Sales Laundry

When I began my career in sales I did not know a whole lot about anything, but in the process of refining my sales skills I learned a little bit about a lot of things.

As part of the rapport building, or the getting to know one another phase in any sales process I always found myself asking about the interests of the person I was talking to based on what was on display around their office.

 I have participated in sales training seminars and events over the years where they equate this practice with greasy slime ball sales guys.

I have never received any negative responses from my prospects or client base and I think it was because I was truly interested in what they were up to. 

 Some view this small talk as a necessary evil to be endured until there is an opportunity to whack the prospect over the head with the latest whiz bang features built into their products.

I have learned over the years that the more I understand how and what a prospect or client thinks about the better I am at helping them arrive at solutions that work (both politically and technically.) 

I call the process 360 Prospecting as in understanding the 360 degrees that make up a potential customer.

As my degree of understanding a given prospect increases, so does my likelihood of closing the prospective deal, and the less likely the prospect will do a 180 and leave me with a big ol’ bag of nothing.

 Try it yourself.  Learn something new about every client or prospect you meet.  Best case you close a few more deals, learn a few funny stories, and will be much more fun at parties.  Worst case the meeting ends and you realize you have done nothing go over the features and benefits of your best Ronco Pocket Fisherman stories.