A couple of weeks ago, I happened to run into an old friend from over twenty years ago. I hadn’t seen her for a long time, and since I ran into her at lunchtime, we decided to have lunch and catch up. As she enthusiastically described her career to me, she exhibited an old verbal tic. Back when I knew her before, she used to say “and stuff like this” a lot. It was a way of describing a situation – for instance, she’d say, “A bunch of us went out for drinks, dinner, and stuff like this.” When she said it, I couldn’t help but laugh a bit. A 20 year old verbal tic is a stubborn one indeed!

She caught me laughing, and she laughed, too. And then she dropped some knowledge on me that I felt compelled to pass along to you. “Troy,” she said, “I know I do that. In fact, a long time ago, I actually started working to stop it. I’d spend nearly an hour a day practicing ways to NOT say it. Then, after a couple of weeks, I realized that I was spending a lot of time trying to get rid of something that was at worst a minor annoyance, and to some might even be considered cute. So I just decided to own it.” WOW. That’s some pretty heavy thinking, right there.

She went on to tell me that, over the years, she could only think of one or two instances where her tic might have caused her a problem – “And,” she said, “If those people were that bothered by it, maybe they shouldn’t be my customers, anyway.”

Well, isn’t THAT an interesting thought?

As speakers, salespeople, and professionals, we go through our lives being homogenized. Coaches remove our little habits and tics until we sound just like everyone else. My friend, I can assure you, does not sound like everyone else – and I can imagine her customers having a great time working with her. You see, sometimes when we get rid of those tics, we get rid of ourselves, too.

The front runner for the Republican nomination right now has more tics than a dog that’s been out in a summer field for a month – yet, he isn’t trying to change the way he speaks. In fact, one of his tics is saying that everything is huge – or more properly, “Yuge.” Guess what? #YUGE is now a trending hashtag, and it’s become part of his personal brand. Love him or hate him – and I have a feeling that most of us are on one of those extremes – he’s taken a tic and made it work for him.

What about the rest of us? What verbal tics do you have, and do they impede your progress, help your progress, or are they just neutral? I have a tic. I have a tendency, during a speech, to say “Now” when I begin new thoughts or new points. It’s repetitive, I know. If you’re in a one-hour program with me, where I might have three main points, you might not even notice it. If you’re in a one-day training program with me, you definitely will. Does it detract from my message? To be frank, I’m still trying to figure that out – but since I don’t know for sure, I am working on removing it from my speech pattern.

Think about your own verbal tics. If you’re fairly self-aware, you already know what they are. How do your customers react when you use it? Is it like nails on a chalkboard, and your customers cringe? Do they even notice? Or can it in some ways be a positive?

Years ago, Dennis Miller used to say between comedic bits, “Now I’m not going on a rant here.” It became repetitive enough that, instead of eliminating it, he started clearly going on rants – and even released a book and CD called, “The Rants.” It became a signature catch phrase and made him quite a bit of money.

We all have tics – the question is, what does it take to get rid of them, and is that a good use of your time and effort? Sometimes you’re better off owning the tic than dumping it.

The real purpose behind this is to remind you that we are all our own people, with our own personalities. Sometimes a verbal tic needs to be dumped – it works against us. But, sometimes, it doesn’t – and when it doesn’t, it makes you….YOU. You become more real and less homogenized. And in a day and age when people are more and more craving to be dealt with as individuals, there’s a lot to be said for being one yourself.

“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” Those words, uttered by an Air Force lieutenant, literally changed the course of history. The Lieutenant was the command officer in charge of the brand-new radar station on Oahu, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The technology of radar was new and somewhat untrusted, and the officer assumed that the large blip on the screen was an expected incoming flight of B-17 bombers, rather than what we all know now that it was.

I hear similar words uttered all the time – by salespeople, by sales managers, and even executives – who, when confronted with change, say, “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it, it’ll go away, it’s not right,” or other words that justify doing business the way they’ve always done it. Too often, like the officer on Oahu, they ignore changes that will have a great impact on their business and their lives.

“We’ve always done it this way” are words that almost always are indicators of a company, a sales force, or a salesperson who is falling behind. What I want to do with this article is to be your personal radar screen, and help provide some warning (whether it’s early or not depends on your situation) of changes that may be coming your way.

