How to treat those who come to you to sell something

The phone rings incessantly. This is the fifth time that number has come up.

- Hello...

- Hello, good afternoon! I would like to speak to the person responsible for the family please?

- Yeah, that's me. No, it's not.

- Would you have two minutes for me to introduce you to Odonto X, which for R$ "almost nothing" covers 250 dental procedures for your entire family?

I was busy, in the middle of an important and urgent task.

The seller's promise had value, it was interesting, but I had no head for anything at that moment.

Then I remembered a co-worker who had a very good procedure for dealing with salespeople.

Let's go.

Rules for dealing with approaches

1. to treat well and objectively.

Whatever the proposition of the other side, you choose one of 3 alternatives to respond, but firmly, clearly and emphatically:

  1. Oh, no. I see. I'm not interested at the moment. But thank you for the offer.
  2. Of course... I can't talk at the moment. Can you call me at the end of the day?
  3. Ah yes, we can talk now but I only have 5 minutes. What is it specifically about?

Whoever calls you to offer something is a human being.

It is fulfilling its function of passing the value it generates to the market that could potentially need that value.

2. Do not criticise the seller's initiative.

Forgive all your mistakes: Portuguese mistakes, diction, annoying accent, gerundism, shrill tone of voice and others.

The person always does the best they can and that is within their physical and mental reach. If anyone is to blame for placing an unprepared professional to make contacts, it is the company administrator.

3. Save everyone's time.

Do not evolve if you are not going to acquire in the short term. Don't ask for an introductory email, much less a visit, or proposal. If you are curious, enter the company's website, but don't give the seller additional work if you are not really intending to buy.

4. Be kind.

This is a human being. Be proactive in the conversation, helping the professional to end the conversation in the best possible way, for both of you.

But by all means speak gently. It could be your daughter trying to keep her job and pay for college.

------

As incredible as it sounds these tips came from one of the most aggressive professionals I have ever met.

A friend of many years who was a buyer for a large retail conglomerate and his job was to rip everything off the supplier, but "without killing". Leave dependent, but without annihilating.

His area was seen as a profit centre. That's fine up to there. No one is obliged to sell to anyone.

If you are a buyer and the order in your company is for you to lunch and dine your suppliers, then let them know that they are joining a cannibal tribe. That's their choice.

This friend of mine was gentle and polite until his interests were thwarted. Then he would turn into an animal. Threatening, cursing, shouting.

He said, "When you have sex with King Kong, you have sex with him however he wants. And I'm King Kong here."

Not a quiet life for him and those with whom he related. The general belief in his company was that the corporate world is a jungle, where there are only predators and their prey.

In any case, in the business world, there will always be someone who will take the initiative for a conversation that aims at a sale, a deal.

Banks, insurance companies, governments, advertising agencies, manufacturing industries, self-employed professionals, it doesn't matter the segment. Someone will literally open a conversation to sell. A meeting, a call will be scheduled and one will try to propose an idea to the other.

In all its nuances, it is a sale. The economic wheel of all humanity turns because of those who take this initiative. There is no automatic motor behind it, no gadget, no bits, no algorithm, but a human being.

The phone rings incessantly. It is the sixth time that number has appeared.

- Hello...

Stavros Frangoulidis
Stavros Frangoulidis
CEO of PaP Solutions ⚡ Let's connect on Linkedin too

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