura G.

“Is it OK to lie? Do you like it when people lie to you, perceiving it’s for your own good? I sure don’t. Why would I need to lie about my products and services when my sole aim is to provide what my customers and clients most need? If I “hold you as able”, I will trust that you know what’s best for you. My job is to watch for, listen to, and sense your needs and then create products and services that meet your needs in extraordinary ways. My marketing job is to bring my stories alive in creative and effective ways.” – Kirk V.

“A webinar is a vehicle for delivering a message, and for adding value to someones life, while at the same time building credibility and trust – if people buy then that is a huge bonus, but if the goal of the webinar is simply to sell, under the veil of illusion that it is something else, then people ‘feel’ that they didn’t get that ‘feel good’ feeling they originally signed up to receive. If they leave the webinar, with a bad taste in their mouth, they’ll probably never come back. So the webinar could in many ways also be the undoing of what people are trying to build.” – Karl J.

“I believe it is never ok to lie, once a person begins they will inevitably fall into a hole somewhere down the line. The same holds true for manipulation. In my many years of selling I have seen many sales people do many things (unethical) and have repercussions. One such example is if you try to manipulate someone into buying something through emotion that they can’t really afford at the time and they buy in the spot only to find that most will return the product they bought for a refund a few days later.” – Phillip S.

There were MANY more replies but I didn’t want to make this email way too long.

You guys are so great for taking the time to share your thoughts. I kept all your answers on a separate document under “webinar advice” so I can come back to it every time I feel need some inspiration.

Ok, enough about webinars…

Next week I’ll share which is my favorite blog in the world and a bit about my secret plan to meet Elon Musk!

Until then, may your life filled with much peace, love and cookies!
Miguel

P.S. I’ve been invited to spend a week at Necker Island to meet Richard Branson next year. Do you know anyone that has been there? was it worth it? I’ve seen so many “gurus” with a pic standing next to Sir Richard but I just don’t want to go across the world and see him for 2 seconds just so I can say “Lookie here, me too, I met him.. lalala”. Any insights will be most welcomed, Gracias!

P.2. Are you enjoying these emails? I’m still in the process of learning which content is most valuable to you so I’d love to hear your feedback. Thx.