Generally people seem to do everything they can to avoid sales people, until they get to know them at least. The answer “I sell things” in response to the question “what do you do?” can be a real conversation stopper at social events. The most successful life insurance salesman ever was a disaster until he understood. Whenever he met people at events he would say ‘I sell….” And before he could get the life bit out he was talking to fresh air. Broke and desperate, he decided on a small change to his pitch, and this turned out to make him a very wealthy fellow. Instead of saying “I sell” he changed to “I buy life insurance, would you like me to buy some for you? But that’s a divergence from the main theme of this section.
Suffice it to say people generally are uncomfortable around sales people. So how is it some people will always take a call, will always accept a visit and will always have a project just around the corner which could be just right for the hapless rep. These people are Serial Prospects. They just love the attention that being a serious prospect gets them. When times are good they get entertained, hosted at golf outings, breakfast meetings, dinners with partners. Actually it sounds OK doesn’t it? Getting all that attention and all you have to do is pretend there’s a buy going on. Of course they have to devote the time to it as well. They are always busy people, but somehow find a way to squeeze us into their schedule. Look closely though and there is the secret.
The Serial Prospect is only busy because he’s a Serial Prospect. Filling the calendar with meetings is a great way of appearing to doing something important. Boy he works hard. For busy people trying to sell their wares the Serial Prospect is a nightmare. They will always have great product, fantastic prices, impressive service. They will always be number one on the list, and they will never get any business, because there isn’t any. But we can’t walk away, because one day he might buy something. Serial prospects can be very hard to spot, and harder to get rid of. Even after they’ve let us down a few times, they still call and ask us in to discuss?? How do we spot them? Avoiding any commitment to a process is a good sign. Not delivering on agreed events and dates is another. Maybe the best though is overt enthusiasm for the project without any in depth examination of the offer. How do we get rid of them? Send them a contract and a note explaining you’ll be pleased to meet with them, after they’ve signed it.
