To your clients, the sales team represents the company. It is the client’s first point of contact with your company and one of the main reasons why regular sales training and re-training is so important. Your sales teams’ behaviour influences the satisfaction of your clients, just as much as the quality of your products or services does. This fact is as true in the pre-sales period as it is during the after-sales period.

Each of your clients has certain expectations when purchasing your product or service. These expectations were formed in the pre-sales period: through previous experiences with the product or your company, advertising or a personal recommendation. These pre-purchase expectations are then fulfilled to varying degrees after the sale:

The product may be better than expected  (a positive surprise).
The product may be in accordance with    the client's expectations (a confirmation).
The product may be worse than expected (a negative surprise).

Positive surprises are naturally highly influential on customer satisfaction.

Every successful salesperson must, during the sales negotiation, try to determine the prospect’s expectations. If the salesperson feels that the client’s expectations are too high, then she/he should try to adjust them so as to avoid negative surprises and dissatisfaction. 

If, on the other hand, the salesperson feels that the prospect’s expectations are in fact too low, then she/he must try to emphasise the merits of the product. If you don’t do this you run the risk of the customer purchasing from the competition.

A very common error seen in inexperienced salespeople on sales training courses is when the customer’s expectations are in fact too high. In these situations it is tempting for many salespeople to not try and lower them (for fear of losing the order). In the short term this strategy may well lead to increased turnover, but in the long term it actually destroys the customer’s trust in the sales force, your product and your company.

So, to ensure long-term client satisfaction, it is critical that during the important pre-sales period the sales team builds up realistic customer expectations.

As well as having high expectations of the product, a client also demands high standards of your presentation. On the one hand, your sales team can make its presentation very one-sided, focusing the client’s attention to the positive aspects of the product.  On the other hand, your sales team can give an “honest” presentation, by emphasising both the positive and the negative aspects of the product.

In the first instance, the lasting effect a presentation has on the client depends on the arguments that the salesperson chooses.  Strong arguments normally raise the client’s expectations, whilst weak arguments lower them. Sales people could cite technical data, performance figures, etc. Such tangible and practical aspects produce a strong argument. On the other hand, weak arguments tend to be based on image and design, and are difficult for the client to understand.


Your sales force should focus on stressing the advantages and disadvantages if you have to convey as much information as possible about a new product.  This recommendation comes with the proviso that the sales person has veryy strong arguments in favour of your product. If your offer centers on a weak “me-too” product, then giving a one-sided presentation is more effective!

Your customers’ commitment significantly influences his/her satisfaction. The more intensively a client has researched a product before deciding to purchase it, then the more satisfied she/he will be later on. The reason for this lies in the human psyche. If the product or offer had been extensively researched, she/he would have to admit that she/he had made a big mistake if she/he was later dissatisfied.  She/He will thus suppress any negative impressions and only perceive the positive aspects of your product (a phenomenon known as selective perception).

Whenever possible, the sales team should have to hand demonstration products or samples which can be given to the client on, perhaps, a trial basis.  Client seminars and presentation videos can help to initiate greater contact between the client and your product and so are also helpful.

During the after-sales period by far the most common cause of client satisfaction is the handling of complaints. Many studies have shown that complaints offer the good sales person an excellent opportunity to actually increase customer satisfaction. If a complaint is handled well by your sales team, the client is highly satisfied and, in most cases, will remain with the company for a long time. This is why complaint handling techniques should form part of the sales training given to a sales team.

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