What new buying channels are available to your customers today? Yes, this is a leading question, because for nearly everyone reading this article, the internet has become not only an available buying channel, but a preferred one. For many salespeople, the “milk route” model of selling was the way to go. I did it, too, back in the mid-90s when I was selling industrial components. You’d simply visit your customers, they’d have the week’s order ready, and you’d go on to the next one. Now, many of those same salespeople are showing up and the customer has already ordered – and they don’t know what do do. If that’s you, it’s time to change your paradigm – stop being an order taker and become a relationship manager.

How do your customers access information today? Again, the obvious answer is “the Internet.” I write for a lot of trade magazines, and I find that I get as much feedback now from people who are reading the trade association’s website as are reading the paper magazine. Whatever you want to read – whatever how-to – you can access it on the Net. For instance, last week I wrote about my dad’s passing. One of the things he left to me was his old Snap-On toolbox, which is unfortunately not in great shape. However, in ten minutes on the Internet I found three websites and numerous videos on YouTube dedicated to restoring these old boxes. I didn’t even know that was a “thing,” but now it’s next on my project list.

There’s a deeper level, however, than just the Internet. Do your customers use social media? The obvious answer is “yes,” but maybe the obvious answer isn’t right. I often speak before groups of business owners large and small, and when the topic of social media comes up, I always ask, “Raise your hand if you consulted Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn before making a major purchase in the last year.” Very few hands go up.

HOWEVER – those same people, when asked, “Raise your hand if you consulted those sites to learn how to do something that was important to you,” nearly all raise their hands. The conclusion – how-to articles draw attention on social media; straight selling does not.

How do your customers’ customers learn about them? No, I didn’t stutter. Take it to the next level. You can benefit your customers immeasurably by helping them grow, and you can also learn critical information by understanding what your customers’ customers say. Are your customers in a “reviewable” industry? If you’re selling to virtually any service industry (restaurants, hotels, dry cleaners, etc.), then yes, they are. Do you know and understand how the reviews work, how your customers are searchable on the sites, and where they rank? If not, why not?

To stay relevant in today’s world, you’re going to have to find other ways of building a relationship with your customers than simply transactions of product for money. Being a partner in helping them build their business, and understanding the various ways and means that they build their business, is one great way.

Is your profession, or industry, viable? I was speaking to a friend of mine a few days ago, and she was telling me about a great vacation she took about ten years ago. She had gone through a travel agent to book it. If there’s any part of sales that’s been devastated by new technology, it’s the travel agent business. Yep, once upon a time, we’d call our travel agent, tell him or her where we wanted to go and when, and the tickets would magically appear. Now, in the time that it took me to write this paragraph, you can (and most people do) do it themselves.

Sure, there are travel agents left – but they are few and far between, and their customers use them mostly for trips that require a lot of planning (my wife and I used one a few years ago when we took a week’s vacation to Hawaii). Sometimes you need to take a step back, give your business a strong look-see, and ask yourself about its viability.

It’s easy to look at new technologies, methods, and changes in the ways of doing business with suspicion. I do it too; I’m often a skeptic. At the same time, understanding where the validity lies, and what the technology does, is essential to keeping current and staying relevant in a profession such as ours, where changes are now measured by the years.

I read a profile on the Lieutenant that gave the “don’t worry about it” command at Pearl Harbor. He lived well into his eighties, and as you can imagine, that command haunted him for the rest of his life. I’m not repeating his name here because there’s no need to add to his regret. But, trust me – if you ignore what’s happening on your own radar screen, it may haunt you.

I lost my Dad last Saturday. He wasn’t just my Dad. He was my buddy, my hero, my best friend, and my role model. I post this not to get sympathy, but to explain this column. I don’t think I’ve ever said much about him, or the rest of my family, in this space. To be honest, that’s just not me. And if I learned nothing else from Dad, it was to do it “My Way,” like the song said. And before you start thinking Sinatra, Dad was an Elvis man and it was Elvis’ version that I grew up on – and still prefer.

The truth was that Dad was ready. I knew it when I talked to him on the phone the last two days of his life. The health problems that had dogged him for the previous decade had finally made him infirm at the age of 76. From the hospital he was in, he knew the next stop was a nursing home. We’d talked to him and he’d accepted that well, but deep down I knew he’d never go there. And he didn’t. I’m convinced that when he went to sleep on Friday night, he simply decided not to wake up. That was the last of the many lessons that Dad taught me. Some of those lessons are useful, if not vital, for a sales career, and that’s why I’m sharing them with you.

