When nothing seems to work...

Nothing seemed to work, it had been a few months with no sales and things were becoming desperate. On the way to work one day this young sales rep decided to take a detour.

He knew where several of his potential clients were located, and as he had struggled to get any of them on the phone, he decided to put himself in-front of them.

He called in at 8:30am to one of the largest potential clients and asked to speak to the Director about some important business.

As luck would have it four men and two women appeared, the entire management team in fact, who were just about to go into a meeting. Talk about good timing!

He introduced himself and began engaging them. He asked lots of questions, including what their challenges were, why they couldn’t reach important buyers, the state of current business and issues in the industry as a whole.

He knew his tradeshow was right for them and explained exactly why. With no sales brochure or other material - which I always think distracts and takes the excitement out of any conversation - he pitched with heart, passion, and gusto.

He knew this event would get them in front of significant buyers in the industry and was therefore of great value. There was simply no way they could not do this, and so they ended up signing a large contract on the spot!

What an incredible feeling, his confidence restored, his monthly target hit.

I recount this story as it was one of my earliest sales lessons. Without realising it consciously at the time, it taught me the power of asking questions and listening. It also taught me the importance of belief, passion, rapport-building and how to lead effectively.

I remember walking out of their offices on cloud nine - it meant the world to me and gave me a lifelong obsession with sales. This one encounter restored my love for sales and made me realise the importance of enjoying the process.

So, when nothing seems to work, maybe it’s time to try a new strategy altogether. You never know you might just get lucky!