The Warm-UP and Why it is so Important

Once the prospect invites you into his or her office, you have to get rid of some of the dread on the prospects part of getting into the presentation of your product. You just have to get a reasonable amount of professional courtesy going to help the prospect to be able to trust what you will be saying to them. I would recommend that you talk about things like the weather or things of value that are going on in your industry. By all means it is standard procedure to stay away from discussing politics or religion. The customer may not say anything when you talk about forbidden subjects such as this but then they don’t buy and you do not have a clue why. So once again talk about the weather and look for something in the room you can complement the customer on. They will appreciate that you noticed their painting on the wall or a Childs picture on the desk or what ever else catches your eye. Once you have completed a little small talk and asked them a few questions to get them talking you will feel confident to begin the presentation. Customer’s tend to pay closer attention and listen better if a good warm up is given prior to the presentation. Hope this will help you to increase your closing percentage as it always helped my sales people as well as my self. Thank you, once again Billy J Gibson Better know as the Selling Fool

The Long Hot Summer

The Long Hot Summer Once again the long hot summer is with us again. What ever you do, you will have to dress according to the weather. The first ten or so years of my sales career were done in the Texas Panhandle. It was hot and it was dry. All the old timers ever talked about were the dust bowl days. The first two cars I used for several years back in the day did not have air condition. I of course knew no better and just got used to driving around with all of the windows down like everybody else. We wore short sleeves, wide brim hats and sunglasses and just made the best of it. I had never heard of the heat index until recent times and just watched the thermometer. When it read 104 or 110 degrees which it did quite often we just knew it was hot. If we had known that the heat index was 115 or 120 degrees, we would have simply, just passed out. Well there is not much you can do about the hot weather, regardless if it is global warming or not. You can learn to cope with it however and be sure and drink plenty of liquids. Water is actually the best thing and stay away from any alcohol as it just dehydrates you even more. Watch the weather reports and keep an extra shirt or two in the car so you can change and look sharp for your next presentation. Common sense goes along ways when it come to dealing with weather. If you are in areas where it is raining and flooding be sure and slow down and don’t go driving through any deep water. I found out the hard way that it only takes a foot or even a little less to simply move your car over to the ditch where you could even get submerged and drown. Always play it safe so you will be able to live another day and go for the gold. Where I’ve lived for the last 40 years the temperature normally stays below 100. But due to our high humidity here close to the coast of the gulf of Mexico the temperature index is almost 105 to 108 day in and day out. The profession of being a great salesperson is highly rewarding but not at the expense of a heat stroke. So be careful and play it smart as you only have one life to loose. Incidentally I hope you are still working on using self management to better your life. I know some days you do have a tendency to work your self to death but it will all pay off for you in the long run. Thank you, Billy J Gibson Better known as The Selling Fool.