Adapt and improvise when you have to, but always overcome. Dad would have made one hell of a Marine, except that he wasn’t good at being told what to do. He never served, but he faced numerous obstacles in his life and always found ways past them. In fact, there are scenarios where I might never have met him. Dad was pronounced dead twice – once after crashing a sprint car during a race at Kansas City’s Lakeside Speedway (my mother was pregnant at the time with me), and another after crashing a motorcycle before he ever met my mother. He’d been told he might never walk again – and he did. He’d been told he’d never race again, and thereafter he nearly won a national championship.

Whenever my dad confronted a problem, he always looked at it a little like one might look at a Rubik’s Cube (which he was able to solve and I never did). He knew there was a solution somewhere, and if you kept looking at the problem from different angles you’d find it. Once I remember we had a customer come into the auto repair shop that he and I owned for a time wanting to do an engine swap in his ’67 Lincoln that he’d been told was impossible by every other shop in the area. Four days later he drove away in the Lincoln. Was it easy? Nope. Did it require some rather elaborate fabrication and modification? Yep. But it’s been over 20 years and that car still runs around Topeka with that engine.

When in doubt, bet on yourself. Dad was something of a serial entrepreneur. Most of his businesses revolved around cars in some fashion or another, but he also had a boat service yard and a tree service. Dad hated to put his destiny in the hands of others, and when I went to him in 2004 to ask his advice on starting my own business, he brushed aside the problems that I saw and said, “If you commit yourself to it, you can make it. Period. Do you want to commit yourself?” I did, I do, and here I am.

I see people all the time who are hidebound, afraid to get out of their own way, and afraid to bet on themselves. They spend their lives asking others for permission to do things that are properly only permitted by themselves. That wasn’t my dad. And it’s not me, either.

Relationships matter. One of the running jokes in the Harrison family is that Dad was known by far more people than he knew. We’d be out and about and someone would come up to him and say, “Gerry, how are you doing? It’s great to see you!” And they would have a conversation – sometimes short, sometimes long. After the person left, whoever was with Dad would ask, “So who was that?” And at least half the time Dad would laugh and say, “I really don’t know.” Or sometimes he might get a little closer and say, “Can’t remember his name but he used to work at so-and-so.”

But the fact that he didn’t remember names well didn’t mean that he didn’t have relationships. Dad was one of those people who had “A guy” for everything. Need a golf cart wheel? Go see the guy with gray hair and glasses at such and such a place, and tell him Gerry Harrison sent you. Whatever you needed, Dad knew someone that could pull a string or call in a favor. Dad was a great networker before the term was known.

Quality matters. Dad could be the easiest sale in the world – if what you’re selling was a quality item, and he had an unerring eye for quality. Last Sunday I went to his place to start inventorying his tools. I plan to keep most of them. Dad’s favorite tools were made by Snap-On. Why? “Because they’re the best. Period.” That’s what he’d always tell me. Want to guess what’s in my toolbox? Mostly Snap-On. I still have my first wrenches that I bought off the Snap-On truck at age 13, and they still work perfectly. Quality lasts.

Dad always said that if you buy the good stuff once, you’ll never have to re-buy it. I was reminded of that on Sunday.   Mom had been cremated when she passed, and Dad had bought a very nice cedar wood urn for her. Then he took the urn to the Daytona International Speedway, where we had all spent many happy times as a family, and scattered her ashes. Well, when I saw the urn, I knew what to do. That same urn now holds Dad, and he’s going to get scattered at the same place.

Don’t take time to be sad. If there was anything my Dad hated, it was a funeral. He hated the sadness. And he hated the fact that, as he said, “A bunch of damn phonies will come to see a guy dead who wouldn’t walk across the street to see him alive.” He ordered me – many times – not to have a funeral for him. He promised to come back from the dead and get me if I did. He said, “Have a party, laugh, have fun, and make sure there’s plenty of beer.” Well, in a few weeks when I get my head back above water that’s exactly what I will do. “Being sad takes time out of your life that you can’t get back,” he told me once.

When it’s time to stop…..stop. Dad was never one to push a rope uphill. He had a great eye for knowing when a deal would happen – or wouldn’t. When an employee wasn’t productive anymore, they separated. And – to be blunt – when Dad was ready to leave this Earth, he left it.

I know that this column hasn’t been my normal nuts-and-bolts of selling column, and in a way I want to apologize for that. But I’m not going to. Within these words are lessons both life and professional that the greatest man I ever knew taught me, and I hope you can gain from them.

