A while back I attended a one-day Prospecting Boot Camp for salespeople in the heart of downtown London. After nine days of visiting attractions abroad, I decided to let my wife do the final day by herself, so I could endeavor to learn the differences (if any) in the mindset of British salespeople from their American counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wondered: Do their prospects act like ours? Do they mislead, gather as much free information as possible, say, \u201cThanks, that was a great presentation, call me next week,\u201d and then enter the Federal Witness Protection Program? Do they say, \u201cWe\u2019re giving your company top consideration, please submit a proposal,\u201d when all they really want is a third quote to support a buying decision they\u2019ve already made? Do British prospects know fourteen ways to encrypt the phrase, \u201cI need to THINK-IT-OVER?\u201d Do they know how to convince a salesperson that \u201cthis is the one-in-a-million that really will take my call and give me an order next week,\u201d when actually, they plan to award that sales rep a free lifetime subscription to their voicemail? Do they disrespect sales people\u2019s time? Think nothing of missing scheduled appointments? Treat salespeople in ways they would never want to be treated themselves?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hmmm, guess what I found out. Prospects are prospects \u2013 it matters not what city, continent, or planet they call home. So why do prospects universally engage in this behavior? Because it works, they get all the information and consulting they want without spending a penny. Why does it work? Because salespeople allow it to work. Yes, we are the problem. We allow prospects to treat us this way. Don\u2019t believe it? Fill in the blank: The one constant in every dissatisfying relationship I have ever had, have now, or will have is ___________.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The correct answer is ME. In every case where a prospect pulled one of these shenanigans on me, the one thing that was always present was ME. Maybe I\u2019m the problem. That\u2019s bad news. On reconsideration \u2013 that\u2019s Good News, because the only thing I CAN fix is myself. I can\u2019t fix prospects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how do I fix myself and avoid these problems in the future?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Would you like to stop living on the prospect\u2019s system, want to take charge of your sales processes? You can\u2019t change prospects; they\u2019re the same all over the world. But you sure can change the way you deal with them by first changing yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you do that, you can sell in Norfolk, VA, London, England, or anywhere else on this planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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