My phone rang last night. The display on the base of the phone read “Unidentified Caller.” I don’t usually answer the phone when I see this displayed … but last evening I did.
The person asked for Mike Marchev. I said, “Speaking.” She then attempted to interest me in her Energy Company or Service. Being that it was dinner time, I politely interrupted her in the middle of her script and in a calm voice informed her that, “I am not in the market for a new Energy Company and in fact, you have called before and have told you the same thing.” I then bid her a sincere good-bye and gently hung up the phone.
I soon found myself analyzing the situation. What if this woman’s company really was better? What if a new service could actually save me money while supplying a more reliable service? Why didn’t I give this salesperson the time to deliver her message? She was probably a very nice, honest, hard-working woman who had nothing but good intentions … and who wanted to earn a living so her kids could eat regularly.What was wrong with me? (Sound like anybody you know?)
The only logical answer I could come up with was that “the devil I knew was better than the devil I did not know.” I di dnot invent this phrase. It just happens to be true as rain. That and the fact that I must be a lazy slug and an uncaring husband who did not have any interest whatsoever in investigating any potential money saving, service-improving opportunities without them being my idea.
Shortly after giving this woman a second thought, I immediately erased her from my mind … until I elected to use her as an example in today’s blog post.
And so it is with you my good friends and fellow sales professionals. You are faced with the same conundrum while regularly experiencing the same outcome. Your prospects simply don’t care, or they are too lazy to think about anything that is not their idea. Change involves work. And nobody (nobody) enjoys taking on additional work until it is absolutely necessary. (This does not make them bad people.)
Chances of your force-feeding yourself and your ideas onto unsuspecting “targets” are not good. Dare I even say impossible? Why? It involves work.
The secret lies in being visible, reachable and available when your “target” wakes up with travel on their minds. (It must be their idea.) Until then, it is in your best interest to do, say, write and report non-threatening information that gets your “targets” to think about the possible missed opportunities they may be too lazy to recognize.
I understand that I have not delivered a concrete solution today to anything. I think I just needed to hear myself think. I truly hope that I am not getting ripped-off by my current power supplier. But until some phone jockey manages to capture my attention long enough to blow in my ear with a few “what-if” scenarios, or until my power suddenly fails me at an inopportune time, I will never know. I hope this woman keps on calling. One evening just after my stove stops working, I will be ready to take her call.
OPPORTUNITY: Check out my new cartoon video. www.mikemarchev.com/cruise I am going to sea in January and you are invited to go with me.