A few days ago, I was fortunate enough to listen to a man who has earned the right to voice his opinion about whatever he wants to talk about.
He spoke. I listened. Intently.
He said when he hires a new salesman, the first thing he teaches them is how to open doors.
I figured he meant how to get an appointment, how to get past the receptionist, etc.
Nope. He literally meant how to open doors. Ohhhh-kaaaayyy.
Granted, I thought I’d thought about every detail of a sales call, but I’d missed that one.
He mentioned that every day salespeople have to open a door and walk in to see someone. He also said that person will be influenced by their entrance.
Nobody makes a bigger entrance than me. When I hit the parking lot, they’re already bracing themselves for the force of nature known as Mike. They still have no chance to say no to me. None.
Long ago, he mentioned that he’d noticed that successful salespeople will walk in with authority, straight towards the person waiting for them, but also having care for the door they came thru.
Unsuccessful salespeople will barely open a door and try to slide in like they’re not fit to enter. Bad idea.
Be dignified. Be impressive. Be careful. Be prepared. That’s the way to enter a room.
Do not, under any circumstance, apologize for being there. Ever.
Act like you earned your time in front of them. If you didn’t earn it, turn around and leave and don’t come back til you have earned it.
When he first told me this, I thought he’d taken it a little too far, but the more I think about it, the more I think he’s right.
How about you ?
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I think you hit the nail on the head with the issues of confidence and preparedness.
Not only does this work in person, but also on the phone. It makes a big difference with a client when they HEAR that you know your product or service. When you stumble and sound like you are lacking confidence, customers pick up on that.
Thanks for the post!
Thanks for backing up my thoughts, Jonathan.
You’ve written enough white papers to know that you can’t BS your way thru one.
Same thing with a sales call, you have to do research, get a game plan and be prepared.
What a great post. I think walking into the room with confidence is very important. Donny Deutsch has a saying in his book “why not me?”. I love that. If someone has to win the business, why not me? If someone is going by buy a book, why not mine? It is a great way to approach any situation!
If you dont mind, I think I will blog about your point of view!
Thanks Thom, I appreciate the link love and the affirmation.
I may steal your ” Why not me ? ” for a future post … with props back to you for making me think.
Mike – How about when you are uninvited or cold calling? – Mike
I think it’s even more important to have the right look, mindset and air of confidnece when you’re in that awful situation.
I never advocate stuffiness or arrogance, but conversational confidence is of utmost importance for a first time or first few times call on a suspect or prospect.
Of course, I’d prefer to use a device, such as a white paper, to generate interest and make sure I’m not calling on a suspect, but rather a prospect.
Uninvited’s a whole different ballgame. In that case, I’d think about trying to really put on a show to see if I could get past their defenses. I would try to be like a living headline. Unless i can get them to keep reading, I have no shot, so I have to be bold, loud, controversial, cause doubt, cure a problem, etc.
Tell me, Mike, how could a person become a living white paper for a cold call or uninvited visit ?