Buttercup

A verse from The Foundations 1960's song called "Build Me Up Buttercup" read like this...

"Why do build me up, just to let me down? You never call when you say will."

While the vocalist was singing about a girl he liked, he might also have been singing about some salespeople.

How often has a salesperson built you up, only to let you down? A few weeks ago I invited a contractor (Larry) to my house to discuss building a covered patio in my back yard. Larry was a friendly fellow and brought several photographs of his completed works. I was glad he had the photos, because if I were to have pre-judged his work on his personal appearance, he might not have gotten past the front door. However, that's a whole different issue. Thanks to his photograph book, we did spot one style of patio enclosure we were interested in learning more about. Larry then went outside to take a few measurements and before leaving said "I'll call you tonight with proposal - tomorrow at the latest."

When my phone rang nine days later, the voice on the other end said "This is Larry." I asked "Larry who?" He said me that we'd met the previous week and he was calling back to discuss my patio enclosure. When I reminded him that he said he would call me back either the same day or a day later at the latest, all he could say was "I've been really busy lately." To add insult to injury, he also told me he didn't have the proposal ready because he needed to research some more information about the zoning laws in my neighborhood.

Ironically, Larry seemed really surprised when I told him that when he didn't call back when he said he would, I called another contractor. Larry kept going back to how busy he was and promised me he would get my proposal finished right away. Another week has passed and still no word from Larry. In case you haven't guessed, Larry won't be building my patio. I've since learned that while Larry does great work, it takes forever for him to finish any one job.

Sales is a highly competitive profession, and often the difference between the winners and losers are the simple activities such as calling your prospects and customers back when you said you will. Don't be afraid to set high expectations for customer service; however, you must have the courage to commit to and follow through on meeting the expectations you set. Don't blame the prospect or customer for getting upset or turning you away when you fail to live up to your word. After all, wouldn't you consider doing the same thing if the roles were reversed?

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There’s no “h” in my last name!

Do you really want to impress your prospect the first time you meet them? Here's how...pronounce their name correctly. For a long as I can remember, people have been mispronouncing my last name. Just to be clear, it's usally not because they put the accent on the wrong sylable or mispronounce the vowels. That I could understand. Instead they say it wrong because they put an extra letter my name that was never there to begin with.

I like to say "My last name is like the actor Rob Reiner, except you put a 't' on the end." Unfortunately, 90% of the time a salesperson meets me in person or calls me at work or home, they ask for Kevin Reinhart instead of Kevin Reinert. When I point out that there's no "h" in my last name, they often say something like, "Oh yes, I see that now." What really kills me is the salesperson who calls me up and says something like "Mr Reinhart, a friend of yours asked me to calll you up because he thought you might be interested in our services." My first response becomes, "If you really got my name from a friend of mine, he/she would have told you how to pronounce it correctly."

Since first impressions are so important in any sales situation, how well do you think a salesperson who mispronounces someone's name has positioned themself? I believe you know the answer. On the other hand, note the response of someone with a complicated name when you pronounce their name correctly the first time. They'll immediately perk up and probably make a positive comment.

Before you meet any prospect, try to find out how they say their name. If that's not possible, when you meet the prospect the first time, say something like "I'm not sure how to pronounce you name, and I really want to say it correctly." That little sign of respect can go a long way.

Just today, for example, I was waiting for calls from three hotels where I wanted to house 30 clients coming to town. The first two people who called me put an "h" in my name, despite having it written correctly in front of them. The sales rep from the third hotel introduced herself to me and asked me how I pronounce my name. Can you guess which of the three hotels got the business?