One of the oldest, and most popular, closes in selling is called the “Puppy Dog Close.” Now, you probably know that I’m not a big fan of overly complicated closes – but there’s nothing complicated about this one. It’s simple. When a pet shop has a family that’s on the edge about buying a puppy (please leave aside the pet shop vs. shelter concerns – for what it’s worth, my dogs are rescue dogs), they offer to let the family take the puppy home overnight, and if they don’t want to keep him, they can simply bring him back.

What percentage of those puppies do you suppose ever come back? My guess is less than 1%. I know the puppy dog close well because I used it to great effect in selling cars (same concept, you send the people home in the new car overnight). So, would’t you think that I’d spot it a mile away and be invulnerable to it? Yeah….I would have thought so too….but I guess not. But at least I was the victim of a perfectly executed puppy dog close, and if you want to use it, you might take some tips from what happened to me.

It’s the fault, I think, of Hot Bike Magazine. They organized an event called the Hot Bike Tour – a traveling motorcycle rally that stopped in five cities in five days (Spirit Lake, IA; Mitchell, SD; Rapid City, SD; Sheridan, WY; and Billings, MT). One of the sponsors of the tour is Victory Motorcycles. Victory’s slogan is “Ride One and You’ll Own One.” Pretty gutsy slogan, don’t you think?

A few weeks before the Tour, I received an email offering me (and any other Longrider – a rider who had signed up to ride the entire Tour) a chance to trade bikes with Victory for one segment of the Tour. The concept was simple. If I was selected, all I had to do was show up at the drop off location for the first day, give them the keys to my bike, collect the keys to a new Victory, and enjoy the ride to the next stop. The next stop would, of course, be at a Victory dealer. Long story short, I filled out two surveys and I was selected, as was my wife.

I showed up and picked up a new Victory Cross Country. My own bike is a Honda Valkyrie, which I had felt set a high standard for a long distance touring bike. And after over 200 miles on the Victory, all I can say is, “WOW! What a ride!” I felt just like a family with a cute new puppy. And it was nearly as tough to give the Victory back as it would be to give back a cute puppy. No, I didn’t buy a Victory on the tour, although I was sorely tempted. But my next bike will be a Victory, and that change might come soon.

So, what did Victory do right that you can do, if your product or service lends itself to a Puppy Dog Close?

1. They qualified me. The first survey that I completed basically assessed what I ride, how I like it, and what I knew about their motorcycles. Apparently I passed, because the second survey homed in on my impressions and experiences with their brand, as well as some qualifying questions to see if I was, realistically, a potential Victory buyer in the future. They also asked what model(s) I was interested in riding.
2. They made me feel special. The pickup of the bike was a VIP quality experience. They had a nice welcome packet for each rider (there were about 40 of us that got this opportunity), and the Victory employees took the time to go over the bike, its features, and its controls individually. I felt like I was gold plated and very important to them by the time I turned the key. What can you do to make your customers feel important and privileged by getting the chance for their own experience of your product?
3. Allow the user freedom to experience the product in their own way. The trip between Spirit Lake, IA, and Mitchell, SD, has multiple routes. Some chose back roads, some chose interstate. Personally, I mixed them because I wanted to see what the bike could do in each type of riding. But what was important was this – they simply gave me a dropoff deadline and said, “Have fun.” There were no structured rides or routes designed to highlight the positives while alleviating negatives. I could experience the bike in my own way. The more structure you have to your product experience and demonstration, the more suspicious your customers will be that you’re hiding something.
4. Create an opportunity to close the sale. It was quite convenient that pickup and dropoff was at a Victory dealer. That way, should the rider be so moved, they could walk inside, select a bike, make a trade, and finish the tour on their new Victory. Don’t think I wasn’t tempted. This one seems very obvious, but I’ve seen attempted Puppy Dog Closes that had as the ending experience some event where it wasn’t possible to complete the sale. But, there’s one more characteristic that can make all the difference in the world.
5. Your product must kick tail, and not even take time to take names. I can’t stress this enough. If you’re basing your sales on a close that allows your customers independent, unsupervised usage of your product, your product must be awesome. You must have 100% – or near 100% – confidence that, whatever your customers are using as an alternative, will shine. Remember “Ride One and You’ll Own One?” This isn’t just a slogan, it’s a nearly accepted fact in the motorcycle world. In fact, some Harley riders in South Dakota said the exact same thing to a Harley rider who hadn’t ridden a Victory. “Hey, don’t get one one of those things unless you’re open to buying one.”

Done right, the Puppy Dog Close can be a great way to finish off a deal. Done wrong, it’s just an expensive use of product. For Victory, it has worked (I saw riders buying bikes during the Tour) and will work (my next big bike will be a Victory). Perhaps you can score some sales Victories of your own.

