The Direction of the Appointment

I heard a very interesting comment the other day made about a of mine. This particular sales person was commenting how badly the appointment had gone because my had "directed" the conversation with the customer(through an Agenda) instead of "letting the customer tell him what he wanted"



This is not made up, this really happened. One of the current selling models in my organization is for reps to bring in another rep who may be more experienced in Managed Print Services and conduct an appointment together(you can imagine the possibility for train-wreckage)

Ok, so to be fair the "complainer" was a government rep, who is accustom to "taking orders" not recommending an approach - at first I was amazed and then I became amused. This is how most sales people think. The want to know "how many" and "when"; the only questions posed are about budgets and purchase orders and delivery schedules and pricing discounts! And to expect this ilk to even dare to pose a question to their customer that starts with the word "why..." is ludicrous! (Have you ever seen the movie Scanners?)

I have a new phrase, "Any monkey can _______" fill in the blank. If I find myself engaged in anything a monkey can do, I try to stop myself. For instance, "any monkey can give somebody a price..." or "any monkey can hand a prospect a brochure..." or "any monkey can take an order and not ask WHY"

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The List or The World According to Greg

"The List" - 2008

1. Buyers are trained by Salespeople
2. Truth is Good
3. Insecurities Rule
4. All conflict is a result of an insecurity
5. Self-esteem does not come out of a box, or from someone else
6. Guilt is a Motivator
7. Motivation can be turned into Manipulation
8. Seven Seconds; you can know someone in the first seven seconds you meet them
9. Everyone has an Agenda
10. You Are Your Boss
11. Fear Sucks
12. Once People know you care, they will try to manipulate you
13. The best way to make everyone around you better is to make yourself better
14. If you ask a question, be ready for any answer
15. The Best Advice is the Advice you ask for
16. Do not Answer statements
17. People see their own weakness in others; Cheaters see cheaters, thieves see thieves
18. People will accuse you of the bad things they see themselves doing
19. Nothing occurs in a vacuum
20. Luck is for the Unlucky
    
21. Hope means you stop trying
22. Weak people cannot say no
23. Be specific in what you care for
24. You control your day, the day does not control you
25. Value received for value given
26. You can't rape the willing
27. It can always be worse – You could have been on the 73^rd floor, in your cube, drinking a Starbucks at 9:01AM, September 11^th in the WTC…

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What is High Intent?

"Life is Pain - anyone who says differently is selling something." - The Princess Bride

Here is what I think when selling, "How can what I do, help this person?" And, "if what I do, can not help this person with this problem, who can I send them to?

Talk to you prospective client as a person and not from a position of weakness or subservience.

You are at least an equal and you posses more knowledge and wisdom about the impact your recommendations will have on their life than they do.

It is this simple - Solve don't sell.

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