I was listening in on sales calls with a distributor of high-performance auto parts, along with their Inside Sales Manager. A customer had called asking about a particular engine wiring harness. The salesperson explained that yes, the harness would work on his engine just fine. Right as the customer was about to buy, the salesperson said, “However, it’s not designed as a stock replacement harness; it won’t work on your original 2000 Camaro.”
The customer stopped and said that what he wanted was a stock replacement harness for his Camaro. The salesperson explained that this harness was designed to swap the engine into an older car and wouldn’t support all the functions of the Camaro’s system. The customer thanked the salesperson and hung up.
The Inside Sales Manager came unglued. What happened next perfectly illustrates one of the worst outdated sales techniques still being taught today.
- “Never Answer the Question the Customer Didn’t Ask!”
That’s what the Sales Manager yelled at the poor salesperson. “If you hadn’t volunteered that information, he’d have bought.”
The salesman was a rookie, so I stepped in. “If he’d bought,” I said, “that harness would have come right back as a return, and the customer would have been upset. What’s your win there?” As the manager stammered, I continued: “Or worse, he’d have tried to modify the harness to make it work, it still wouldn’t have worked, and then he couldn’t return it OR use it. He’s out $1,000. How does that help anyone?”
This technique is built around “get the order at all costs, and to hell with what happens afterward” transactional selling. It might have worked in an era when customers had limited information and options. But today? Especially with Millennial and Gen-Z buyers who can research everything, read reviews, and blast their experiences across social media? This is professional suicide.
Your role is to help the customer reach a successful buying decision. Here’s your new rule: If it’s information the customer needs to know in order to have a successful result, give it to them, whether they asked or not.
That’s not just good ethics. It’s good business in an age where one bad Google review can follow you forever.
- The “Take Away” Close
This manipulative tactic works like this: At closing time, you say something like, “You know, you really shouldn’t buy this (for whatever noble reason).” The idea is that the customer now wants it so badly that they’ll justify why they should buy it, essentially selling themselves.
Here’s the problem. If you’ve been selling correctly, you’ve built trust and credibility with the customer. Based on that trust, one of two things happens when you use the “take away”:
First, the customer believes you because of that credibility – which means you lose the sale (or you have to re-close, making yourself a liar).
Second, the customer sees right through the tactic, realizes you’re manipulating them, and walks.
Modern buyers are especially adept at spotting manipulation. They’ve been marketed to since birth. They know every trick in the book. When you try to play games with them, they don’t just walk – they tell everyone they know. Just play the close straight. Only take it away if you’re really going to take it away – meaning it’s genuinely not a good purchase for the customer.
- Never Ask a Question to Which You Don’t Know the Answer
This is the old “lawyer’s technique,” and it means the salesperson is terrified of being surprised by an answer.
There are two massive problems with this philosophy.
First, you must ask questions to which you don’t know the answer to properly discover and interpret needs. Be prepared for surprises and for the call to go in directions you hadn’t anticipated. That’s not a bug – it’s a feature. Those surprises are where you learn the most about your customer.
Second, by the time the lawyer gets into the courtroom, the witness has already been questioned numerous times. The lawyer knows what the witness will say. That’s not the case in a sales call.
Remember: 80% of your chance to win or lose the sale is determined by the time you ask your last question. You can’t ask good questions if you’re afraid of the answers.
This fear-based approach is particularly deadly with younger buyers who expect consultative conversations, not scripted interrogations. They want salespeople who are genuinely curious about their situation, not afraid to explore it.
- The Salesperson Should Seek to Control the Customer
First, any salesperson who believes they have “control” over the customer is fooling themselves. The customer can always remove themselves from the process. This delusion was always problematic, but it’s laughable in today’s empowered buyer environment. Modern buyers – especially younger ones – have done their research before they ever talk to you. They know their options. They control the process whether you acknowledge it or not.
Whatever control we have is more aptly called “influence,” and it’s shown by the customer allowing or asking us to direct parts of the process.
Seek influence, not control. Earn it by respecting the customer’s intelligence, showing your expertise, and working side by side for a successful result. Anything else is a fantasy that will cost you deals.
- The Up Front Contract
This technique opens the sales call with a closing question designed to lock the customer in with “intent to buy if things are right.” This ranges from the car salesman’s “Are you here to buy a car today?” to “If you like what you see today, is there any reason we can’t move forward?”
The problem is that this question occurs at the start of the selling process, before you’ve built any trust or equity, and before you’ve earned the right to ask a closing question. At this point your customer knows nothing of your offerings or pricing. Many times their needs haven’t even been defined and matched to a product or service – and you’re asking a closing question?
And if the customer says “yes” to the question and later says “no” to moving forward, what can you do? Whine about it?
Don’t worry about the buyer’s intent until the buyer has a reason to have intent. If they’re seeing you, they’re Motivated to enter a buying process – but that’s all. Let them complete their Buyer’s Journey.
The Common Thread
All of these techniques share one thing: they’re designed to maneuver and manipulate customers into places they don’t want to be. They come from an era when salespeople had information advantages over buyers. When customers had limited options. When bad experiences stayed local instead of going viral.
That world is gone.
Today’s buyers – and especially Millennial and Gen-Z decision makers – can smell manipulation from three states away. They have access to unlimited information, countless options, and platforms to share their experiences with thousands of people.
These outdated techniques don’t just fail with modern buyers. They actively damage your reputation in ways that follow you across your entire career. If you’re still using them, the ’70s called and they want their sales techniques back.
Focus on helping customers make successful buying decisions. Ask great questions. Build genuine relationships. Respect their intelligence and their process.
That’s not manipulation. That’s professional selling. That’s Navigating the Buyer’s Journey. And it’s what makes you successful in today’s world.
