Anatomy 101

Anybody read that article in Marketing (November 28) – "Anatomy of the sales call"? It was written by Karl Moore, Ph.D. in the Faculty of Management, McGill University. And apparently Marketing will give anybody with a post-graduate degree a platform from which to preach to the ignorant. Mr. Ph.D. should get out of his ivory tower and spend a few days with me. The only thing he got right is that the vast majority of students have a negative view of sales-people. In fact they have lots of company. Starting with media buyers.

In case you missed it, Mr. Ph.D. presents "the essential steps of a typical professional sales call." In a nutshell he suggests:

1. Build rapport for several minutes, first by asking for a coffee or water in order to make room for chit-chat as a way to build the start of the relationship of trust and liking. When the customer has had enough of this and signals by clearing his throat or shuffling papers go to step 2.


2. Tell them why you are there and ask if that is of interest. If it isn't, find out why. Maybe it's a misunderstanding. But if it is because they are the wrong person, thank them for their time (and presumably the coffee) and head off to find the right person.

We'll have to wait another week to find out the thrilling conclusion.

Good grief man. You make it sound like we can just wander in to an office and ask for coffee and then bounce around until we make a sale. I certainly find it hard enough just getting the face time. When I do have a meeting, I damn well know that I'm seeing the right person before I get there. And while chit chat is always nice, I'd rather respect the promised 20 minutes for a meeting than have the prospect fetch me coffee and talk about "hockey or what have you" as you suggest. Face time is extremely valuable – I have sold few very ads to people that I never met. My goal is to get it and use it wisely. Good sales people are also in the education business and we want our students to be left with a memorable impression of our product and of us.

For a good laugh read Mr. Ph.D.'s full article by clicking here.

P.S. Most of his students seem to like him although he is seen as a scatter-brain. Here is a juicy sample:

"Mile wide, inch deep". I've never encountered someone who was as full of himself whilst at the same time as third rate as a professor at this school gets. He's a used-car salesman in disguise, folks.

To see what more of his students think of him click here.