This year, as in any other year, most salespeople are going to be ‘right on pace’ to make their annual numbers – until December. Then, they’ll sit around bemoaning customers who won’t make buying decisions, who won’t set appointments, and who won’t move a sales process forward, as if this is something new that happens every year. It’s not, and if you don’t want to be that salesperson, you need to act NOW, not then.

There are few things as sure as the “holiday objection.” That objection goes roughly like this: “Sure, Troy, that sounds interesting. Tell you what – call me back after the holidays, will you?” If you’re selling, you’ve heard that objection. There are reasons both legitimate and illegitimate for it, and best of all, there are ways around it. I can’t give you magic words that will automatically make people want to see you, but I can help you win sales in December.

Here’s the secret: You win December sales based on the work you do from January through November. You don’t win them in December. As I noted, there are reasons both legitimate and illegitimate for customers not wanting to see you during the holidays, so let’s take a look at them:

Your prospect is closing out the year. If you’re calling on top management – or worse, the financial department – you’re going to get this objection a lot. It’s real, or it can be. Upper managers are worried about closing out their books in December, and they may not want to make time to see a salesperson at that time. Unless you can demonstrate that seeing you is a higher return on investment than working on the books, you’re probably sunk with this one.

They’re out of money. This one can be figurative or literal. Figuratively, they’ve spent their budget. Literally, their own customers are stretching them out financially (trying to make their own year-end) and they’re cash-poor. If this is the real issue, you might be able to work out some creative payment or shipping terms that work with their financial issues.

Of course, there are illegitimate issues. Or at least, there are issues that salespeople like you and I perceive as illegitimate, and all those issues boil down to this one:

They just don’t feel like seeing salespeople during the holiday season. Sad but true – however, customers will take whatever excuse they can to NOT see salespeople, and since salespeople accept the “holiday objection” so readily, why not use it?

So what can we do about this objection? Sadly, there’s not much we can do right now. There are the usual combinations of sales words we can try:

“So what will change after the holidays?”

”If you’d like to do business after the holidays, why not get together and start now?”

“How about helping me make a sale, and we can both have a Merry Christmas?”

The truth is that these words will sometimes get you in the door. Sometimes. Well, actually, probably not very much unless you’ve already built a foundation. What we know is that we need to build a sales funnel, and we need to communicate value in order for prospects to want to meet with us. In December, both those skills are raised tenfold. Keep in mind that, in addition to the “holiday objection,” the normal reasons that people won’t appoint us still exist.

To win in December, you have to start in January. You start by understanding customers’ decision and buy cycles, and plan your sales efforts. Most salespeople don’t do this – if the customer in front of them won’t help them make this month’s quota or next month’s quota, they aren’t interested. By doing so, they lose sales opportunities. Don’t be that guy (or gal). When a customer or a prospect indicates a potential buy cycle, note it and use it – plan for the long term.

You can also create a reason to buy in December that doesn’t exist in other months. Most people are thinking of cutting price right now, but you don’t have to do that. What if you offered a heightened level of initial service for December purchasers that only cost your time? By doing this, you might be able to pull some sales forward from January (you’re planning your sales ahead, remember?).

Or, if none of the above options are available, you can simply get more aggressive in December. Step up your letter-mailing efforts at the end of November, and bite the bullet and make more calls, more cold calls, more networking, more whatever in December to hit your numbers. Yes, it’s possible.

See, here’s a cold fact. Whatever you’re selling (with the possible exception of beachwear in Minnesota), it’s being purchased in December. That means someone is making the sale. Shouldn’t it be you? Get cracking. If not now, then when?

When I’m driving long distances, I like to listen to audio books. You might think I’d listen to professional improvement audio – and many times I do – but I’ve really gotten into historical novels. I just finished listening to “Killing Lincoln,” by Bill O’Reilly. I have to tell you, the miles between Kansas City and the middle of Nebraska just FLEW by (and not only because I was airing out my Impala SS)!

O’Reilly, in the intro, unabashedly says that the book was written “thriller style,” and why not? First of all, dry history narratives are boring. And second, what’s more thrilling than a murder novel (even with one as tragic an ending as this one)? O’Reilly has mastered a skill that’s vital to moving your sales to the next (top) level – storytelling. Good stories can pull a customer into your sales call in the same way that “Killing Lincoln” (and “Killing Patton” on a past trip) pulled me down the road effortlessly. So, what’s the difference between storytelling and conventional selling?

