No Pressure Selling

April 20th, 2010

So there are only a few weeks left until the Indianapolis Mini Marathon and I have been training diligently since mid January. I have been lucky enough to have found a wonderful running buddy that has been instrumental in helping keep me on track with my runs even when they have been tough. This past weekend we decided to run in a 10 mile race to practice our pace, drink stops, etc. My dilemma was how do I run my race with no regrets yet not offend a great accountability partner if I don’t want to stay together the entire time?? My solution… a mini upfront contract.

I told her I appreciated everything we have done for each other this running season but that I wanted to go all out on this race and I completely understood if she did not want to run with me and made sure she was okay if I decided to go my separate way if necessary. She completely agreed and actually encouraged we both do what we needed to do. This simple conversation really took the pressure off and I realized how I should have done this even earlier on. It made me think of conversations that I sometimes put off in sales due to fear of what the prospect or client will think only to find out when I finally muster up enough nerve that they felt the same way or completely agreed with what I was proposing. It also made me think about how nice it was to know we were both on the same page and there was no assuming she was okay with what I wanted to do or me wondering if she was going to be upset with me if I did leave her during the race.

A simple two minute conversation relieved pressure, set the expectations of what was going to happen and made the rest of the experience that much  more enjoyable. Wouldn’t we all like to enjoy the process of making a sale a little bit more?  I know I would! I just have to remember it is the small things that can go a long way and make the process more enjoyable.

Karen Casey

Related Posts

• Shorten Your Sales Cycle
• Be true to your sales style.
• Don’t Put Your Business into the Commodity Box

“Before implementing the things I learned at Lushin I was a strong salesperson but was still stuck in the old ways of thinking that most salespeople are trapped in.”

Read the Story