sales help

Slate Magazine published an article by James Ledbetter about the ever-increasing number of disappearing salespeople. The headline read, “Death of a Salesman. Of Lots of Them, Actually. The troubling disappearance of salesmen and how it helps explain America’s economic woes.”

I’m at London Gatwick Airport two hours before my flight home to Charlotte. I wandered into the Ted Baker store. I love Ted Baker clothing. I found a few things I liked, but they didn’t have one of the items I wanted in my size. I was assured I could get it online. Great! I completed my purchase, and went to the airline lounge to get on my computer and buy the other item. Easy online access, found what I wanted in less than a minute. But when I went to complete my purchase, I could not find the USA as one of the 40 or so “ship to” country options.

According to www.baseballreference.com, in the 135 years of Major League Baseball, there have been a total of 17,538 MLB players. Out of that 17,538, only 25 of them have hit more than 500 home runs. Of those 25, nearly half are contemporary players who may have used steroids, but the others are among baseball immortals: Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Mel Ott, Mickey Mantle, Eddie Matthews, Ernie Banks, Jimmy Foxx, Frank Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Willie McCovey, Reggie Jackson, and Mike Schmidt.

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Several months ago I got an email from Michael Andrew Wilson. He read my Little Red Book of Selling and Little Black Book of Connections, loved them, and wrote to tell me about it. Very nice compliment, with one notable addition. Michael lives in Paris, France. He moved from Newport, Rhode Island, to Paris in 1989.

I’ve gathered some sales predictions from my crystal ball, a bunch of people you think are hot prospects, a few irritated customers, a couple tightwad purchasing agents, and a sales manager in a pear tree. Some are tongue-in-cheek — or are they? Some are painful.

Many people struggled last year. You may be among them. Or your relatives may be among them. And as your conversation (story telling) evolves, you have choices. I recommend that you choose to not lament what didn’t happen and focus on what DID happen.

When you’re in a slump, you begin to press for orders instead of working your best game plan (which is: “sell to help the other person,” and let your sincerity of purpose shine through). When you have the pressure to sell, the prospect senses it, and backs off.

The skill of “listening” would appear to have died long ago with things like…