Sales Autopsy
by Dan Seidman
Ice Queen Won’t Warm Up
Hank Drives a Customer—Away
Hank writes: My company sells lead-generation services for
the financial services industry. We had a very good client
whom I had never met. I decided to show our appreciation
for her in a special way.
I invited her to a Frank Sinatra concert.
It was actually his last appearance in Chicago. I
drove to this mystery woman's home and wore a big
smile as the door was answered.
A large woman in a black dress stood before me.
She was obviously pregnant and I helped her into the passenger door then began the
45-minute drive downtown.
"So when is the baby due?"
Frosty silence. Then, through clenched lips, I was informed that my date was
not pregnant.
The next four hours of a Chicago summer were the longest and coldest of my life.
I apologized feebly, but could not ever get into rapport with this woman.
She refused any gesture of goodwill—drinks, food, Sinatra CDs. An ice axe
could not break the barrier she built between us.
I dropped her off and her business dropped off my balance sheet.
My opening comments are now related to how a woman is feeling. I figure if
she's pregnant, I'll hear about it.
POSTMORTEM: Hank, this is the number-one most frequent sales
blunder I hear about. But yours is a classic—four hours stuck with this
woman! Most salespeople just mumble their way out the prospect's
door and go on the next call.
Here's a great opening conversation tip that’s good for face-to-face
and for phone calls: Don't ask a question like "How are you?" It
sounds to salesy, too fake. Just make a statement and they'll ask you
how you're doing. You thank them for asking, then ask it in return.
Don't act like everyone else out there. Your job is to be memorable not
by killing a sale, but by creating one. HIU
Dan Seidman of Sales Autopsy Inc. uses his collection of 600+ selling
blunders to teach new selling strategies for sales professionals and executives. He has been speaking, training and consulting in the financial services industry for 15 years. Dan’s blend of humor and
wisdom has led him to be recognized at “One of the Top 12 Sales
Coaches in America” (Ultimate Selling Power).
Dan’s book, Sales Autopsy (Kaplan Publishing), reveals the top seven ways
that world-class sales professionals distinguish themselves from everyone else. For
more information, visit www.SalesAutopsy.com.
