Robert Louis Stevenson 1850-1895 Essayist, Poet, Novelist
When I was seven years old, I made my first sales call. My mother had sent me to the neighbor’s house two doors down to sell radishes she had grown. She grew a lot of things in that backyard garden; radishes, strawberries, pumpkins, peas, beans. Whenever she had more than we needed, she would sell the surplus around the neighborhood to help pay for gardening supplies. For me, it was a lesson in capitalism at its finest.
It was a quieter, safer time. Like all the kids in the neighborhood, I knew I would be alright walking to a neighbor’s house by myself. Honestly, my biggest fear was that I might drop this huge basket of radishes along the way. I kept a steady grip and made my way to their front door. This was it. I was ready to make my pitch. I pushed the doorbell and waited.
Mrs. Hill was a soft-spoken woman, rather plain, yet pretty. She looked at me with a bit of surprise, but after a moment she seemed to understand my mission and greeted me in her usual warm manner. “What do you have here?” she chimed. I looked at the many bunches of radishes in my basket, each neatly tied with white cotton string and laid bulb-side-up so that they showed off their bright-red freshness. (My mother was a savvy marketer). “Radishes”, I said with excitement. “Yes, and are you selling these radishes?” “Yes”, I squeaked. “Uh-huh, and how much are your radishes?” Like most buyers, Mrs. Hill liked to know the price before I had a chance to sell her the benefits.
Selling is a profession, no less than law, engineering, or medicine. Like every profession, it is governed by a set of applied practices, rules, technical procedures, and in general a methodology that is carefully maintained and passed on by those within the field. Unfortunately, most sales people are never given that sort of training. Most often, they are given a list of prospects, loaded up with sales material and sent out. Such was my situation at seven.
I could feel my hands trembling and my lip quivering as I struggled to give an answer to Mrs. Hill’s simple question: “How much are your radishes?” Unfortunately, I could not remember the price. It had a five in it. Was that five dollars, five cents, or maybe fifty cents. Red-faced and fumbling, I stammered a bit. Mrs. Hill was kind enough not to drag me through any further embarrassment and offered to call my mother.
Turned out, the radishes were five cents a bunch, not five dollars. Mrs. Hill bought two and I put the dime in my pocket. And while the lessons to be learned from such an early introduction are abundant, let me point to a couple of things that I want to emphasize:
$ Being fully prepared with the facts; knowing one’s product inside and out; paying attention to all of the details involved with the use, the consumption, the application of one’s product or service: these are fundamental. But, even more so, knowing what to do when the unexpected happens. This is professional.
$ Be prepared. Study your profession, not just your product or service. If management is not doing this for you, do it for yourself. Libraries and bookstores are good for this.
$ Know the answers. At least have the basic information in your head so that you can respond with more than a glazed stare. At seven this is understandable. As a professional it’s unforgivable.
$ Be honest. If you don’t know the answer to a question you have just been asked, just say: “I don’t know, but I can find out”. Can I tell you how often sales people will try to make up an answer for me in an attempt to cover their shortage of information?
$ Never follow-up a previous sales call unless you have something more to add to the dialogue, a price adjustment, additional value, a clarification of a benefit. Don’t be like the kid in the back seat droning “are we there yet.”
Now, for those who are on the buying side: remember Mrs. Hill. Be gracious enough to assume that the sales professional you are dealing with has something worthwhile to tell you. Here are few other ideas:
$ Treat the sales professional like a professional not your antagonist. Expect that she or he is well-prepared to answer all of your questions and willing to respond to your requests.
$ Return calls, even if this is delegated. Not to do so betrays your professionalism.
$ If you are not “sold” on the purchase being proposed, don’t say “I’m not interested”. Of course you’re not. That’s why the sales rep called you. Rather, ask a question or two, like: “What benefit will this bring my business?” Why should I buy it from you, and not your competitor?”
Brien R. Sörne
brien@alcommarketing.com
850.385.7762
Copyright 2004. ALCOM, Inc. All rights reserved.
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