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MillimeterEIGHTEEN things to avoid when making sales calls
Oct 1, 1998 12:00 PM, Ted Tate
When I was young and just starting a sales career, my sales manager offered some final instructions before I went out into the field for the first time, and they are still clear in my mind.
"Any last thoughts on what you want me to do?" I eagerly asked.
"No, but maybe I'd better tell what you never do if you want to stay employed as a salesperson," he responded.
He proceeded to give me a list of 15 different things to avoid doing at all costs, to which I have added three things of my own.
His advice 1. Never lie, pretend or even exaggerate, no matter how badly you want to make a sale. Your customers will discover the truth at some point, and you will wind up losing much more in the long run than you could hope to gain in the short term.
2. Never knock the competition. In fact do not even mention them in the first place. Simply refer to them as "the others." In the same breath, bring up a reason as to why we are a superior choice. If you do not know several such reasons already, then you are not ready to be making calls.
3. Never make sales presentations until you are certain that you are standing in front of the decision maker.
4. Never even consider making a sales presentation until you have determined a valid client need for the product you are selling.
5. Never make sales presentations until you know whether or not your product or service fits the prospect's needs, the money they are willing to spend, and when they will most likely commit to the actual sale.
6. Never leave a prospect without knowing the next step.
7. Never leave a prospect without asking for the order at least five times.
8. Never cite product or service features without stating how each will benefit the prospect directly. Try to just talk about benefits whenever possible.
9. Never quote any price, estimates or ballpark figures for any reason until you have given at least half of your presentation, and you have offered plenty of good reasons as to why you have such a great product or service.
10. Never be late for appointments.
11. Never socialize on sales calls. You are not there to win their friendship, just their respect.
12. Never smoke or chew gum on sales calls, even if the prospect does.
13. Never make a sales call without a written plan that includes your expectations of what you expect from the call. If you write it out in advance, you will be amazed at how it helps your thinking process in front of a prospect.
14. Never tell any kind of ethnic, racial or dirty joke for any reason. Under no circumstances do they belong on any sales call.
15. Never talk any kind of politics or touch upon matters pertaining to personal beliefs. People generally do not care about yours, and they certainly do not want anyone to discourage theirs. Like the jokes, they simply do not belong in any sales presentation.
Some additions I received that advice many years ago, and I believe it just as important to a salesperson's success today as it was then. I would now like to add just a few more of my own. When I started out as a salesman, there were not very many women in sales and even fewer in executive positions. Today, women make up a large and important part of the business world. In light of this, here are some additional things to avoid during sales calls:
16. Never use uninvited nicknames or terms of endearment. If I hear one more woman in an office called "honey," I think I will scream. Just because you might not hear an immediate expression of discomfort, it does not mean that the comment is either appreciated or even accepted.
17. Never make affectionate body contact or gestures. Men do not have a tendency to grab, squeeze, hug or pat other men on the fanny in an office when something positive happens (at least not in any of the offices where I have worked), but stick a woman into the group and some men become all hands. Worse yet, when the inappropriate nature of their behavior is called to their attention, some become indignant and try to hide behind the shield of innocent and good-natured fun.
18. Never, in business situations, pay women compliments that insinuate they look sexy. Save that for personal relationships on your own time.
The world of business is changing rapidly and to succeed, salespeople must change with it. On one end, showing professionalism will mean that you have done your part to foster an environment in which business may be conducted. Promoting discomfort, as some of the aforementioned behaviors would do, does not lie on the sure path to sales success. On the other end, failure to avoid some of the previous behaviors will make you seem unprofessional, and if a prospect gets the notion that you do not respect him enough to prepare yourself adequately, then you have another strike against you. What most of these points boil down to was summed up in the famous song that goes, in part, "...just a little respect." When you are respectful of others, they will almost always be respectful of you.
Good luck and good selling!
