NORTHEAST GEORGIA BLOG

I thought I’d write something here from the perspective of a sales person.

I witnessed something over the weekend that made me think about how we treat sales professionals.  As a small business owner I spend much of my day selling.  I’m either trying to keep existing customers or I’m trying to get new customers.  There are about a gazillion books on how to sell so I’ll let you use whichever magic potion works for you — if you are a business owner or a sales professional.  What I want to discuss here is the behavior towards sales professionals and business owners – and the potential consequences.

I traveled up to a city here in northeast Georgia over the weekend to meet with a un-named prospect who owns an un-named company – in an un-named city.  I don’t want to pick on a particular individual because this is just an example of something that happens on a somewhat frequent basis —— bad behavior towards the sales professional.  Rude behavior.

The scenario goes something like this:

1) I find this company on the internet and decide that they might be a good prospect for what I’m selling.  I add them as a prospect in my little sales funnel.

2) I make the dreaded cold call – always very mindful that this person is busy and I don’t want to intrude, interrupt, or be obnoxious – very professional.  In this particular case this lady is very polite, schedules an appointment with me, and appears to be very professional.

3) I make the drive up to see this lady.  She invited me.  I’m taking my time and my money to talk to this lady about a potential solution to a problem she has.  I love doing this – solving problems.

4) I walk in the door and find the most unprofessional, pathetic, horrendous, dirty, nasty environment I’ve ever seen (this company deals with the public on a daily basis).  I have no idea how this lady is in business.  I’m stunned.

5) As soon as I walk in the door and introduce myself I’m told that they have no need for my services – very rude, very obnoxious, and totally unprofessional.

Hey – that’s fine if someone doesn’t have a need for my services or if they want to use another company.  That’s capitalism.  I’m all for it.  I’m always very professional and polite…I understand one thing:  Our paths may cross again.  Apparently this lady has never thought of that.

The moral of the story:  Treat sales people with respect, professionalism, and be polite.  It really has a positive impact on your company.  I’m out here everyday talking to a ton of people here in northeast Georgia – guess what’s gonna happen when someone brings up the “un-named company” or the “un-named prospect” in a conversation?  I’m not gonna be too flattering when describing my experience with them.  Word of mouth gets around.  If you were to do this to the wrong person you might find a FaceBook page or a bunch of tweets on Twitter going out to hundreds of your prospective clients.  With the technology available today it’s not wise to run around being rude to people.

Having said all of that – most all of my experiences are great.  Whether I make the sale or not I’m usually treated very well on the phone, I tend to have fantastic meetings and get to know a lot of great people – more often than not we become friends and try to help each other out.

Prospects are more than a target with a dollar sign on their forehead and sales people are more than some poor slob trying to talk you into buying something you don’t want or need.

To that 1% out there – let’s be a little more considerate.

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