IS SINCERITY OVERRATED?

By Hank Trisler

Some folks have been holding forth about the importance of sincerity in selling. I thought about that and found it a charming concept that leaves me with a warm feeling, much like a kitten in my lap.

How does sincerity and bluntness convert to success in selling? If you are completely sincere, not only will you not make any sales, you won't have a family, or any friends, either. You may well have noticed that your customer's wife has breath like an acetelyne torch, but you would not be well advised to so inform him in the interests of sincerity.

The prime job of a salesperson is to create congenial relationships by making people happy. Excessive sincerity gets in the way of that. I'd much rather get an insincere compliment than a sincere insult. Oscar Wilde was heard to say: "A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal."

"Diplomacy," "Tact," "Consideration," "White Lies" are all the antithesis of sincerity, but that doesn't make them ineffective in selling. Charles F. Kettering, the inventor of the overhead valve V8 engine, said: "You can be sincere and still be stupid."

The best salespeople I have met are, without exception, charming, considerate, pleasant people. They go out of their way to be charitable in describing others and very careful in dealing with people's emotions. You know it would be absolutely impossible for them to actually like all these people, but they certainly give the impression that they do.

Jean Giraudoux said, "The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you've got it made." If you can't trust Jean, then who?

It's just possible you might have an opposing view. Let it fly.