While waiting on Amazon to release my book, I thought I would share my secret. If you want to save the $10 (but miss out on some amazing stories), here is the basis of the success I had as a career sales dude.
I always told people that I never ‘sold’ anything; instead, I figured shit out. What was the best way to help a prospect discover I had the best solution to their needs? I also told anyone who would listen that the single thing that was the key to my successful career was……
I ALWAYS RETURNED EMAILS QUICKLY!!!
There wasn’t a week (sometimes several times a week) throughout my decades-long career that I wasn’t complimented and/or thanked for responding quickly to a client or prospect’s email. Really?!? Sort of thought that was my job. My work email was on my phone, so I would glance periodically at night, on weekends, driving down the interstate (yeah, that was dumb!). Heck, I replied to client emails from bed.
It seems my attitude was uncommon, but for that, I was greatly rewarded. Guess I am glad most salespeople didn’t have the same philosophy. To me, it was simply a courtesy. I remember during my divorce that the people who I was paying hundreds of dollars an hour would routinely not reply to my emails.
Recently, we had severe damage to our house, and one particular contractor didn’t share my attitude on replying to messages. He does now (at least for my messages). It’s a huge pet peeve! Right up there with the phrase, Does that make sense? Don’t get me started!!
What about people who don’t reply to your emails in a timely manner? I saw an article on email follow-up where the author said, You don’t ever have to resend a message with the note, “Bumping this up in your inbox.” I disagree. I don’t expect people to manage their email like I do.
I remember a former boss (the one who I gave props in the acknowledgments of my book) who wasn’t great at replying to emails. In his defense, I knew he was really juggling three different jobs. I’d simply hit ‘reply all’ to a previous message (no message about ‘bumping this’). He replied This is low-grade harassment. It was, but I proved the old adage that the squeaky wheel gets greased. It also gets rewarded!
Happy Selling!