Don’t call me for flying lessons
Rusty was in a rage...
“I got screwed!” he said.“This guy totally wasted my time. I bet he‘s shopping my stuff to a competitor or trying to figure out how to fix it himself.
He vented for 3-4 minutes about sending a proposal and then getting ghosted by the prospect.
I kept listening.
“I spent almost FIVE HOURS on that proposal. What do I do now?”
(At this point he just sounded more sad than angry.)
“How’s your pipeline,” I asked, quickly changing the subject.
“Not so good,” he responded, sounding a little guilty.
“May I have your permission to say something that will probably piss you off,” I asked.
“Sure,” he said.
Keeping my voice low so he would have to lean in a little to hear me, I said, “What if I told you that you were mad at the wrong person?”
About 30 whole seconds of silence went by...
“Dammit,” he said. “I guess you’re right. I put all my eggs in one basket and went all in on this one prospect. I needed this deal,” he sighed.
“Do you think your prospect noticed your desperation?” I asked.
“Now that you mention it, if he didn’t notice it during the sales process, I'm fairly certain the 4 voicemails I left and 2 emails I sent probably took away all doubt,” he said sheepishly.
“So the old ‘be persistent and call them until they call you back’ thing still isn’t working, huh?” I said with a grin.
“Nope. Being a stalker is still not a good strategy,” he said, finding a smile.
“Remember the proper sales definition of “be persistent,” I asked, crossing my fingers and hoping he did.
“Yup. Be persistent in finding new opportunities,” he said.
“So what do you think you need to do now?” I asked.
“Get back on the phone and find my next 5 prospects,” Rusty said with resolve.
Every day I have conversations like this with business owners who are responsible for selling.
This wasn’t very fun though, because we couldn’t fix the mistake after he made it. It’s like calling someone for flying lessons AFTER driving your car off the bridge. But my guess is he’ll rebound and use that situation as motivation to keep his pipeline full going forward.
Isn’t it better to get flying lessons before you’re in the air?
It’s the same with sales.
So let me ask you ...
Who’s in your corner helping you handle tough sales situations?
Who helps you keep perspective when your emotions are running wild?
Who helps you build the sales skills they never taught you in school?
I help entrepreneurs and top sales people (and those aspiring to be) strategize about who their ideal targets are and how to go get them.
They tell me I help them sell without feeling salesy, close without using pressure, and make more money while staying off the emotional roller coaster that so many of their peers see as normal.
Sales is the skill that feeds your family.
P.S. - Your personality has almost nothing to do with sales. Your SYSTEM has everything to do with it. If you’re ready to stop winging it and start executing a repeatable system for closing deals over and over and over...let’s talk! 👉🏻 Book a call with me now.
Bringing Honesty, Transparency, and Selflessness to Business.
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