Stop Tolerating the Sleaze

I saw a few things this past week that reminded me why salespeople have been fighting a lousy reputation for as long as I’ve been in this profession.

And I’ve been at it for over 40 years.

First, I saw a LinkedIn post from a sales rep bragging about her brilliant trade show prospecting strategy.

She explained that instead of investing tons of money in her own booth at industry trade shows, she simply lurks around in front of her main competitors’ booths, strikes up conversations with prospects at the booth, and picks up lots of leads.

So your competitors invest thousands of dollars in exhibit space, displays, travel, and staffing, and you deliberately position yourself in front of their booths to leech off the traffic they’ve attracted?

Why stop there? Scan their lanyards while you’re at it.

And you’re proud of that?

Look, I’m all for creative prospecting. I’ve taught it my entire career. And there’s nothing wrong with networking and meeting prospects at a trade show.

But deliberately camping out in front of a competitor’s booth to siphon off their prospects?

I wouldn’t do it. Most self-respecting salespeople wouldn’t. Yet she’s bragging about it.

Then there was the email I received.

The subject line was:

“Your name came up in a conversation.”

Interesting psychology at work here. Naturally, I opened it.

The message was a prospecting pitch for short-term business financing. Something I don’t need, by the way, but I was still curious where he was going with this.

And it was pretty obvious that my name hadn’t come up in any conversation.

So I replied:

“My name never came up, did it?”

To his credit, the guy responded.

No, it hadn’t. He was just reaching out to see if I might be interested in financing.

Think about that.

His very first interaction with me was based on a lie.

Now, suppose I actually DID need financing.

Would I want to entrust my company’s financial information and potentially a substantial amount of money to someone who had already demonstrated that he was willing to deceive me just to get me to open an email?

Not a chance.

And then there was the article from the supposed SaaS sales veteran.

He was sharing his “expert” advice on how to get past gatekeepers.

His experience in SaaS sales?

One year.

But apparently that was enough to qualify him to recycle some of the same tired nonsense that’s been floating around sales training for decades.

Be vague about why you’re calling. Tell the assistant it’s a business matter and to just connect you.

And when leaving voicemail, just give your name and number, imply that it’s important, and ask for a callback.

Just stop.

I’ve been teaching for decades that these people are assistants, not gatekeepers. They’re human beings doing their jobs, often with valuable information that can help us better understand the people we’re trying to reach.

And here’s someone teaching salespeople to treat them as obstacles to be tricked.

Or to leave a voicemail deliberately designed to make someone wonder whether there’s an urgent matter they need to address.

Congratulations. You got a callback.

Now you get to explain why you misled them.

Great way to begin a business relationship.

For as long as I’ve been in sales, we’ve been fighting the sleazy salesperson stereotype.

The fast-talking huckster.

The stereotypical dishonest used-car salesman.

The timeshare sales team turning your 30-minute update into a three-hour waterboarding with four different “closers.”

The telemarketing scammer who will say just about anything to get your money.

Where do you think those stereotypes came from?

They didn’t magically appear.

They were earned.

By people who lied to, pressured, and took advantage of others to make a sale.

And unfortunately, the rest of us work under that tainted umbrella called “sales.”

Every time a salesperson uses a deceptive tactic, they make it a little harder for the next legitimate salesperson to get someone to answer the phone, respond to an email, or agree to a conversation.

Because prospects don’t always separate one salesperson’s behavior from the entire profession.

They get burned, and their reaction is often, “That’s why I hate dealing with salespeople.”

Thanks a lot.

The rest of us are trying to do this the right way.

And what really bothers me is that some of these tactics are being celebrated. “You pulled one over on people, yay!”

Someone finds a sneaky way to get attention, an appointment, or a lead, and suddenly they’re a prospecting genius.

People applaud the result without giving much thought to how it was achieved.

Since when does getting a result excuse how you got it?

I’ve said it for years: The ends do not justify the means.

And there’s something bigger than this that I think too many short-sighted salespeople overlook.

Your Prospect Is Evaluating You Before You Ever Present Anything

We talk a lot about building trust in sales. There are entire books and methodologies about it.

But some salespeople apparently believe trust-building begins AFTER they’ve successfully tricked someone into talking with them.

As if the slate gets wiped clean once the conversation starts.

Uh-uh. It doesn’t.

