If you were to ask a hundred consumers what the most annoying thing about marketing was, then it is a safe bet that at least a quarter of them would use the word “lie” in some form. They hate being lied to, and they are less likely to take notice of marketing every time someone tells them a lie. This has led to a cynical market out there which is very difficult to nail down through conventional marketing. If you tell them that something is too good to be true, then they’ll believe that it is – and therefore must be a lie.
There is a lot of mileage in being honest to the customer. This doesn’t mean saying to them: “If I were you, I’d go elsewhere. I know another shop that sells this item at about half the price.”. What it means is that you concentrate on the facts and avoid making your product out to be the answer to all their problems when all they really want to hear is that it will make their life easier, more enjoyable or more convenient. It may even be that the product is better than you make it out to be, and when that is the case they are even more impressed.
Gaining a reputation for straight talking is worthwhile. People who are fed up of being lied to will really value the word of someone who is prepared to be less hyperbolic and more constructive in their marketing. Don’t undersell yourself, but be prepared to tone down the rhetoric. In the long run, people will spend more when they trust the salesman.
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