Usually, customers don’t bother to thank us for selling them something.

They believe we’ll receive our rewards in the form of commissions and bonuses and occasional pats on the back from sales managers.

More to the point, customers don’t stop to remark about how deftly we dispatched one of their objections, or how powerfully we closed them, leaving no choice but to say, “Yes!”

So, you can imagine how surprised and gratified I was after one of my consulting clients bade me farewell at the portal of her Northern California company with the words:

“Thanks for your PERSISTENCE!”

I had just finished installing a unit geared to phoning their thousands of inactive accounts, and they were striking gold. So, she was very pleased, indeed.

But being in sales herself, she appreciated the fact that I didn’t cut and run after she stalled me, ducked my calls, and put off making her ultimate buying decision. She actually admired me for my patience and hand-holding.

Which is great, because it demonstrates that persisting isn’t the annoyance or the irritation that we think it is, from either our viewpoint or that of clients. It is a necessary part of selling.

The other day I read a well intentioned article by a sales guru-wannabe who maintains that our sales should come easily. If we’re persisting with prospects, taking pains to overcome resistance, something is wrong.

We’ve selected the wrong prospects, or there is a hopeless mismatch.

I would offer to him this thought. A prospect may resist buying, but after he has done so, he could be thrilled with his purchase, and many are.

It’s our job to get them beyond their cynicism to a point where our products and services can speak for themselves.

When they perform as they should, we hear unexpected things, including compliments for our persistence.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman
www.customersatisfaction.com