Watching a good salesperson in action can be a great way to learn. For most of us who were first learning how to sell, we had to watch a manager or go on a "ride along" with a veteran. My first time riding with another salesperson was one of the most interesting eye openers I had ever had.
"Sam" was a veteran of the door-to-door insurance selling game and apparently was used to having new people, some of which had not even been hired yet, riding with him on a few of his stops. He had a neatly trimmed beard and was dressed in a nice three-piece suit. I found this to be unusual as it was about 90 degrees outside, but what do I know?
In the car he didn't say much, except to tell me that we were going to be seeing a lady who had the policy already. His plan was to get her premium check and try to get some referrals out of her. In a nice but firm way he told me to keep my mouth shut and let him do all of the talking. I was taken aback when he said this because I remember thinking to myself, "Does this guy think I'm going to contribute to the conversation?"
As we walked into the house, the lady, who must have been in her late 70's, had us sit in her living room. She offered us something to drink and I looked at Sam, as if to ask if I should accept a glass of water. "No thank you," Sam said. "We just had coffee." What? I didn't have any coffee!
We made small talk for a minute and Sam got up from his chair and paced around the room. He zeroed in on a shelf full of pictures in frames. "Are these your kids?" he asked. As he talked, he reminded me of those movies where you know the guy is a psychopathic killer but his victims haven't figured it out yet.
"Yes, those are my children. Only my oldest son lives here in town. The rest have moved out-of-state," she said as she looked at the floor. I could tell she missed her kids who had moved out of the area.
"Oh really? Where in town does he live? I may know him. He looks familiar," Sam said.
The nice lady was coy at first, but eventually gave up the name of her son and his address. Sam, cool as a cucumber, asked her a few more questions, like what the son did for a living and if he was married and had kids. I felt as if I was watching a professional stalker get the information he would need before working his next victim.
She gave him a check for her premium which would pay for another six months of coverage and we headed out the door. As I got in the car Sam looked at me with a huge grin. "Well, we just got some referrals."
"We did?" I asked. Not once did he mention that he was going to be calling on her son. He made it sound like he was making casual conversation.
"Oh yeah. That's how you succeed in this business. Through referrals."
I remembered that afternoon years later in a sales class when I was taught the proper way to ask for referrals, or introductions. I related the story to the group and everyone looked at me like I was an alien. The person leading the group discussion sneered and made a comment about how tacky and underhanded that was.
In retrospect it was a sneaky way to get a name of someone to call on, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it a referral. Whatever it was, it must of worked for Sam.
Chris Castanes is a professional speaker who helps sales people succeed through workshops and humorous presentations. He's also the author of "You're Going To Be Great At This!", a humorous look at sales. For booking information, click here. He's also the president of Surf Financial Brokers selling life and disability insurance in several states.
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