Never Sit With a Sitter!

So you are probably thinking what the title is all about? Well it is a simple message, that I have used for many years. It goes to the heart of one of the fundamental challenges for any body selling anything. In fact, in life it is not a bad lesson either.

It was actually told to me by an old colleague of mine. I won’t mention his full name but Ian would always say,

“Walk with a walker, run with a runner but never sit with a sitter”

In other words, we only have so many hours in a day, so we need to make sure we qualify where we spend and with who we spend our time. If an opportunity or person is simply not moving forward then qualify the position and if needed move on - you can always revisit the situation another day.

Too many sales people hold onto day dream opportunities for too long. As result they burn valuable time, energy and resource that could be used more productively. This is easy to say but I always find honesty is the best approach for qualifying some ones position.

If done correctly, your client or prospect will appreciate your professionalism. I have had the honour of working with some truly outstanding sales professionals and the best ones have always been superb at qualifying where and with who they spend their time.

Remember, always qualify your honest position, professionally and politely and you will find your success ratio improves as a result.