{"id":1787,"date":"2008-11-13T13:50:28","date_gmt":"2008-11-13T19:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/?p=1787"},"modified":"2008-11-13T12:32:23","modified_gmt":"2008-11-13T18:32:23","slug":"8-things-not-to-do-on-a-sales-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/11\/8-things-not-to-do-on-a-sales-call\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Things Not To Do On A Sales Call"},"content":{"rendered":"

I read this post on Bnet<\/a> and got a chuckle out of a couple of the points and thought I would share this article by Geoffrey James with you.\u00a0 I especially laughed when I read don’t flirt with the admin…<\/strong>who does that?!\u00a0 Anyway, here are the 8 things not to do:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Flirt with the admin.<\/strong>\u00a0 It may seem tempting, but unless you\u2019ve got soap-opera-quality looks, chances are you\u2019re only going to annoy (or even alarm) the admin, who will tell the boss.\u00a0 Fix:<\/em> Stay polite, friendly and respectful.<\/li>\n
  2. Talk more than you listen.<\/strong>\u00a0 Initial sales calls are all about relationship building and gathering information, which you can\u2019t do if your mouth is moving. Fix:<\/em> Get curious about the customer and ask questions.<\/li>\n
  3. Comment on the memento. <\/strong>The last 372 people who came into that office remarked about the signed baseball on the desk.\u00a0 Ho-hum\u2026\u00a0 Fix:<\/em> Research the prospect and ask about the prospect\u2019s job.<\/li>\n
  4. Pretend to drop by.<\/strong>\u00a0 Who are you kidding?\u00a0 Do you think that it\u2019s going to cushion the rejection if you pretend that it\u2019s not a sales call?\u00a0 Fix:<\/em> Have something important to say or sell that justifies your presence.<\/li>\n
  5. Answer your cell phone.<\/strong>\u00a0 Ouch! Ouch!\u00a0 What were you thinking?\u00a0 How could any telephone call be more important than a real live prospect?\u00a0 Fix: <\/em>Turn it off and leave it in your briefcase.<\/li>\n
  6. Overstay your welcome. <\/strong>Your prospect has hundreds of other things that he or she could be doing, rather than spending time with you.\u00a0 Fix:<\/em> Set a time limit for the call.<\/li>\n
  7. Let the meeting meander.<\/strong>\u00a0 This isn\u2019t the time for a wandering conversation that slowly gets to the point or a long series of complicated questions.\u00a0 Fix:<\/em> Provide brief agenda of how you expect the call to proceed.<\/li>\n
  8. Argue with the customer.<\/strong>\u00a0 If the customer doesn\u2019t agree with an important point, arguing is only going to set that opinion in stone.\u00a0 Fix:<\/em> ask the customer why he holds that opinion; then listen.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I read this post on Bnet and got a chuckle out of a couple of the points and thought I would share this article by Geoffrey James with you.\u00a0 I especially laughed when I read don’t flirt with the admin…who does that?!\u00a0 Anyway, here are the 8 things not to do: Flirt with the admin.\u00a0 It may seem tempting, but unless you\u2019ve got soap-opera-quality looks, chances are you\u2019re only going to annoy (or even alarm) the admin, who will tell the boss.\u00a0 Fix: Stay polite, friendly and respectful. Talk more than you listen.\u00a0 Initial sales calls are all about relationship building and gathering information, which you can\u2019t do if your… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10,9],"tags":[1755,1050,1085,446],"class_list":["post-1787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interview","category-sales-techniques","tag-interview","tag-interview-tip","tag-job-interview","tag-sales-interview"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-sP","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2230,"url":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2010\/01\/interview-myths\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787,"position":0},"title":"Interview Myths","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"January 11, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This article from Yahoo\u2019s Hot Jobs contains 5 hiring myths designed to help candidates perform better in an interview.\u00a0 Myth #1 is excellent for the hiring manager: Myth #1: Be prepared with a list of questions to ask at the close of the interview. There is some truth in this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hiring"","block_context":{"text":"Hiring","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24909,"url":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2019\/02\/the-stressful-interview-real-world-sales\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787,"position":1},"title":"The Stressful Interview = Real World Sales","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"February 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The BBC provides a look into a \"stress interview\" which is an interview approach that places an inordinate amount of stress on the candidate.\u00a0 The goal is to learn how the candidate handles the pressure in an unexpected environment.\u00a0 This approach should sound like a sales call.\u00a0 It does to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Interview"","block_context":{"text":"Interview","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/interview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Steam-Presssure-Valve.png?fit=560%2C315&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Steam-Presssure-Valve.png?fit=560%2C315&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Steam-Presssure-Valve.png?fit=560%2C315&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1654,"url":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/07\/quality-of-questions\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787,"position":2},"title":"Quality Of Questions","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"July 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a sales candidate ask an excellent, subtle question yesterday - \"What other positions is this company currently hiring?\"\u00a0 Again, the subtlety of this question provides a view into a company's needs, growth and possible turnover.\u00a0 It is an excellent question to ask in any interview. The second part\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hiring Salespeople"","block_context":{"text":"Hiring Salespeople","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/hiring-salespeople\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2012,"url":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/05\/a-simple-interview-rule\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787,"position":3},"title":"A Simple Interview Rule","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"May 5, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"If you (hiring manager) are talking, you\u2019re not interviewing.\u00a0 I know, simple in concept, but for some it is difficult in practice.\u00a0 I sat through an interview recently that involved a sales manager who spoke for 75-85% of the time!\u00a0 The candidate was simply caught in his wake for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hiring Salespeople"","block_context":{"text":"Hiring Salespeople","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/hiring-salespeople\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1145,"url":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/08\/cultural-fit-questions\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787,"position":4},"title":"Cultural Fit Questions","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"August 21, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"We write often about the interview stage of a sales hiring process and how to use it effectively. One of the best uses of the interview is to determine the sales candidate's fit to your company culture. In that light, Selling Power offers an article with some good questions to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Interview"","block_context":{"text":"Interview","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/interview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1809,"url":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/11\/fragrance-follies\/","url_meta":{"origin":1787,"position":5},"title":"Fragrance Follies","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"November 26, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"CareerBuilder.com has a post regarding an overuse of perfume and cologne by employees.\u00a0 The author asks a good question: Apart from sharing the story, I\u2019m writing this to ask how you think managers should handle \u201cstrong fragrance\u201d issues in the workplace. It seems like a sensitive issue because people wearing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anecdotes"","block_context":{"text":"Anecdotes","link":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/anecdotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1787"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1792,"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1787\/revisions\/1792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}