Forget the glossy marketing pack

At the start of my sales career, I remember walking past a target client’s premises one day completely by chance.

It was the weekend, and they were open.

So, I walked in to speak with the director who I’d been trying to reach over the phone for weeks.

He was in, as were his three co-directors.

I was selling space & sponsorship at a fashion trade show at the time and had no material on me – no business cards, media pack or any other material I’d normally take to a sales meeting.

So, I decided to strike while the iron was hot.

On the fly, I started asking lots of questions, outlining what I could potentially do for them, recounting stories of what similar companies had achieved, and how I’d put them in-front of their target clients based on what they’d divulged.

It was like going in completely blind.

But it felt liberating.

Pure human communication.

This is what I love about face-to-face meetings – you can read people in every way.

And as I'd caught them off-guard, they weren’t all sat in a conference room, their heads either buried in a brochure or on their phones.

They were completely present, with us all stood in their warehouse in deep discussion.

They started off sceptical but by the middle they started to come forward and by the end were hanging on my every word.

I passionately believed they would have an incredible experience, see a high ROI, and communicated exactly that.

I walked out with a deal - my biggest for weeks.

This one experience taught me the power of fundamental human interaction, using dynamic interpersonal skills, reading people and responding appropriately.

Printed materials, emails, proposals etc – they have their place, but I find they can often suck the life & passion out of your value proposition.

Your ability to communicate, paint pictures, ask thought-provoking questions and fully engage a senior leadership team is a superpower.

Always seek to improve it.

P.S. my CEO asked me at the time how I closed such a big deal without any material. I told him that was exactly WHY I closed it.