| Dallas,
Texas. They cure migraines, grow hair, dry
up acne and shrink belly fat. Their “research”
promises to expose the conspiratorial underbelly
of the global pharmaceutical industry, and
their “male enhancement” vitamins
are guaranteed to make men popular at parties.
Like the truth, they’re out there:
Charlatans, ex-cons and ultra-sincere pitchmen
-and women- keen to help you reach your
“true potential.” But wait,
there’s more! According to new research
their pitches might contain more hype than
help. “Their presentations are new
age” says Baylor University marketing
professor, Larry Chonko, “but, it’s
just the 21st century version of an age-
old problem: exaggerated promotional claims.”
To Chonko, such reckless spiels are not
typical of the modern sales profession.
Chonko and fellow Baylor University marketing
professor Jeff Tanner joined noted behavioral
scientist George W. Dudley at The Behavioral
Sciences Research Press in Dallas, Texas,
to study exaggeration. The researchers used
SPQ*GOLD, a psychological test that spots
exaggerating salespeople, to analyze 18,886
U.S. salespeople and 18,299 global salespeople.
Their research, Stretching The Truth, will
be presented at the 2007 National Sales
Conference in Sales Management, Irvine,
CA, March 29-31.
Not
surprisingly, the study found that salespeople
who choose to exaggerate what they know
also exaggerate what they will do. “The
3,016 U.S. salespeople professing the most
ability to sell highly influential prospects
scored 61% on the SPQ exaggeration scale,”
Tanner said. “The 2,536 claiming more
realistic ability levels scored 45%. International
salespeople follow a similar pattern. Those
claiming exceptionally high proficiencies
also score the highest on exaggeration,
while those making more modest claims score
much lower.”
But veteran sales researcher George W. Dudley
says the results need to be put in proper
perspective. “People think all salespeople
exaggerate,” he said, “but that’s
a myth that has little to do with the modern
sales profession.”
Comparative studies done by Dudley and others
show salespeople don’t exaggerate
as much as members of some other professions.
The overall exaggeration rate for 53,586
salespeople is 53.64% on a 0-100% scale.
That conclusion is supported by an even
larger sample (141,169 salespeople) reported
in 2006. But, broadcasters (55%) score higher
than salespeople. So do consultants (61%)
and venture capitalists (65%). Some academics
and psychologists score even higher.
According to Chonko, Tanner and Dudley,
people “don’t react negatively
just to the minority of salespeople who
still choose to exaggerate. They react negatively
to dishonesty- regardless of profession.”
And, that’s no exaggeration.
Dudley and Tanner’s critique of the
modern “sincerity industry”
is the subject of their latest book, The
Hard Truth About Soft-Selling (Behavioral
Sciences Research Press, 2006).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
George
W. Dudley, is the world’s leading
authority on sales call reluctance. He is
co-author of the international best seller,
The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance®
and has conducted numerous scientific studies,
both nationally and internationally on the
nature and impact of sales call reluctance®.
SPQ*GOLD, one of the online diagnostic and
corrective applications authored by Dudley,
is used by more organizations worldwide
to spot sales call reluctance than any other
procedures.
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