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When Tom got a call from a woman working at the one of the largest advertisement agencies in the world, he thought his low-income days of selling party-planning services were over. A big client like that could keep him fed for years. Here's Tom's story:
The woman calling wanted to hear about our offerings on the phone, but I insisted that I see her in person. After a few minutes of hard selling, I convinced her that a meeting was best. There was no way I was going to miss the opportunity to meet face to face with a potential client from a company that hosts huge parties as a major part of its business!
So I drove to downtown Chicago, paid a ridiculous amount of money for parking and was led into the woman's office. I eagerly showed her my portfolio, to which she responded just as eagerly.
"That's it!" She pointed to a picture in my picture book of party options. She was pointing at a single photo of a clown.
"That's exactly what I want for my 4-year-old's birthday," she enthusiastically said.
The woman I met was not a corporate client, after all. She wasn't even a high-level decision maker for the company. I blew a half-day on a call that was no more fruitful than the smallest sale I could possibly make.
Postmortem
Can you identify what Tom's real trouble was? He got too excited and fell into the trap of presenting before qualifying. This trap is a serious time waster and is common when a salesperson doesn't implement a system during the sales process.
When on a call, it is important to ask your potential client some qualifying questions in order to eliminate bad or low-quality prospects from your precious selling time. You will be more successful and will work with a better class of clients if you pay attention.
