Bonding with the Little People

As usual I was talking with a salesperson today and they were explaining to me how they went into this business and got past the girl at the desk and managed to speak with the “decision maker”. This particular salesperson proceeded to go to great lengths to bond with this owner of the business assuming that the sale was imminent.

Well, a funny thing happened along the way. After the salesperson got done with the presentation the alleged decision maker pointed to the girl at the front desk and informed the salesperson that whatever the girl out front decided was fine with him, but he leaves it all up to her. What a shocker!! The salesperson went up front to speak to the young lady only to find out that she was really cold to his idea. You see, the error that the salesperson made was that along the way to the decision maker he has to win over everyone in his path and semi-close all of them into liking him. The salesperson completely missed this point and is now trying to figure out a way to get back into her good graces.

When I am prospecting or going to give a presentation everyone around the person I am trying to sell becomes my new best friend. I leave no stone unturned. Just imagine, if on the way into see the alleged “decision maker” I had made that young lady feel good about herself and took an extra second to make her feel important. I assure you the results would have been completely different. When you think people are insignificant or irrelevant to the sale, that is when you should stop and go out of your way to go the extra mile. Not only will they feel better, even if they don’t effect the sale directly, you never know what they will say about you behind your back after you leave. The extra bonus is if you make this a daily habit you will feel terrific about yourself!