Family First senator Bob Day wrote a book about sales in which he emphasised the importance of keeping promises to customers, delivering products on time and avoiding the distractions of a second job.
Families brought to the brink of financial ruin by Senator Day's failed Home Australia building company have labelled him a "total hypocrite" for practising the opposite of what he preaches in The Sales Doctor.
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Bob Day's delay
The Senator's decision to remain in Parliament until the end of the year, despite rules stating he must leave once declared bankrupt, is causing uproar. Courtesy 5AA.
The little-read 2014 book was billed as a how-to manual to become a great salesman. Senator Day published it after he first entered Parliament, even as his national building empire began to wobble.
He wrote that the salesman-customer relationship should be based on trust, mirroring that of the doctor-patient relationship.
"Visualise yourself wearing a white coat with a stethoscope around your neck," he wrote. "It will help you emulate the doctor more effectively."
He also wrote about how to win a customer's trust and stressed the perils of over-promising.
"Make absolutely sure that any estimate of timing is deliverable by your organisation," he said. "Don't make promises that your organisation cannot keep. It's all about keeping your word and getting everything back to them when you said you would. This is of great importance."
Senator Day's own customers, particularly clients of his NSW company Huxley Homes, have labelled him the "scum of the earth" over the way he treated them. They say he refused to meet with them, talk with them or respond to their complaints about long delays on their homes and shoddy building work that left many of them unable to meet their financial commitments.
"He's just a total hypocrite," Huxley client Cornelis Duba said. With Huxley now in liquidation, Mr Duba must make an insurance claim to have tens of thousands of dollars worth of defective work on his Sydney home rectified.
Former Huxley sales staff member Adrian Melbourne said Senator Day personally handed him a copy of the book in 2014.
"It gave me confidence that the company was ethical and looked after the interests of its clients," he said. "Obviously the opposite proved true. The lengths he was prepared to go to to save the company were unethical."
In the book, Senator Day also wrote about the importance of prioritising the needs of customers.
"Being a professional salesperson is a full time commitment," he wrote. "If you think you can juggle two or three different vocations at the same time, you're kidding yourself. The job requires focus and attention and a lot of it.
"Distraction is the single biggest cause of failure in sales."
When he announced his resignation from the Senate earlier this month, Senator Day admitted he failed to put in place a proper management structure for the business while he was focused on Parliament.
Huxley customer Will Naicker – whose home is two years overdue – said when he spoke with Senator Day about his situation, he seemed to have no clue what was going on with his own company.
"As a director, I don't think that's acceptable," Mr Naicker, a Sydney school teacher, said. "I think company law requires a higher level of accountability."
Senator Day announced his resignation from the Senate after Home Australia was put into liquidation, owing almost $38 million.
But this week he indicated he would stay on at least until the end of the year, when Parliament is due to vote on the government's building industry watchdog and same-sex marriage plebiscite bills. The flip-flopping has further angered Home Australia families, who say he is not fit to be in the chamber.
By hanging on to his Senate seat, he will continue to receive his $199,040 annual salary, about $3800 a week before tax.
Of the book Mr Naicker said: "Maybe he was looking for another income stream?"
Nielsen Bookscan could not provide exact sales figures for the book because they were deemed "not significant".
A senator's bookish wisdom
- On the salesman-customer relationship: 'Visualise yourself wearing a white coat with a stethoscope around your neck. It will help you emulate the doctor more effectively.'
- On overpromising: 'Make absolutely sure that any estimate of your timing is deliverable by your organisation. Don't make promises you cannot keep.'
- On trust: 'It's all about keeping your word and getting everything back to them when you said you would.'
- On focus: 'If you think you can juggle two or three different vocations at the same time, you're kidding yourself.'