You're Going To Be Great At This!

One of the most important life lessons I've shared with people is to know when to shut up. Seriously, people talk entirely too much. They want to share their opinions, political beliefs, recipes and personal drama because they either think that others want to hear this or that we need their valuable information.  This happens in sales also. There are sales people who give out all kinds of information about their product or service, from the features of the product to the long list of names of satisfied customers. But there comes a point in the sales process when you have to stop selling and close. And when you close you need to stop talking.  When it comes to closing, there's an old sales adage that says, "The one who talks first loses." For example, let's say you have been working on a customer for about twenty minutes. Now it's time to close and you go with something like, "So what do you think? Would you like to start filling out the paperwork?" (...

On the last couple of posts I discussed how difficult it can be dealing with co-workers and management. However this time I want to take a look at the clients we deal with each and every day. In my book I had an entire chapter on "How To Be A Good Customer", but apparently it went unread. Before I get started I want to acknowledge that a vast majority of my clients are awesome people. Many have become friends of mine as well, especially the ones that are local to me. This helps tremendously when there is an issue as they know the kind of person I am and can trust that I'm not out to screw them over.  But as we all know it only takes one grouchy, irritable jerk to ruin your day or week. Anyone in sales, self-employed or otherwise depends on their customers to earn a living and can share a multitude of stories about these people. Here are a few of my stories.   1. The drunk guy. Back in my retail days I managed a music store. We opened at 10am (mall schedule) and usually f...

Many years ago when I was working in retail I had a boss who was a real sarcastic guy. Whenever we had a problem with a customer or an employee he would say, "If it weren't for people it would be the easiest job in the world." He was absolutely correct in this assessment. People can be a pain in the butt. Dealing with people can be difficult. Everyone handles the day-to-day problems they have differently. Some get stressed out while others are like those non-stick pans with their problems just sliding off of them. There is no "one size fits all" approach to people, especially when it comes to your clients, customers and co-workers.  I once worked with a very abrasive young man. He had a thick New York accent, which in South Carolina went over like a lead balloon. In a lot of ways he sounded like the cartoon aardvark that was always trying to eat the ant. So when he would make his morning calls to set appointments, he didn't have much success.  "I do not...