10 Sales Tips From The Quintessential Salesperson

How to Avoid Sales Call Foibles That Can Wreck Your Bottom Line

James Howard

• Publisher: James Howard
• Year: 2021
• Topic: Business
• eBook ISBN:
  9780578833682
• Subtopic: Sales
• Index: Business

Case #1 – Salesperson who promises to bring lunch…and doesn’t.

This salesperson is someone we’ll call “Dan.”

He wears round glasses and a smile that makes you think of Teddy Roosevelt.

He’d recently taken over the territory from another moderately successful salesperson and wanted to get off to a good start.

He didn’t.

Some days before he’d arranged to come see me and he offered to bring lunch for the crew. I told him he didn’t have to bring lunch but he insisted.

(I don’t like taking gifts, even food, from people with whom I’d never done business. To thank us for an ongoing business relationship is fine, but otherwise it looks like a bribe. But maybe that’s just me.)

Anyway, he asked us what time we went to lunch and I told him eleven. He asked what we liked and I told him anything was fine. (Our favorite brand is FREE.) He told me he’d bring in lunch the next day at eleven and I informed the crew.

It turned out to be a justification of why I keep a pack of ramen noodles in my desk. He didn’t show up at eleven, nor at eleven thirty, but closer to noon - and empty handed to boot!

No one had brought lunch in expectation of the one to be provided, so it was with growling stomachs that we listened to his explanation that since he’d run late, and that since it was already past our normal lunchtime, he’d decided against it.

And then he belched and proceeded to tell us how good it had been.

(Remember, this is a true story.)

The guys left the office to scrounge up whatever they could, grumbling as they went. I took his brochures and got rid of him.

Needless to say, I never did buy anything from him.

The Quintessential Salesperson says –

“Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep! Better not to promise than to promise and not deliver. If you break your commitment about the trivial things, how can you be relied upon for the important things? Think about it.”

Case #2 – Salesperson who wears a college logo on his shirt.

Here is a salesperson we’ll call “Charlie” who’d been calling on us periodically for many years. He was one of a pool of salesmen who represented the same company and although his reputation among his peers was dubious, I always liked him well enough.

His folly concerned his enthusiasm for college football.

One day he paid a visit with biscuits in hand and wearing a Clemson Tigers polo shirt.

One of our techs was a deeply committed Carolina Gamecocks fan.

The tech scorned the shirt.

He scorned the salesman.

He even scorned the biscuits, refusing to come in the office and have one until the salesman was gone.

Sound silly? I agree, but it is what it is.

The Quintessential Salesperson says –

“Always remain neutral! You are there to serve your clients and make sales, not to brag on your team. Your shirt should have your company logo on it or nothing at all.”

Case #3 – Salesperson who tells bawdy jokes and stories of drinking, partying, etc.

We’ll call this salesperson “Jim” because he shares a last name with an old time movie star whose first name is Jim.

Jim loved to talk about boozing it up and even had a reference to it on his professional business card. (I believe I still have his card somewhere.)

He seemed to think that blue collar workers would be amused by the talk, and while that is usually a good bet, it is by no means universal.

(In fact, as a salesperson he was not alone in this assumption. There were other salespeople who seemed to think that their partying would make a better lasting impression than their product, and honestly I can’t remember what any of them were selling.)

In this case it was a poor bet, for at least two of our crew were religious fellows, including the one who ordered our materials.

Now, I’m not saying that they were offended so they wouldn’t buy from him, but what I am saying is that Jim put himself in the same category as the salesperson who comes in with the appalling breath (another true case).

The salesperson might be a great guy (or gal), but their arrival doesn’t exactly bring a smile to your face.

The Quintessential Salesperson says –

“Get to know your potential clients before you spout off about politics, religion, or amusements. And for Pete’s sake, let your fragrances be inoffensive!”

Case #4 – Salesperson who fails to provide a quote.

This may seem to be the most astonishing case so far, but like the others it is absolutely true.

“Bill” was a friend of mine who sold janitorial supplies. Among his products was our favorite heavy duty hand soap and we used a LOT of it.

I was his contact that...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Foreword
• Contents
• Case #1 – Salesperson who promises to bring lunch…and doesn’t.
• Case #2 – Salesperson who wears a college logo on his shirt.
• Case #3 – Salesperson who tells bawdy jokes and stories of drinking, partying, etc.
• Case #4 – Salesperson who fails to provide a quote.
• Case #5 – Salesperson who routinely double orders.
• Case #6 – Salesperson who makes a sales “call” from 45 miles away.
• Case #7 – Salesperson who excessively runs down the competition.
• Case #8 – Salesperson who begs for business.
• Case #9 – Salesperson who makes outrageous claims.
• Case #10 – Salesperson who fails to exude confidence.
• Case #11 – Salesperson who complains vocally about setbacks.
• Case #12 – Salesperson who likes to gouge if he can.
• Case #13 – Salesperson who ignores the underlings.
• Case #14 – Salesperson who ostentatiously displays or talks of wealth.
• Case #15 – Salesperson hamstrung by lousy inside sales people.
• Case #16 – Salesperson who excessively talks instead of listening to what we need.
• Case #17 – Salesperson who deals corruptly.
• Case #18 – Salesperson who only wants to make money (as opposed to the ones who sometimes help with no profit to themselves).