Sell More With Sales Coaching: Practical Solutions for Your Everyday Sales Challenges

Chapter 6

Sales Mistake #5

Being Ill-Prepared

My family’s not normal. Sometimes on Saturday mornings, we have family outings to watch salespeople sell new products. I know, weird. You see, we have a reason for our strangeness: My husband and I are both in the sales education industry.

The day arrives. The first 3-D TV is released. My husband, true to his gender, loves anything to do with technology. He is thrilled, like a kid in a candy store, so this sales trip is serious stuff. Off we go in search of his future 3-D TV.

It is 10:15 a.m. when we enter the store. There is already a crowd around the 3-D TV. Cool. My husband is so giddy he can hardly contain himself. He has questions about the difference between the new 3-D TV and the latest Sony HD TV (he’s a Sony loyalist).

The other people standing around the TV are taking turns with the only two available pairs of 3-D glasses. (Note to sales manager: If you are expecting a crowd to see the 3-D TV, you may want to have more 3-D glasses available.)

We wait our turn for the 3-D glasses; in the meantime, my teenage son takes off to look at the computers. (Note to sales manager: Have something near the 3-D TV to keep our attention if you aren’t going to have enough 3-D glasses for us.)

A salesperson stands nearby, answering questions about the 3-D TV and monitoring who has the glasses. My husband sidles up beside the sales fellow and asks him a question. Keep in mind that we are in a store that sells the Sony my husband wants to compare ...