Does your customer believe you? If your customer is struggling to understand you, he doesn’t believe you. Take the ODM party and its case of muddled messaging over joining the broad (Mercy Tarus calls it, fraud) based government. Have you noticed how hard-pressed the ODM party is, to explain themselves? “Are you still in the opposition?” “Yes”. “Are you now in government?” “No. Only some of our members are in government but we loaned them out.” “So, they’re still in ODM?” “Yes.” “So, how will you oppose what you’ve passed?” “No, we’re still in opposition but still in government.” Are you still following? Personally, I’m dizzy. If your customer is struggling to understand you, he doesn’t believe you.
Does your customer believe you? Why miscommunication kills sales
This typically happens because you are unable to articulate your value proposition. Either because you don’t believe it yourself or you do but don’t know how to. The latter can be remedied through training, as for the former I can only wish you good luck. Especially, if you are in professional selling. Does your customer believe you?
Back to politics.
The Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) Debate
“Why do we have to start a new social insurance instead of streamlining or improving NHIF? We understood NHIF. With NHIF we paid 500shs and were covered for inpatient up to 1,200shs. In fact, for some treatments like dialysis, I was covered for free.” I will not attempt to give any of the many convoluted responses that have been shared across several media platforms. Suffice to say, as convicted as the responses by the SHIF (or is it SHA) purveyors are, this one takes the cake: “Where have you piloted this?” “Nowhere!”
So. You’ve killed a product that was working. You now supposedly have an innovative and disruptive product but can’t even demo it. But your customer (citizen) should trust you. If your customer is struggling to understand you, he doesn’t believe you.
Does your customer believe you? The importance of clarity in sales
In sales, clarity is king. If your customer is confused by your message, it’s a red flag that trust is eroding. Trust is crucial when choosing a product or service. Some studies say, 88% of customers are more likely to buy from a salesperson they trust. The moment your communication becomes muddled, the customer’s belief in your offer dwindles. This is especially critical in a high-stakes environment like sales, where a single misunderstanding can derail a sale.
When your message is muddled, your customer—or your audience—struggles to follow along, and when that happens, trust begins to erode. Without trust, no sale is made, no idea is accepted, and no belief is secured. This concept holds true whether you’re selling insurance or political promises.
The insurance sales pitch gone wrong
For instance, you’re selling insurance and you start explaining the different coverage options, the premiums, and the benefits. Halfway through your pitch, the customer looks puzzled. You continue, throwing in more jargon, hoping that more information will clarify things. But in reality, the more you talk, the more the customer tunes out. By the end of the conversation, the customer is polite but distant, saying they’ll “think about it.” What happened? You lost them—not just in understanding but in trust. A confused customer isn’t having a good experience, and they’re certainly not going to buy from you.
The affordable housing conundrum and Morara Kebaso’s clarity
And then there’s affordable housing which the government touts as one of its flagship products (projects). We are told that the product has created the never-changing 160,000 jobs, and youth, even graduates, should go for. Let’s forget that mjengo jobs are casual; let’s also forget for a moment that of Kenya’s 54 million strong population, 18 million adults are unemployed. That’s one-third of the population. Let’s also forget for a moment that Morara Kebaso’s continuing civic education crusade has shown us shells of hundreds of abandoned affordable houses country wide and that affordable is a bed sitter in Kirinyaga at 1.79Million.
Now then. Let’s forget all that. What we should believe instead is that the problem with 70% of our population (the youth), is that they are being used by foreign elements to protest instead of applying for mjengo jobs. (By the way, what happened to the thousands of online jobs the President had traversed the world to get?)
If your customer understands you, as in the case of Morara Kebaso and his enlightening Vampire Diaries series, then the customer believes you. And, more importantly, trusts you.
University funding model
If your customer is struggling to understand you, he doesn’t believe you. As I write this, university students are protesting because, despite being the country’s creme de la crème of intelligence, even they do not understand the university funding model. Senator Richard Onyonka paints a clear picture: “How do twins, living together, get polar opposite responses. One is considered rich enough to afford paying full fees, and the other, needy enough for near full scholarship?”
Meanwhile, the confounding university model is not the problem but a symptom of a dysfunctional educational system. Failing capitation, a frustrated school feeding program, a self-serving bursary fund, a hastily implemented CBC program, and tragic fires to schools, being examples of it. Whether you’re in sales or politics, the lesson is the same: clarity builds trust, and trust closes the sale.
Read: Lessons in selling from government mistruths, half-truths and lies
Does your customer believe you?
Here’s a final pitch by the President just a month before we elected him so: “We must build institutions that have the capacity to investigate corruption, theft of public resources, state capture, and conflict of interest from any state official.” Two years in, as his customer, do you believe he’s the one to do it?
If in doubt, be guided by his other pitch regarding the cloak and dagger Adani KAA Airport deal. Which, incidentally, the High Court has suspended, but just as with Acting IG Masengeli’s, impunity by repeated contempts of court, continues unabated.
“I have seen many people saying William Ruto wants to sell the airport (JKIA). Am I a madman? How do you sell a strategic national asset? You have to be insane. The airport is a strategic national asset. We want to work under the PPP Program to make the airport better.” Sanity aside, do you believe him?
If your customer is struggling to understand you, he doesn’t believe you. And he doesn’t trust you.
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