What Am I Selling?

Nothing, sort of.

But then again, there are TWO of me selling.

I’ll explain.

I had coffee this afternoon with Rick Shea of Optiv8 , always a rewarding and educational experience. I am a firm believer in the dictum “ Management Measures ”, and Rick is an expert at putting this into practice. (From which you a free to infer that I am strong on theory but weak …).

During the conversation I realized that Chris Greaves the prospector phones prospects and tries to set up a face-to-face meeting. When he succeeds, he considers that he has “made a sale”. No money is changing hands, but Chris Greaves the prospector considers his target to be setting up two meetings with new contacts every week. If he makes his quota by mid-day Tuesday he figures he can goof off for the rest of the week.

Chris Greaves the salesman, however, starts where Chris Greaves the prospector leaves off. After that first face-to-face meeting, Chris Greaves the salesman’s task is to convert a known being into a project that will bring in money. Chris Greaves the salesman considers that he has made a sale when the client acknowledges a proposal and sends a cheque (usually a 50% deposit).

Chris Greaves the prospector has a very short wave-length for sales. Make ten phone calls on Monday morning and get one of them to agree to a meeting, usually at lunch time. Ten more calls Tuesday morning can net another meeting, and the week’s quota has been reached over a span of twenty-eight hours.

Chris Greaves the salesman needs to be more patient. It can take several years for a contact to surface with a request (”Do you know how to …?”). Chris Greaves the salesman has a very long wave-length.

Both these guys needs to measure the effectiveness of their sales techniques, but Chris Greaves the prospector has by far the easier measurement, because his results are immediate, same-day results.

Talk to Me !