More Sales Stories from the Naked City
What follows is based upon actual events.
I was involved with a particular sales person in a potentially large account. This sales person was doing $150,000 with this customer and they had potential to do millions of dollars annually. The client was doing business with a company that had a reputation for cheating on product to make money and or to come in with a bid price significantly below competitors and then switch product to a lesser grade without informing their clients.
The Sales Person was attached very heavily to the outcome of any presentation to this client and when he did not close the sale, he reacted very badly. The way he reacted reminded me of an upset and angry child that did not get their way.
During one very large opportunity with this same client, we met with them at their facility a few times and hosted them at the company headquarters once. Everyone seemed to think that we had a great chance of closing this business. The owner, the sales person and I all agreed it looked good.
The day that we got the news that we did not get the business, I admit I was disappointed although my long term view was that we had made progress with the customer. Because I was not attached to the outcome, I was able to look at the situation objectively. The owner was disappointed and when I said I thought it was all good, that we had in fact made progress, he said to me “don’t say that again to me”. I said it was good because we had never been invited to the headquarters so many times and they had never visited our offices. To me, we had made progress because they got to know us better and had seen our operation and experienced our staff first hand.
The sales person also was understandably disappointed and he was also very angry. He called me threatening to call the customer…he said and I quote “I am going to tell them to never bother us again (the phrase began with a F___ ___). Because he had “spent the commission” already in his mind, he was unreasonably angry. He was attached to the outcome.
He ranted off and on for a few days….I advised him to “go ahead call the customer and tell them that and see what that gets you”…..and he did not. Good thing.
A few months later, the same customer called with an issue on the trash bags they were being sold. They had discovered that they were being cheated and they called us first.
Subsequently, we were awarded what amounted to over $2.5 million dollars in annual business and it was the start of what turned into even more business.
It is very important to control what you can in life and with clients. What you can control is your behavior, including any reactions to a client’s decisions. It is most important to control your behavior during the sales process. Keep an eye always on the client. Their body language, energy and words point to a direction. I could see that this client was warming up to us and felt confident that we had made progress with our relationship with them and it turned out to be true. When you react negatively, you harbor energy that a client will sense the next time you see them. You will have the picture in your mind of “telling them to never bother us again”. Customers can sense your energy.
I was able, after a few weeks to coach the anger out of this sales person. He learned how much energy he wasted on what I call his “upset”. And a few months later thanked me for the coaching.
Take my word for it….learn how to detach from outcomes and it is a journey. I am reminded of this often by life and I am grateful.
Stay tuned as I have a bounty of true stories about actual sales people in the Naked City in the weeks and months to come …as I share the journey of writing my new book with you.
Gratefully yours…..
Steve
