"My baby girl had filled her diaper and was screaming hysterically, so I pulled over my SUV and changed her in the back seat. I was exhausted all the time. As a successful sales pro, I'd barely given birth to my daughter before I was back on the streets meeting clients and prospects. I'd wake up early (after waking up throughout the night), feed my precious little one, pack a diaper bag, bundle up my baby, and drop her off at a home-based day care service.
"That kid/dirty diaper/clean diaper juggling act in the car was making me late for my first appointment that day. I raced into the house of my day care provider, practically threw my daughter and her diaper bag at her, then raced back onto the street to make my meeting.
"Did I mention how tired I was? The only thing I did wrong was give my black purse to my day care provider and keep my black diaper bag. It was a simple mistake that could've happened to any fatigued, postpartum, full-time working mother.
"About 10 minutes into my first appointment, I realized what I had done wrong. "Good Lord! There was a stupendous stink coming from my bag. I'm thinking, 'What a dummy I am. And what did I feed her last night?' "It was awful. I could not get a rapport with my prospect, who must have been assaulted by the smell, as well. No sale, of course."
The Moral: This story reminded me how badly I miss changing diapers now that my kids are old enough to fall out of trees. Most of you are probably familiar with the idea of being sensitive to a prospect's senses -- visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Did you also know that two other "representational systems" include the sense of smell and taste? Donna's story should help remind you to make your sales calls as pleasant as possible. Listen for verbs that indicate whether your prospect prefers to deal with their world through eyes, ears, or mouth.
Sales from the Dark Side is compiled by speaker and trainer Dan Seidman. For more tales, visit www.salesautopsy.com.