Your prospect is forming opinions about you from the very first interaction. Even before that, as I’ve been saying in recent weeks.

They’re noticing how you approach them, what you say, whether you respect their time, how you treat other people, and whether you seem to be telling the truth.

And they’re gathering evidence about what it might be like to do business with you.

Think about that financing email again.

The guy hadn’t even told me anything about his service yet, and he’d already given me a reason not to trust him.

Maybe his rates were the best available. Maybe his service was outstanding. Maybe I was a startup manufacturer who needed a bridge loan to make payroll. He’d made all of that irrelevant before we even had a conversation.

Or consider the voicemail designed to create a false sense of urgency.

You might get the callback, sure.

But when the person discovers that your supposedly important message was just a sales pitch, what have you accomplished?

You’ve demonstrated that you’re willing to manipulate someone to get what you want.

And now you expect them to believe everything else you tell them?

Remember the last time you realized somebody had played you? Did that make you want to do business with them?

There’s Nothing Wrong With Being Assertive

I’m not suggesting we should be timid about prospecting.

Quite the opposite.

I’ve invested my career teaching salespeople how to proactively reach people who aren’t expecting their calls, create interest, ask great questions, and help people make decisions. I believe strongly in persuasive selling, I love creative prospecting, and I have no problem being persistent when there’s a legitimate reason to believe you can help someone.

But none of that requires lying to anybody.

The best salespeople I’ve ever known didn’t need those tricks. They prepare, they understand their prospects, they develop compelling possible value propositions, they communicate professionally, and they ask questions that get people thinking.

And they treat everyone they encounter with respect.

Even the people who don’t buy.

Especially the people who don’t buy.

Your reputation is shaped as much by the people who walked away from you as by the customers who love you.

Here’s a Simple Test

Before using some clever new prospecting or sales tactic, ask yourself:

If the prospect knew exactly what I was doing, and why, would I be comfortable explaining it to them?

Would you proudly tell someone that you fabricated your email subject line because you knew it would get more opens?

Would you explain that you deliberately made your voicemail sound urgent because you wanted them to call back?

Would you tell a prospect that you were hanging around a competitor’s booth specifically to intercept people interested in their products?

If you’d be embarrassed to explain your approach, that’s a pretty good sign you shouldn’t be using it.

And here’s one more question.

If someone used that exact tactic on you, would it increase or decrease your trust in them?

We don’t get to complain about how prospects view salespeople while simultaneously encouraging the behavior that created the problem.

I’ve said many times that professional selling is a noble profession when it’s done right.

We help people solve problems, improve situations, achieve goals, and make decisions that are in their best interests.

That’s something to be proud of.

But every time someone lies, misleads, or manipulates to get a foot in the door, they’re contributing to a reputation that the rest of us have been working for decades to overcome.

So here’s my request to everyone in sales, and especially to those teaching it:

Let’s stop applauding tactics just because they work, and start asking whether they’re right.

Because how you get the business says a lot about how you’ll do the business.

Before I seriously explored creating a Smart Calling AI Coach, I asked myself one question.

Why?

It certainly wasn’t because I felt I needed to jump on the AI bandwagon. Seems like everyone and their brother (or kid) is launching something with AI attached to it these days.

And I didn’t want to create another shiny tool just because the technology made it possible.

I kept coming back to the same thing that’s driven my work for over 40 years. I want to help salespeople BECOME better salespeople, which means getting better at the one thing AI won’t replace: relevant, empathetic conversations with real humans. And as I said in today’s rant, that matters more than ever.

So I started thinking about what an AI coach SHOULD do.

It should help you prepare for calls, build compelling messaging, ask better questions, think through tough situations, handle resistance professionally, and plan next steps. It should help you apply what you’ve learned, practice, and improve with every conversation.

And it should be there when you need it, whether you’re preparing for an important call, figuring out how to respond to a prospect, or reviewing what you could have done better.

What it shouldn’t be is another tool for blasting out thousands of generic messages or automating bad prospecting habits. We have plenty of those already.

The goal is a salesperson who’s more capable and more confident, with skills that work throughout their career, with or without AI.

And, by the way, when I reached out to you and other sales pros, most of this was confirmed and reinforced.

That’s what has guided the development of the Smart Calling AI Coach.

We are getting close. More to share soon.

Make it your best week ever!