When a sale seems too good to be true, it probably is

Imagine you’re a buyer, and you’re meeting with the “Can-Do Kid.”

You know the type: Whatever you need, he can provide. The price is too high? “No problem, we’ll work with you,” he says. You need it delivered by Tuesday at 9 a.m. “Consider it done.” Does it come in hot pink? Is it carbon-neutral? Will it double my profits? “We can make that happen.”

Would you feel comfortable buying from the Can-Do Kid?

Probably not. Something is seriously out of whack. He’s either a fool or a con artist. Either way you’re likely to get burned.

The same principle holds if you’re selling. There’s nothing wrong with a gimme sale every now and then. But if your buyer is TOO easy to please, something’s wrong. It usually means you and your buyer have different expectations. And if you don’t get them aligned now, you’ll regret it later, when your buyer insists that you misled him and failed to deliver what you promised.

So what’s the solution? You certainly don’t want to interfere with a customer who’s ready to buy. So go ahead and close the sale — but don’t let the customer walk away with unrealistic expectations. Before you leave the table, make absolutely sure that you and your buyer are in agreement on what will happen, when it will happen, and how you’ll measure success.