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Pay Attention to Early Signals

by Tim Connor    

One of the mistakes salespeople make is that they fail to accurately observe early prospect and client signals. These signals are dead give-aways as to how these people will behave as the relationship unfolds. For example: if you have a prospect who does not return your phone calls during the selling stage, do not be surprised if he fails to return your calls after he has bought from you. If they are slow pay in the early part of the relationship, they will be slow pay as long as you let them.

Early signals can be 'early warning signs' that you may not want to do business with this customer for any number of reasons. Not all customers are created equal. Some are more responsive, nicer, easier to work with, less critical (etc., etc.) than others. If you are in a position to choose with whom you do business, and not all of us have that ability, why would you want to have an arrogant, egotistical, unpleasant and unresponsive person as a customer?

I suggest you develop a few profiles: characteristics you would like to have in the ideal customer – a list of those criteria that you are not willing to give up in a customer, a list of any criteria, any one of which is or could be a deal buster. These will help you keep focused on what you do want rather than what you don't.

Even if you decide to do business with a customer that has many of the negative traits or criteria, you will be doing it with full conscious awareness and you won't have a tendency to get broad-sided later with, "Where did this behavior come from? I never noticed it before."

People basically don't change. Yes, they can grow, learn, develop new skills and attitudes, modify some behaviors if pushed by life to do so; but the behavior you see today will generally be the behavior you will need to learn to live with as long as you are doing business with that individual or organization.

This truth applies just as much in your personal relationships as it does in your business ones. Many people in relationships who appear to have been 'broad-sided' by this new behavior were just not paying attention earlier in the relationship. Learn to pay attention to early signals in relationships. This doesn't mean the relationship is not worth pursuing, only, that if you choose to, you are doing it with your eyes wide open and your awareness keenly in focus.


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Tim Connor, CSP, is a professional speaker and expert in the fields of management, sales, team building, and customer service. He's the author of 19 books and can be reached at 704-895-1230, speaker@bellsouth.net or www.timconnor.com.