Jay Abraham the marketing guru has said that if you really believe in your products and service that you have an obligation to tell the world. Now I may not be saying it exactly the way he says it but the point is if you can really have an impact why wouldn’t you tell the world? Bert Decker wrote a book called You’ve Got to be Believed to be Heard. My friend Chet Holmes says that the sales rep that has more passion then the prospect gets in the door. To me it all boils down to your level of conviction. How much do you know about the prospect, their world, their challenges and their industry? Have you practiced on how to get past the gate keeper, handling objections and how to leave a voicemail message that gets a return call? Are you willing to be relentless in your efforts to reach the prospect? You see sales reps with conviction never, never give up.

A while back I had a prospect that I was determined to reach. After a little intelligence gathering and getting to know his assistant I had his two cell phone numbers, direct office number, home number and his schedule for the next three days. I planned a series of voice mail messages that I believed would get his attention and a return phone call. I planned what time I would place each call and what phone numbers I would contact. On the first day I did everything according to plan but no return phone call. On the second day at 5pm I got a return phone call. My prospect asked if anyone had accused me of being a Pitbull? I told him no but I would take that as a compliment. He said that was the way he intended it and wished his people were as determined as I was. He admitted he returned my call because I communicated my conviction in providing value and determination to reach him. Let’s be real, you aren’t going to do this with 400 prospects a week but there are a handful that could make your quota for the year if you landed the account. What are you willing to do and how badly do you want that prospect?

I just got off the phone with a good friend who was looking for ways to build relationship with an executive’s assistant. He was full of ideas on how he could do that. One idea was to just drop by and say hello, another was to send a card and yet another was to invite the assistant to lunch. Those are all valid ideas but the question is how does the assistant like to build relationship? You see what you would do for one person could be the exact opposite for another. To say it a different way one persons desert is another person’s poison. So I asked my friend is the assistant outgoing or slightly reserved? He said reserved. Is the assistant analytical or cooperative? He said she is cooperative. I said that is great because we now know what to do, what to avoid and we mapped out a plan.

His challenge is one that all of us have. When trying to influence someone or build relationship we are naturally wired to take the approach we want people to take with us. At best that will works 20-40% of the time. Instead if you influence people the way they want to influence you will build a good relationship 100% of the time. In sales we know that it takes more than strong relationships to win the deal but if you don’t build a strong relationship I guarantee you won’t be getting the deal!