TIC TOC TIC TOC TIC TOC

I was almost writing this post from the floor because that is where I fell when I heard this story from a sales manager.

Last week this manager was riding with one of his reps and made a stop at a fairly large prospect. The rep had set up the appointment and according to the manager had done everything right. He had the time, place, and all the right people there for the presentation. The manager said, “I was feeling very good about this stop”.

The rep started his presentation and was doing a great job not just telling the prospects about his product but actually performing demos and getting the prospects involved in the demos. The questions were coming fast and the rep had all the answers. The manager said that he felt the rep could have done this without him.

That is until the rep looked at his watch and started to speed up the pace of the presentation. The manager said it was amazing how he watched the rep go from full control and complete confidence to almost out of control and absolute chaos.

After about 15 minutes of the painful chaos the rep packed up everything and told the prospect that he would get in touch with them later that afternoon to set another appointment to finish his presentation and answer any other questions. The manager was so confused that he didn’t even know what to say to the rep when they got into the car.

The manager sat in the passenger seat and after a few minutes he told me he just looked at the rep and asked what had just happened. The rep said in a hurried voice that he had another appointment and had to cut the presentation short so they could make it on time.

In the managers own words he said “He didn’t know if he should scream or cry”.

I hope it is obvious to everyone that leaving a presentation for an appointment with another prospect is the WRONG thing to do. The manager tried to explain this to the rep but the rep said that he felt the next appointment was a better prospect and he had a better chance of closing the sale.

This is where I almost fell on the floor!

The manager told me that he had a long talk with the rep and he thought the rep now understands that the prospect that is listening to you RIGHT NOW is ALWAYS the better prospect and leaving like he did was not the smartest move a sales rep could make.

I told the manager that for now on he should take reps watches off when he rides with them. I told him that I don’t wear a watch just for that reason. When I am in my car I can look at the time, but when I am with a customer or prospect my time is all theirs.

Everybody reading this blog should try going through their day without a watch on. It is amazing how productive you can be when you are not constantly checking the time. You find yourself doing more and finishing more tasks rather than jumping from task to task because your watch says it is time to switch.

I am now sitting back in my desk chair and feeling good about telling this story. Sometimes it is via other reps mistakes that we learn our most valuable lessons.

Lorin