I have been through this a few too many times. Thanks for sharing!

I recently had a sales pitch go very awry, which ended in the sales rep yelling at me, cursing, and hanging up on me... after I told him that the project was on hold but when the time was right I would call him back. I left it open for HIM to get my business in the future, but now that he handled the sales call in this manner, he'll NEVER get business from me!

Moral of the story (much like your tale above): if you treat me like a human, listen to me, and have a true conversation, you're more likely to make the sale, and get my long-term business.

@Jon -- thank you for taking the time to stop by and read. The story was too funny to pass up the opportunity and share ;-)

@KermitFan -- timing is everything in life. Cursing, amazing! Why not say you are disappointed for not making the sale? We're human after all. I've noticed over and over that those who stay cool and act professionally advance faster in their careers.

I find the best way to start a conversation is to ask a question pertinent to the person you want to start a conversation with. You can't determine if you can add any value to anyone if you don't know what they consider valuable.

"Then he launched into an unwanted pitch on how all *he* wanted was to have a conversation. Yet he was the only one speaking."

Awesome. You've got to love those monologues. I think the best that a sales person can do is do their homework on the company, ask questions and listen.

If someone insults me but the product really is too good to pass up, I'll call and talk to another sales person. But mostly I never want to hear from them again because if this is the pre-sale service, I shiver at the thought of the post-sale service!

@Cam -- funny, he started the conversation with a question then proceeded to answer it for me ;-)

@Bill -- I see you've redesigned the blog, very nice. If I followed the wonderful set up in your latest post I would ask for this sales call: are you pretending to ask a question and calling it a conversation?

As a british guy training B2B sales professionals it is sad to see this still happening, especially from my supposed country men!
Its funny how the pressure of sales peoples targets get to them so they believe they can generate sales with some form of 'Macho Go Get Em, Show The Customer They Don't Know What They Are Doing'. This seems to be a technique used in the 1970s by a sales people from a well known large firm, it was called 'F.U.D.' which basically meant the SalesPerson trying to instill Fear Uncertainty and Doubt in to the customer! Well I suppose these people keep me in business, still it takes a lot of compassion to accept that type of behaviour, maybe he will learn one day!

Steve:

Thank you so much for joining the conversation. I have an accent myself, Italian, and find the British accent quite charming under normal circumstances ;-)

You got it, he went through the moves instead of accepting being in the conversation with me. A large part of that would have been listening.

"A large part of that would have been listening."

Recently I was discussing needs for biz dev that I have with a prospective candidate.

I explained how I'm completely closed to the ideas of cold calls , email blasts and the like. I like to create value that then produces inbound leads (that's what marketing does, yes?).

He responded and said "I find your assumption of what a salesman does quite odd...at least a good one...sales is actually all about listening."

Music to my ears.

Ck:

What a conversation you had -- music indeed! I love to buy. What I dislike is being sold to. I suspect I'm not alone. When a sales professional is in listening mode, I am buying.

I'm having this whole discussion on hunters/farmers as my blog in terms of who owns the relationship development with customers. If anyone here would like to join that "companion" conversation to this post.

As an IT Director I often get this type of call. My absolute worst experience was a telecommunications vendor who came to our office on a cold call. He claimed he had an appointment with "the person in charge of IT, but I didn't bring my appointment book with me."

When the receptionist called to tell me he was there I asked her to send him packing. The sales rep asked the receptionist to use the restroom, which she graciously allowed. I don't know if he actually did that or not, but he did wander around the building until he found me in my office! I promptly escorted him to the door, called his corporate office, and made a note for no one in my department to ever talk to that company again.

Valeria,

I'm glad you noticed my blog. Thanks for stopping by.

@Charles - what a piece of work that sales rep must have been.

Urgh. The ones I typically get are the ones who never take no and call back for weeks pitching the same thing in the same way.

How many different ways can I explain their (insert product/service here) isn't what I'm looking for before they take me seriously?

Its often funny to me that some salesmen try to sell like the merchandise is on fire and you need to put it out.

Valeria,

It sounds like this guy was outright incompetent. Treating you that what and not respecting your time were inexcusable. He could have said, is this a good time? And agreed to send an email if not.

The thing that annoys me is the sales people who call and are cagey about the fact they are trying to sell something or won't admit that is their goal. Why not admit you are selling something? I don't get how being cagey is beneficial?

Also, the whole talking too fast without pausing to listen thing is annoying.

@Charles -- wow, it sounds like he was very determined! What would have happened if that determination had been focused on finding out how to serve you (or another prospect) better?

@Bill -- I'd call the experience Charles had misplaced energy.

@Chelle -- not taking "no" for an answer gets old quickly. I do wonder if that tactic works some of the time. Why keep employing force and (in some cases) aggressive behavior?

@Aaron -- that's a great image. He sounded like he was on fire...

@Neil -- he never did send the email he agreed to send. Later I found out this company has been pestering my colleagues for years. Apparently they think that if they talk fast enough and insist enough times they will wear you out. No me ;-)

Why is the "prissy" quality of his voice/delivery pertinent here? I'm not trying to stir things up and get into a debate over political correctness. My question is just what it is -- are you suggesting that some sales reps might be hindered by their natural way of speaking? Are people put off by foreign accents? I'm in no way ignoring or excusing the many other errors this particular rep committed in his sales pitch. Just trying to understand if he had other strikes against him before he even got obnoxious.

I'm also interested in your hunters/gatherers conversation, if you could provide the URL. Thanks!

This is pretty common. As customers call in they tell me about nightmare conversations with sales reps from other stores. I have a few vendors who act like that. i think it just comes down to people not seeing the bigger picture.

@Fermata -- that is a very legitimate question. The voice was prissy in attitude, he did not let me get a word in edgewise. In fact, I find the British accent very charming, an I do have an accent myself, Italian ;-) For the hunters/gatherers conversation you may link herehttp://tinyurl.com/22rhpx. The brilliance is not mine, it's the people in the comments.

@Tony -- it cost him nothing telling me what he was selling clearly, especially after I asked three times. He kept saying he wasn't selling, that he wanted to have a conversation -- yet kept talking over me. That part was extremely rude. My mother was in sales, I know that it takes special people to be in sales.

Femata,

I think the voice has to be taken in context. Some of the most polite people I have ever met have been British.

On the other hand, you combine the accent with what Valeria is describing and you have something quite grating.

Imagine Mr. Howell from Gilligan's Island? Okay, so not British but you combine that voice with with arrogance and not being able to get a word in edgewise and you get the picture...