Storytelling is a narrative. Narratives have a beginning and an end. A who, what, where, why, and how. And narratives draw you in and make you part of the story, enjoying it and what comes next. And narratives don’t have to be long. For instance, let’s look at what most people would consider to be a basic ‘company story.’

“This company started in 1994 when the owner decided that he wanted to sell racing parts. Over the last 20 plus years, he kept adding new product lines and decided to carve out a niche in safety products. That’s why we’re the auto racing safety experts nowadays.”

Pretty basic, sticking to the facts, right? A version of this is how most “company stories” are told. Just the facts and nothing but the facts. Now, let’s try this:

“The founder of our company was a lifelong racing enthusiast, and in order to maximize his racing dollar, set himself up as a dealer for a few parts lines. Honestly, it was just so he could buy at a discount, but he sold stuff to some of his buddies, too. It occurred to him that if he did it on a bigger scale, he could support his racing habit, so that’s what he did. Then, about fifteen years ago, a friend of his got hurt very badly because he wasn’t using the right safety equipment. That was the turning point. Our founder started researching racing safety, publishing articles on safety, and decided to specialize in safety products for the oval track racer. That’s where we are right now. When you buy from us, you buy from someone who only does safety products, knows safety, and is passionate about racing safety.”

See the difference? The story had a beginning, a middle (the turning poing – a friend got hurt), and an end (the present). It had the who, what, where (actually, I eliminated that just for the reasons of this article), the why, and the how. And – most importantly – it had the key reason for buying. ANY salesperson working for ANY company can construct a story like this – it just takes a little bit of thought. Here are some stories you should have on hand, ready to give:

Your company’s story: This one seems obvious, but it’s often not. I’m amazed at how many salespeople – and even managers and owners – can’t articulate their company’s story in a way that’s interesting and appealing. Brainstorm your company’s story, and make it exciting and interesting.

Your personal story: I’m really thinking of your professional story here. Your customers want to know you, and why you do what you do. So, tell them! Better than that, tell them in such a way that is interesting and exciting. Something you don’t know about me – I’m a classic “accidental salesperson.” I really (thought I) wanted to be a marketing executive, but before I could do that, I became a salesperson and loved it. A number of years ago, I actually found a position as a marketing VP, did it for a year, hated it because it was so far divorced from the sale, and went back to what I love (sales and sales management). What is it about your career that your customers might find surprising and interesting?

Your key products’ stories: You probably have key product or service lines. Each one of them has, or can have, a story. What is it, and how can you make it interesting?

Your success stories: What have you done to really fix problems or improve the conditions of your customers? These stories can be both interesting and exciting, particularly if your customers are about to face the same problems.

The bottom line is this – you can simply recite facts and figures, show features and benefits, or you can tell compelling stories that draw your customers in. It takes time and practice, but it’s worth it.

If you’ve been paying attention for the last few weeks, you’ve gotten a big lesson in salesmanship from the political arena. What makes the lesson so notable is that, although it’s from the political arena, it’s not from a politician. Yes, I’m talking about Donald Trump. I’ve written about Trump before, but his entry into Presidential politics is intriguing.

The commentators, talking heads, consultants, and spinmeisters from both parties are turning themselves into pretzels trying to justify Trump’s high standing in the polls (as this is written, he nearly has double the polling share of his closest rival). Let’s leave his actual policies and politics aside. As I see it, Trump’s appeal boils down to one single, concise factor:

Trump’s talking straight. His statements aren’t poll-tested, focus-group-measured, consultant-nuanced, and carefully calculated to appeal to as many people as possible without committing the candidate to any statement that could be damaging. That’s the pattern that we’re used to from politicians; however, Trump is just saying what he thinks, answering questions off the top of his head, and putting forth his positions and opinions in such a way that they don’t have to be dissected to figure out what he said. And guess what? His supporters love it.

You see, I think many Americans have gotten used to politicians who carefully measure and nuance each word in the fashion that I spoke of earlier. But “getting used to it” does not mean “liking it.”

And this leads me to a topic that I revisit every now and then, and that topic is “Sales Words.”

Sales Words are words that salespeople use to try to make the big questions, or the big statements, seem less obtrusive. They do this by attempting to disguise the real meaning of what we’re asking, or what we’re saying. For instance, one of the popular “Sales Words” is using the word “paperwork” instead of “contract” or “agreement.”

