Spotting an “A” Prospect

Today I made my annual trek to the Nevada County Fair in Grass Valley, California. You know the county fair scene, right? Junk food, stages with local entertainment, lots of cows, etc. And vendors galore – salespeople wherever you look!

As it happens, I’m thinking of getting a pellet stove for my living room (trying to temper the sky high heating bills). There were four different vendors of various types of stoves, so it wasn’t difficult to find someone to talk to.

I struck up a conversation with someone who proved to be extremely intelligent. Product knowledge was this guy’s strong suit. Did he know his stuff? Yep. Will he ever hear from me again? Nope. And why not? Because he has no way to get a hold of me – if I want to continue the conversation it means I have to contact him.

Here’s the deal. I’ve already forgotten the name of the company and the name of the salesperson. If not for a deadline to write this article, he would already be out of my mind permanently.

Why is it that so many salespeople put all the pressure on the customer to continue the sales process? Customers are already taxed by everything on their to-do list. How much do you think it takes to be eliminated from contention? Not much!

People – get the phone number and make the phone call! I talked to three salespeople yesterday at the fair, but I was distracted. How much would I appreciate a phone call tomorrow from someone who can answer my questions when things have settled down?

It’s a matter of respect. Are you making the calls, or are you forcing the customer to continue the sales process? Do them the courtesy of calling them back, and you’ll change their world!


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About the Author: Jeff Shore

Jeff Shore is the Founder and CEO of Shore Consulting, Inc. a company specializing in psychology-based sales training programs. Using these modern, game-changing techniques, Jeff Shore’s clients delivered over 145,000 new homes generating $54 billion in revenue last year.