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Avoiding surprises should be a big focus in your sales life. Do you stumble over unexpected objections? How about equipment failure? In Tim's tale, he's ambushed by a small hole that opens up a bigger problem: No sale.
A long time ago, I spent a summer selling vacuum cleaners, um, I mean, "home cleaning systems."
I had been doing a lot of demonstrations and failed to properly check my equipment. As a result, I did not notice the tear in the vacuum cleaner bag (I know: You can see what's coming, but I didn't and neither did the homeowners).
I used to show people how powerful the vacuum cleaner was by dumping a full pound of sand onto their carpet and then easily cleaning it up with the vacuum. Well, when I hit that power switch, the sand went shooting through the vacuum, into the bag, through the tear in the bag and out the back of the vacuum.
It happened very quickly, but I remember a lot of screaming, and I swung around and saw that I was sandblasting a whole family of onlookers in their own living room. Nothing quite like dust-covered prospects covering their eyes and bent over to avoid my disastrous presentation.
The moral of the story is to make sure your equipment is top notch before you go on to make a fool of yourself. Abe Lincoln once said that if he had eight hours to chop down a tree, he would spend the first six hours sharpening the saw.
Postmortem
Tim nailed it. You live or die with your equipment. This is why a soldier is taught to dismantle his weapon blindfolded, so he can do it in the dark when death looms near. Your equipment includes your vehicle, which can break down and break appointments. Or it might look bad and send a message that you're not successful. Care for your car, computer and anything that helps carry you to the close. Again, you'll avoid surprises that keep you from commission checks.
[Dan Seidman of SalesAutopsy.com has been named one of the Top 12 Sales Coaches in America by Ultimate Selling Power. He collects sales horror stories for use in his speaking and training programs.]