The logic is that the customer won’t react in the same way to the word “paperwork” as he will to the word “agreement.” He’ll sign a contract without really realizing that he’s signing a contract. This is one of those concepts that is built around the idea that the customer isn’t nearly as intelligent as we are.

The fact is that customers are smarter to sales tactics these days than they used to be; this is because we (salespeople) have educated them. And when you use a word or phrase that’s carefully calculated to disguise your real meaning, they can spot it a mile away – and they don’t like it. Sales words erect a barrier between you and your customers, and that barrier prevents trust. When you get right down to it, all you have is trust.

This brings me to the worst of all the Sales Words in the world. Really, it’s a combination of words that goes something like this: “Mr. Customer, if we can do what you want at this price, can we earn your business?” “Earn your business” is one of those cheesy, Sales Word-y phrases that customers easily recognize as a cheap sales tactic. Using this one is like throwing cold water on your customer at the moment when they are ready to close a deal.

Like most non-customer-friendly sales tactics, Sales Words have their root in fear. Salespeople are scared to say what they really mean because they think that if they say what they really mean, the customer will run screaming from the room. The truth is the opposite. When you refer to “paperwork” when your customer knows damn well that the piece of paper to be signed is actually an agreement, it forces the customer to reexamine everything you’ve said, looking for other false statements or understatements. While she’s doing that, she’s getting less interested in buying from you. If you think that doesn’t sound like a winning situation, you’re right.

The impact of this situation, whether in politics or sales, is simple: Your customers can simply cut you out of the process. You might think, “You can’t cut politicians out,” but I’d suggest that is exactly what Republican voters are doing at this point in time by selecting a non-politician. In fact, one other candidate polling in the top five is Dr. Ben Carson, who has never held elective office and is also a straight talker. Combining their poll numbers, that means that around 40% of the Republican likely voters are rejecting typical politicians.

Customers can cut salespeople out of the process, too, in many industries. They do this by simply moving their purchasing to the Internet and not dealing with salespeople at all.

The end result is simple: to stay in your customers’ buying process, say what you mean and mean what you say.

It’s been said that “character” is what you do when no one is looking. Personally, I’d define “Selling Character” as how you treat people who can’t buy from you. I was reminded of this just this morning, as I went to an appointment. As is my habit, I walked up to the receptionist and said, “Good morning. I’m Troy Harrison and I have a 9 A.M. appointment with XXXXX.” The receptionist looked at me, smiled, and said, “Now, that’s refreshing!”

I asked what she meant by that, and she said, “Well, you gave me all the information that I needed. I didn’t have to play twenty questions with you.” That’s interesting, isn’t it? As she dialed my contact’s office, discovered that he wasn’t in, and then began to page him over the intercom, my contact walked up. I thanked the receptionist and the sales call began. A lot happened in about 45 seconds, and it’s worth talking about.

Salespeople – and sales trainers – have talked about ways to ‘schmooze the gatekeeper” for decades. Most of those methods make for good water-cooler stories, or they market the sales trainer well….but few of them work better than what I did. Why?

Because I treated her like a person. That’s it. And in doing so, I became memorable (because few people do it) and she was willing to go the extra mile to find my contact (which she was doing when he walked up). And it wasn’t that difficult. All I did was this:

“Good morning.” A common greeting.

“I’m Troy Harrison,” so she knew who I was, and she could tell my contact who was there to see him.

“I have a 9 A.M. appointment with XXXXX.” I let her know who my contact was, that he was expecting me (and it wasn’t a walk in cold call), and that my appointment was at 9 A.M. (since I got there at 8:50, she knew that there was a bit of a time cushion).

Notice what I didn’t do? I didn’t bring donuts, or flowers, or cookies, or other treats. Those are core to the old ‘schmoozing the gatekeeper’ approach – and many receptionists and secretaries find them demeaning and insincere. How do I know? Because they’ve told me. “Don’t get me wrong, I eat the cookies and I like them,” one told me, “but I’m insulted by the unspoken quid pro quo. It’s like a sleazy guy on a date.”

The truth is that making a positive impression on the so-called “Gatekeepers” isn’t difficult. Respect, consideration, and treating them like people go a long way.

What about on the phone? When it comes to phone calls, I find that there are two types of receptionists – the quick-moving receptionist (dish the call off to the appropriate extension as quickly as possible) and those who do “keep the gate,” and try to be guardians of the manager’s time.

It’s pretty easy to find out which. Making a prospecting call using my Data Driven Prospecting model, you simply call and ask for the appropriate contact – “May I speak with Bob Smith, please?” If the receptionist is the quick-moving type, the next ring will be Bob’s extension.

