Mastering the World of Selling: The Ultimate Training Resource from the Biggest Names in Sales

Chapter 72. One Great Opening Is Worth 10,000 Closes

Dan Seidman

Sales Autopsy

FOOT-IN-MOUTH KILLS SALESMAN

Rick sells printing services, and he's probably not as good as he is persistent. It took six months of phone calls and mailed literature to finally get into the president's office of a company that the rep wanted to sell very badly. It took less than 30 seconds to undo half a year of time and effort.

Rick had finally nailed this prospect down to an appointment and wanted to make a very good first impression. He figured that this president would look at him as either a strong, persistent salesman or a pest. He would dispose of a pest as quickly as he could, so as Rick walked into the executive's office, he looked for something on the wall or on his desk to use for a little opening small talk.

There it was! "John Madden!" he cried, pointing at a photograph on the prospect's credenza. Every sports fan knows the 300-plus-pound commentator. He's probably the best announcer around, in spite of a face that could stop a bus. "That's a fantastic photo! How did you get a picture of yourself with your arm around John Madden?"

Rick's rapport-building efforts crashed in flames as the shocked company president slowly answered, "That's not John Madden, that's . . . my . . . wife."

POSTMORTEM

Our poor salesman, Rick, used an approach that was popular early in the evolution of selling. Are you like this at the initial contact with a prospect? Do you look for that fish on the wall, the trophy on the ...