Isn't That Obvious?

I recently attended a meeting where the individuals involved were presenting best practices.  One of these was the idea that knowing something about the client before talking to them, is very helpful in building rapport.

I about passed out.  In a sales environment isn’t that a given?  Isn’t that the foundation for ANY sales interaction?  Don’t you learn this in the very first minute of your sales training?

As I thought about this I recognized an important truth.  The world is so specialized today that we can’t think that anything is so basic it’s obvious.  Let me give you an example.

I was in Denver recently and was heading out to dinner with some of my colleagues.  I wanted to make sure I knew where the restaurant was, so I stopped by the concierge to confirm the directions.  They were busy so I asked a bellmen.  He said, “It’s on 15th street, eight blocks south of us.”  I said, “So the hotel is on 17th and I just need to go over two blocks and down eight blocks?” He gave me the “you are an idiot” look and said s l o w l y, “No, we are on 15th and you need to go 8 blocks south of the hotel.  Just to give you an idea, this hotel is a city block so you will need to walk 8 blocks south.”  The information was correct but the way it was presented left me with a very bad impression of that individual.  The directions were obvious to the bellman because he worked in that location everyday and had probably given those exact directions hundreds of times.  However, for me, it was all new.

So instead of being shocked, I paid attention to what piece of client data was selected and how it proved the best connection to the client.

Rather then judge, listen to understand.