On the other hand, the receptionist might be a “gatekeeping” type. Here’s the rule for dealing with this type of receptionist: Do not make her pull teeth to get the information she wants! If she asks, “Can I tell him who you’re with,” or “What this is regarding,” or whatever she asks – give her a complete answer.

“Well, I’m Troy Harrison. I’m a sales development expert, and I’m calling because I’ve been doing some research on the company, and I think I can help Bob make a lot of money for the company.” Or, if Bob is someone I met at a speaking engagment, I might say, “I met Bob at the recent XXX conference in Las Vegas, where he attended one of my programs. I’m following up because I might be able to help Bob grow the company.” For the “gatekeeper,” context is important.

It’s tempting to act like you’re on a witness stand, and only answer what’s asked. “And who are you with?” “What is this regarding?” Etc. If you do this, you’ll seem very evasive and your chances of actually talking to the person go down by the second.

Of course, in the real world, the most common gatekeeper is voice mail. We’ll talk about that in an upcoming article.

When I recruit candidates for my clients, the title of this article is one of my favorite interview questions to ask. And it amazes me how many candidates can’t answer it. It’s simple. “What’s your favorite part of selling?” You can answer it, right? So, why can’t so many salespeople?

I think it’s because, for too many salespeople, there isn’t a favorite part of selling. They simply don’t enjoy the process of selling. Or worse, they’ve never given their profession enough thought to analyze what they really enjoy about it – you’d be amazed at how many salespeople like this that there are about you. That said, after asking that question thousands (literally) of times, I’ve come up with some thoughts on what the answers are – and what they say about the person who gives them:

“Prospecting.” Yes, I’ve had this answer, but not often. The truth is that few salespeople are really in love with prospecting. Personally, I’m not either, but it has to be done. This is one of those answers that I was always suspicious of, so I made sure to drill down and ask “Why?” Sometimes the answer fell apart, but when it didn’t, I discovered this: For some salespeople, prospecting is like opening up carefully wrapped presents when you don’t know what’s inside. “The next success,” they say, “Might be on the next phone call.”

“Discovering needs.” I’ve written before about how I think that intellectual curiosity is one of the best traits – if not the best trait – that a salesperson can possess. The intellectually curious salesperson is a good discoverer of needs, because there’s no limit to their thirst for knowledge. This answer also comes from salespeople who like solving problems and improving customers’ conditions.

“Presenting.” One of my own personal coaches, Darren LaCroix, has as his mantra, “Stage time, stage time, stage time,” meaning that the more stage time you get, the better you will be. The “presenting” answer typically comes from those who like stage time. Not a bad trait for a salesperson. This can also come from a desire to use one’s expertise to solve problems, but either way, the “Presenting” salesperson is one who has no problem being the focus of the process from time to time.

“Negotiation.” Here’s another one of those answers that demands drilling down. Few people truly enjoy negotiation, and there are a lot more who say they do than really do. For those who do, this can be a part of the ‘problem solving’ trait, or it can speak to competitiveness.

“Closing.” This is one of the most common answers, and it can be positive or negative. I love closing the sale, too. We all do – there’s nothing like that rush you get when you get a deal locked and loaded. For some salespeople, however, the feeling is more of relief than joy – relief that they made another sale, that they live another day. Don’t get me wrong, I love the result of selling – but what about the enjoyment of the journey? The salesperson who is driven more by relief of making another sale than the enjoyment is typically a mid-career burnout candidate.

What about my favorite part of selling, you ask? Well, nowadays it’s teaching selling and sales management. That’s why I’m putting on my selling and sales management boot camps in Las Vegas in September! But, going back to my selling career, I’ll pull back the curtain. My absolute favorite part of selling is the discovery process – and drilling even deeper, the plant tour. When I was selling industrial supplies, I used to love getting plant tours. Manufacturing, warehousing, cleaning, it didn’t make a difference to me what the plant did. It was an absolute blast for me to see how things were being made and how the company did what it did. Plus, on a plant tour, I could always spot a few needs that the customer didn’t give me through questioning – and it was very rare that I took a tour and didn’t get a sale.

The point is this: While there are seldom wrong answers to that question – the only ones that I counted as wrong were the ones where I felt the candidate was being untruthful – it’s important to me that salespeople know why they do, and enjoy the journey. So what’s your favorite thing about selling? Feel free to email me and tell me. I might use it in a future Navigator.