Are You Honestly Interested in Your Sales Prospects?

I recently had a minor issue with my blood pressure so my primary-care physician sent me to a cardiologist for a precautionary exam.

Arriving on time, they hustled me back to a nondescript examination room, issued a designer paper gown that opened in the front, and was left waiting for 30 minutes in a freezing cold room with nothing to do but thumb through outdated, hopefully uncontaminated, fashion magazines.

Mercifully, the door finally swung open and in rolled Doogie Howser, M.D. I say “rolled” because that’s literally what he did. He was sitting in a mobile chair connected to a wheeled table with a laptop on it.

I call him Doogie Howser because, at least to me, he looked like he was about 16 years old. (Remember the early ‘90s TV show with Neil Patrick Harris playing the part of a genius whiz kid doctor?)

My Doogie never once lifted his eyes from his laptop.

He began by asking me the usual questions: name, age, medical history, etc. Then, as he continued to type, he must have remembered that it’s always a good idea to, you know, treat your patients like human beings.

In a lame attempt at making a personal connection, he asked (still with no eye contact) “Do you have kids?” I answered “Yes, two. A boy and a girl.” Type, type, type…more medical questions…type, type, type…

Not three minutes later, he asked again, “Have any kids?” Seriously? Did he just ask me that? Again? I’d had enough. If Doogie can’t listen to me about something as simple as that, then I don’t want him anywhere near my vital organs! I left. And I won’t be going back.

Understand, that in sales, it’s not enough to just ask questions. You must actually listen to the answers and then pause to formulate a thoughtful response.

Connection is not about reading questions from a script, but about being intentional with the questions you ask and then caring enough to respond in a manner that engages your customers.