STICKS AND STONES

I am going to age myself slightly with this post. My wife and youngest daughter are both teachers and I asked them today if any of the kids today still use the saying, “Sticks and Stones can Break Your Bones, but Names Will Never Hurt you”. They both looked at me and said almost in unison, NO. My wife added, if you said the first part to a kid today they wouldn’t be able to finish the saying.

With that being said, I want to change the saying to an updated sales focused saying. “STICKS AND STONES CAN BREAK YOUR BONES, BUT NAMES CAN MAKE YOU MONEY”

I went into the field today with a rep that was making follow-up sales calls on some of his biggest prospects. Before we went into the first business I asked what happened the last time he was in there. He told me that the customer had asked him several questions about how the suggested products were going to “fit” in his business. The rep didn’t know enough about the customers business to give him a satisfactory answer and the customer told him no.

As we walked into the business I was looking around and saw several opportunities for the reps products to help the customer. The rep introduced me as his sales trainer and told the customer I was there to observe him. As the rep and customer talked I just stood back and listened. It didn’t take long for the customer to get back to where he was the last time, with the rep not being able to answer a major question. I decided to step in and help the rep so I gave the customer the answer he needed and then shared with him what I observed walking in.

We spent the next 20 minutes talking, I was asking questions and the customer was giving me the information I needed to close the sale. I brought the rep back into the presentation and together we performed a few demos for the customer. It took about 50 minutes, but we walked out with a sizeable order. As we were saying our good byes and leaving, the customer said to the rep, “If you had brought an EXPERT like him with you last time we might have done business then”.

The next few stops were uneventful but on our 6^th stop of the day I was once again able to work with the customer and have the rep join me in doing some demos, and getting an order. The customer called me a PRO and thanked me for all my help.

EXPERT and PRO, two names that I was called that helped make the rep sales and consequently made the rep some nice commissions.

The rep asked me why I was able to close sales he couldn’t. He wanted to know how I knew so much about what his customers did. I let him know that first off it didn’t happen overnight. I didn’t learn about businesses and industries in a few days or weeks. It took several years to build the knowledge. I also let him know that I didn’t learn the information only in the field, I studied and read about the businesses and industries to learn as much as I could.

I told the rep that being a so called expert or pro wasn’t difficult, all it took was a little knowledge, a little gift of gab, a little practice, and a lot of time.

I didn’t hear what the rep called me after that last statement, but I have a feeling it might have broken a bone or two!

Lorin