Personal selling and the knock back

We had one of those meetings today. My colleague Liz and I flew the whole way down to London to see a prospective client, only to find the inconsiderate man had caught chicken pox. However, we did get a chance to present to someone else and the meeting turned out to be a real eye-opener to me.

I was babbling my way through my sales spiel when Liz gently interrupted and asked the client what their budget was. I was shocked — ‘you can’t ask that’ I thought, but she got the answer. She then she asked what improvements they would like in a supplier and, as I slid under the table with embarrassment, got list of everyone else we should speak to in their company. As they began to discuss dates we could start the project on I felt as useful as fart in a spacesuit.

Liz asked me later what my problem with her approach was. I have got it stuck in my head that it is somehow rude to ask direct questions, much less ask for the business. My meetings usually end with me coming back into the office bubbling about what a great person the client was, and how we got on so well. We would then look in surprise as our competitors would step in and win the business because they had the wit to actually ask for it in the first place.

Part of my problem is that we have grown from a business producing £5 yearbooks to one that produces £50,000 newsletters. However my attitude hasn’t grown at the same rate, and I still sometimes think like a small business. I also think it comes from a fear of personal rejection. Most of us can remember our worst sales calls. One of mine came when a university lecturer told me I was wasting my time trying to set up a business – the guy was an idiot, but it stopped me from selling for ages. And I know I’m not alone, as friends who run their businesses tell me how they try to do all their sales by writing carefully crafted letters. It just won’t work.

There are ways of making the dreaded sales calls easier. Tips include writing out a list of questions to ask before hand, start with the easy calls, do them first thing in the morning, give yourself a reward, make calls standing up, and running up a set of steps before hand.

In our last office, I set myself up with a natty a telephone headset and would walk around squeezing a rubber ball. It was after only my third call that the others told me please to sit down as they couldn’t work for laughing at what a complete twat I looked.