Let’s face it: “sales,” for many people, gets a bad rep. Just say “I work in sales,” at a social gathering, and watch the people around you work extra hard to avoid eye rolls and snarky comments.

Unfortunately, slimy sales professionals who employ less-than-honorable tactics have given more reputable sales professionals a bad name. So, it’s our job as upstanding professionals to banish those greasy sales tactics that leave customers with a bad taste in their mouths, and instead focus on honest, relevant strategies in which everyone emerges a winner.

Here are some slimy sales tactics we’d like to see banished this year. What would you add to the list?

Applying too much pressure, too quickly

No one likes to feel like they’ve been bullied into a buying decision, but unfortunately, many sales professionals value speed over quality when it comes to landing a sale.

A better technique is taking the time to educate and inform a prospect, so you both can come to the right decision about what the right next step is for them. Hopefully, it’s a step toward purchasing what you’re selling, but a good salesperson knows that if the fit isn’t right, bullying a lead into a purchase will just end badly sooner or later.

Lying

The ultimate betrayal of your customer’s trust.

Sales professionals – and we’re using that word liberally here – who lie to a prospective customer are only thinking of themselves. They aren’t concerned with what the customer actually needs, only of their own bottom line. They’ll say anything to secure the sale, including misleading a prospect.

A better sales professional knows that honesty is the best policy. They may use everything at their fingertips to persuade a lead to convert, but they definitely don’t cross the line into misrepresenting what they’re offering.

Making prospects feel guilty

Just like no customer likes to feel as though they’ve been pressured into making a decision too quickly, no one likes feeling like they simply acquiesced to a purchase out of guilt. Slimy salespeople resort to guilting their prospective customers into the sale, while upstanding sales professionals know that even if their prospected doesn’t choose them, it’s not worth burning bridges to make them feel bad about their decision.

Talking down to prospects

Just like making your prospects feel guilty or bullied into a decision marks you as a slimy salesperson, making them feel inadequate or stupid is equally as offensive.

And yet, some sales “professionals” will hone in on a perceived insecurity within their prospect, and use it to manipulate them by making them feel badly about themselves. This is the lowest of the low when it comes to sales tactics, and no self-respecting sales professional would engage in such base behavior.

With honest tactics and smart tools, a talented sales professional never has to resort to these downright nasty tactics. Would you add anything to this list?