A few years ago I worked with the Founder of a relatively new company...

He was struggling to close business.

So we listened back to a recent sales meeting.

Now confidence wasn't something he was lacking! 

He introduced the agenda for the meeting, along with a bit of small talk, standard stuff...

And then he began.

To say the conversation was one-sided would've been a massive understatement.

His strategy appeared to be...

Captivate & mesmerize the prospect by any means necessary so they'll be so bowled over they'll have a pen at the ready to sign

Wild horses wouldn't have stopped his relentless steamroll of a pitch, attempting to 'wow' them at every given turn.

Not a single question was directed at the prospect.

But lots of stories, features, benefits, bells & whistles!

20 minutes in & the prospect actually got a word in...

"Do you actually know what we do?" She asked

"Ermm...hang on a second, let me just pull up your details...ermmm...sorry my computer's a bit slow today! Hang on a second..."

...needless to say he had no clue.

Then after all of that...it quickly became apparent they were a poor fit.

And they could've been disqualified in a few minutes with the right questions.

Talking AT people about how amazing your solution is & wowing them with a self-serving monologue achieves exactly nothing.

He was completely unaware that the one thing getting in the way of closing business was...his own ego. 

In his mind, this was how sales worked.

He was the star of the show & people would buy into that! 

As the Founder of a business it's easy to get carried away by passion & enthusiasm. 

It is your baby after all. 

But sales is sales.

Founder, CEO, sales rep...it really doesn't matter what your role is. 

The conversation had to be about the prospect.

Every single time.

Their problems, their world, their situation.

People only care about themselves.

So the spotlight has to be on them...not on us.

#sales #meeting