Walking in Their Shoes

When it comes to sales, I know what I’m doing… at least, that is what I tell myself. However, that was recently put to the test.

My primary sales professional left at the end of 2016 to do some traveling. So, I was in Las Vegas attending a conference she had attended the last two years to hunt for new business on behalf of one of our clients. The challenge? It required you to walk up to total strangers at their booths at a mammoth industrial trade show. Essentially it is cold calling – in person.

• When was the last time you did that?
• When was the last time you went door to door, or booth to booth, in search of new business?

I walked into the Las Vegas Convention Center, quite frankly, feeling intimidated. It had been several years since I had done anything like this, and I’ve grown comfortable with San Diego, my network, who I reach out to in order to create new opportunities. Sure, I had coached her on how to do it, but I now had to do it. I had to remind myself of all the cliché’s I throw out all the time:

“They are made of the same stuff you are, no reason to be intimidated.”

“Worst thing they can say is no.”

“You’re going to find out, for the most part, people are pretty nice.” etc., etc., etc.

It worked!

Once I jumped in, it was the fastest 5 hours I’ve experienced in a long time. I determined my approach, made some adjustments after the first few visits, and ended up with a lot of new friends and some seriously good leads. Then, I repeated it again on day two.

For many people, this may make your skin crawl just thinking about having to do it. However, here is what I learned (again):

They were made of the same stuff I am and there was no reason to be intimidated.

The worst thing they said to me was no.

Out of the 100 people I talked to, only 2 were jerks.

The Best News

The best news is that I walked a mile in my sales professional’s shoes and remembered what it is like and how hard it is to summon up the courage day after day after day to do their job.

As you continue your career as a sales leader or a sales professional, make sure you take the time to do the job you are overseeing. Understand it from your team’s point of view. Experience the challenges they face. It will make you a better leader and in turn, help your team be more successful.

Now, go knock on a prospect’s door and see what happens.