There’s a sales manager in my past that was as easygoing as a koala bear on Thorzine. I’d never seen him upset ot even the least bit flustered … til I saw him toss a sales rep out on his ear.
I ventured into his office … after a 30 minute cooling-off period. He was still a bit upset. Which made me all the more curious as to what the fool had said to him.
He told me that the first thing that sales rep had done was criticize our way of doing business.
Bad sales approach. Very bad.
If you’re looking for a novel new way to open a meeting, that ain’t it.
Save the criticism for second guessing the quarterbacks on Monday Night Football. Or the announcers. Or politics.
Tellling a man that his methods of running his business suck is a sure way to get a size 13 planted on your arse. Especially if he’s a co-owner, like my sales manager was.
Find another opening line, another avenue for opening the conversation that leads to a sale of your product or service, but never, ever use criticism. Ever.
It’s not professional, it’s not mature and it’s not successful.
The website that had this great image also has some great words of wisdom about criticism. No endorsement implied, just thought the words were very true and as I read them, I thought of this posts theme.
Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to our RSS Feed or sign up for our e-mail updates (in the sidebar). To leave a comment, click on the post title, then scroll down to the bottom. Thanks!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Mike,
This reminds me of the short and true story of the guy who told his boss, the owner of the company, “you could get a monkey to do this job”.
Tha’s too funny Carolyn. Thanks for stopping by.