This article is taken from my friend Gower Talley. It is exactly the story that I want to tell, it just so happened that someone else got a chance to live it.

Read this carefully. I believe you may find this hits close to home. If you find it is too close to your experience…we need to talk! Click here

The Worst Salesman in the World!

I was considering re-structuring my business liability insurance.  As luck would have it – someone called asking about my business insurance the very day I started considering a change.  We made an appointment to talk in my office for the very next day.

The worst sales man in the world was about 15 minutes late. He did call from the road the let me know he was going to be late.  That was OK – but I had an hour for this meeting – it had now become 45 minutes.  When he arrived – he made a few minutes of chit-chat about pictures in my office and he was off and running… telling me about his auto insurance.  I, of course had no interest in discussing auto insurance – I am quite happy with my auto insurance.  I was considering restructuring my business liability coverage.    I told him as much.

Him: “Yes – but If you are as smart as I think you are you want to learn about all the ways we can save you money – right?”

This guy’s stock was rapidly going down in my book.

Me: “Look, I just need to know this…” and I asked him a simple direct question about the product I had made the appointment to learn about.

Him: “I am a professional salesman – I am not going to tell you that yet.”  He smiled – as if he had just said something very clever.

This guy was now on borrowed time.  He used his borrowed time to begin talking about his company’s health insurance plans.  I am retired military and have medical coverage as a part of my retirement package.  He was, once again, using the oxygen in my office to lecture me on something I have no use for.  His time was now officially up.  I stood up – extended my hand and said:

Me:  “Thank you for your time – good afternoon sir.”

He was genuinely shocked.

Him: “I didn’t have a chance to get finished!”

Me:  “Sir – you didn’t use your chance to get started.  You have been talking AT me for the last 45 minutes and you haven’t even brushed up against anything that I am remotely interested in.  I have been trying to steer the conversation toward things I might be interested in buying – and your have aggressively resisted my efforts to do so.  If you are this unresponsive in an initial interview I can only imagine what doing business with you would be like.  Thank you – good day.”  I stood and opened the door for him.

And then – he said something.   He said something that summarized exactly what he had gotten wrong during this interview.  I knew at that moment that I would give him 5 more minutes and I knew at that moment that I would write this article.

He looked almost hurt.  He said: “I just wanted you to see all of our benefits before we got down to specifics.”

Ah ha!  Bingo! Eureka!  This guy had made the classic mistake in all of sales.  I could only assume that he routinely made this same mistake.  He confused “features” of his product with “benefits”.  He assumed that I would see value in everything he saw value in.

A “feature” is intrinsic to the product while a “benefit” is intrinsic to the customer.  The fact that a car is red is a feature of the car.  It is only a benefit to me if I like red.  If I am ambivalent as to color then selling me on the redness of a car is – at best – a waste of time.  If I hate red and love blue then selling me on the redness of the car is counterproductive.  To know what color I like you have to – (wait for it, here it comes) – ask me what color I am interested in!

This guy thought he was showing me “benefits” when he had not asked a single question to determine which of his “features” might be a “benefit” to me.  He was trying to throw everything he had at me in rapid fire succession – hoping that something stuck.  It really didn’t occur to him to ask me what I was interested in before he tried to sell me something.    He had worn out his welcome long before he got around to anything I would have bought.

ME: “Let me share something with you.  Average sales people sit in their car before a sales call and diligently rehearse what they are going to say.  Great sales people don’t.  Great sales people sit in their car before a sales call and diligently rehearse what they are going to ask.  We have been in this room for almost an hour and you have yet to ask me a substantive question as to what I need or what I am interested in. ”

I told him that although we were done for the day – if he would email me with the direct answers to my specific questions he avoided during our meeting perhaps we could continue.  He thanked me for the opportunity. (However – as of this writing it is two weeks later and not a peep.  His final mistake – failing to follow up as agreed upon – has closed the door.)

Here is the moral to our story.  Don’t be this guy.  Find out what your prospect needs and wants BEFORE you try to tell him or her what you have.  You cannot possibly fill a prospect’s needs or exceed their expectations if you do not know what those needs or expectations are.   Ask before you tell.

Gower has a wonderful website http://www.thenorthwestboardroom.com/ Please go there and check it out.

The Best Way to Kick Start Your Day

Better than a Red Bull I promise! Energy Drinks can’t hold a candle to this.

What a great way to start your day. Is there anything you could learn from this? Your self-talk tells you a lot about yourself. This girl has a great self-talk and she is doing it in front of a mirror. If you start your day like this will it make a difference?

David said in the Psalms that he “encouraged himself in the Lord.” Sometimes we have to encourage ourselves. This little girl provides a great example of self-motivation. How about taking this example and applying it to the the statement from David to encourage yourself in the Lord today?!?

Don’t wait for props from someone else. Do it yourself! Take charge of your day. Encourage yourself in the Lord. Then go out and bless others with the strength gained from that encouragement. Repeat Tomorrow.

For a daily encouragement from me go here!

Nature’s Rules for Business

Harmony of Mind