|
[KEY CONCEPT] - CURIOUS ENCOUNTERS
A "curious encounter" occurs when a chance meeting or
situation becomes "curious" and warrants further inquiry
or investigation. Watch how the following curious encounters unfold
into lucrative sales opportunities. While reading this section,
think about how you can increase the odds of this happening to you
by simply asking more questions during such encounters.
CURIOUS ENCOUNTER #1
After spending hours making scores of cold calls that led to countless
voicemail messages being left with few encouraging results, Susan
decided to take a break from a grueling day at the office. This
coupled with an assortment of rejections ranging from the pleasant
to the painful, caused her to realize that she just had to get out
of the office. She justified to herself that she definitely needed
a break. A change of scenery would do her good, she thought. She
removed her headset, took a deep breath, stood up and went out to
the specialty bread store around the corner.
The atmosphere was perfect for her; beautiful baskets, assorted
plants, teapots and pastries beautifully displayed. The aroma of
fresh bread filled the air. 'Ah,' she thought. 'This is the perfect
getaway. In twenty minutes I'll be completely rejuvenated and ready
for "round two" of my cold calling campaign.'
She went to the counter and ordered a hot Earl Grey tea and a slice
of zucchini bread lightly toasted with herbal butter and strawberry
jam. While she waited, she struck up a conversation with the woman
behind the counter.
She said, "Hi! My name is Susan. You must be new."
The woman responded, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. My name
is Lisa."
As they continued to talk at greater length, Susan realized that
Lisa seemed different from others who had waited on her in the past.
Susan asked, "What's your background?"
Lisa replied, "Training and development."
"You're kidding? What kind of training?"
She said "Mostly sales and customer service. I'm here because
I'm helping out a friend who owns the store while I interview for
a new position."
Susan asked, "What industry were you in?"
"Health and beauty aids," Lisa responded.
Susan has just recently been reading The Celestine Prophecy
and in the back of her mind a voice kept saying, "Pursue this
coincidence." So Susan asked, "I know it's such a big
industry but, do you happen to know Wendy Brighton?"
Lisa looked stunned and said "Of course I do. We used to work
together at XXX."
"No way. That's amazing. I used to do training for her and
when she left the company I lost track of where she went. Do you
know where she is working now?"
"Oh yes. She's the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at
XXY."
Susan couldn't believe it. All her hours of cold calling this morning,
and the path to the real business all the while, had been in this
aromatic bread store.
Susan asked Lisa, "Are you going to be here for a while?"
Lisa said, "Actually, today is my last day."
Susan asked, "Can I have your number in case you need training
where you end up?"
"Sure," she said. Susan asked to have her order wrapped
to go and hurried back to the office to follow up on this lead.
Fast forward three months later: Susan is selected by Wendy
Brighton to speak at the national sales conference at XXY's annual
meeting, after which, she was retained as a consultant for the following
year.
CURIOUS ENCOUNTER #2
Another example of a curious encounter happened when a sales professional
named Joseph Rowland went on a sales call. Joseph and his prospect
were engaged in a positive and lengthy conversation regarding how
they might do business together, when the prospect was called out
of the room to tend to an urgent matter. While Joseph was sitting
in front of the prospect's desk, he just happened to notice a name
written in large letters that looked familiar. (Have you ever allowed
your eyes to wander over the top of a prospect's desk while he/she
was out of the room?) At first, Joseph thought nothing of it, and
then he became curious. He leaned forward and recognized the name.
On a note pad in front of the phone was written the name, Peter
Carlson. It seemed peculiar to him because Peter Carlson, if indeed
it was the same Peter Carlson that he was thinking of, had been
client of Joseph's for three years before leaving his company. It
had been four years since he had spoken to Peter. Just recently,
Joseph had run into some other people from the company where Peter
used to work that happened to mention where Peter was currently
working. Joseph had every intention of giving Peter a call but he
got busy and time just slipped away. Thinking this was a curious
coincidence because he had been planning to call Peter, he made
a note to himself to contact Peter later that day. When the contact
returned, they finished up their meeting. When Joseph got to his
car, he called information for Peter's new number and gave him a
call.
Peter was answered and said, "Joseph, your timing is perfect!
We were just discussing user application for our next system. Actually,
we have three other vendors vying for the business but, come to
think of it, you might be able to provide the best solution."
Joseph set up several follow-up appointments with Peter and his
colleagues.
Fast forward after numerous detailed conversations: Joseph was
selected to be the sole vendor for this project. One week later,
Peter was downsized. Upon hearing the news of Peter's departure,
Joseph was intrigued by the critical role his timing had played
and the series of events that had led to this big sale.
Other stories:
|
