Honesty and helpfulness are two virtues that are key to any great relationship, so it’s easy to spot long-term trouble if either of those are weak early on.
I personally look for this when evaluating new tools or technology for our company; if it’s difficult to talk to educated sales folks when I’m actively wanting to spend money, I can be pretty confident that getting post-purchase support will be even worse.
Chris Do explained this well in a recent podcast episode of his, sharing:
“When you lied to me on the call, theoretically, this is the best our relationships ever going to be. We’re still in the pre-honeymoon phase. It’s courtship right now. And if you’re gonna lie to me during the courtship, what’s gonna happen when I give you money and I have no more leverage over you and now you are going to do whatever. So you have to be really aware of this. And this is true in all relationships in life.”
As with many things, there are lessons in both sides.
If you’re on the receiving end of this, treat it as the red flag that it is and don’t enter that type of relationship (whether personal or business).
If you’re on the sales side of things, know that people are looking at this. You certainly want to back your sale with an amazing product and stellar support, but you won’t get a chance to show off either of those if you’re lackluster in the early days.
