Salute to women…

I like to reflect on life’s little moments.  Like picking up horse manure in my wife’s indoor arena recently; reminded how blessed we are having an indoor arena!  Not to mention the awesomeness of my wife’s horses:  

The smell of horse manure brought to mind this story of my wife and salespeople. 

We were visiting vendor booths at the National Western Stock Show several years ago.  My wife was focused on the builders of buildings, barns, and arenas.  She was a “lead”.  As a sales professional, I get a kick out of how other salespeople “qualify” leads.  Most leads turn out to be “just looking”.  A few actually buy.  But how do you separate “lookers” from “buyers”?  I mean salespeople aren’t clairvoyant: 

At a recent annual meeting of the International Association of Clairvoyants, the meeting began by reading the minutes of next year's meeting. 

                   Unknown Sage 

I know sales cold-calling is tough; trade show leads are not much warmer.  However, how many deals are lost simply for lack of follow-up?  Rick Page once said: 

Sell the way the customer buys and allocate your resources accordingly. 

Either she didn’t seem credible (under the “this woman is too good to be true” syndrome), or the salespeople we spoke to were overly adept at qualifying.  True - I did most of the talking (no surprise there)… describing what we wanted; when we wanted it; and, most importantly, who our decision-maker was.  My soft-spoken wife was “VITO” (from the book Selling to VITO: Very Important Top Officer).  Straight forward?  Guess not.  

My wife was looking for a custom-built, indoor riding arena.  The final design was a 110 foot by 65 foot; two-story building; sitting on a quarter acre of our property.  One would think salespeople would be chomping at the bit to follow up on lead like this.  Guess not. 

She spoke to eleven vendors.  Four followed up.  Four.  Was she worthy of a follow up from the other seven?  Guess not. 

The first vendor quoted her a price per square foot over the phone.  No appointment; no explanation on useable square feet; no references; no visuals!  Very efficient, but she was actually expecting a sales meeting.  The second vendor would only meet if I (the “husband”) was present.  He refused to believe my wife was VITO.  Was she amused?  Nope - just insulted. 

The third vendor scheduled an onsite appointment.  He shared drawings and a pricing worksheet.  He set up two references so she could see examples of his work and talk with his customers.  After checking on county building codes, he returned for a final consultation along with his proposal.  All of these sales meetings were conducted thoroughly and professionally.  He won her business. 

The fourth vendor?  He called in June.  The Stock Show was in January; the arena was finished in May. 

Is “Make them beg” the motto of some salespeople?  Norman R. Augustine commented on business executives condoning this type of sales (in)efficiency: 

It nonetheless spoke highly of the firm's management that they seemed to be going out of business in an orderly fashion. 

I always believed salespeople are not qualified to qualify prospects (aka “leads”).  Did I waste time with “unqualified” leads?  Occasionally.  But other times I was closing the deal while my competitors were debating whether to follow up, or not.  I believe first in; best dressed; wins the “modern buyer’s” business! 

Really, my wife is VITO.  I’m just the poop-picker-upper! 

                      GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.