One
day, at a bus stop there was a young woman who was wearing a skin-tight
miniskirt. When the bus arrived and it was her turn to get on, she
realized that her skirt was so tight that she couldn't get her foot high
enough to reach the step. Thinking it would give her enough slack to
raise her leg, she reaches back and unzips her skirt a little. She
still could not reach the step.
Embarrassed, she reaches back once again to unzip it a little more. Still she couldn't reach the step. So, with her skirt zipper half way down, she reaches back and unzips her skirt all the way. Thinking that she could get on the step now, she lifts her leg only to realize that she still couldn't reach the step.
Seeing how embarrassed the young woman was, the salesman standing behind her, put his hands around her waist and lifted her up on the first step of the bus. The young woman turns around furiously and says, "How dare you touch my body that way? I don't even know you!"
Shocked the salesman replies, "Well Miss, after you reached around and unzipped my fly three times I had just assumed we were friends.
Moral of the story. True sales professionals never assume that they have any sort of person relationship with their prospects. Assuming that your personal relationship will automatically get you to the next "step" in your sales cycle is faulty thinking and can cause your opportunity or opportunities based on such misguided beliefs to just disappear into thin air. Thinking for a moment, that some fantasy friendship-based ride will come along and just take you to the promised land of sales success, will just leave you doing nothing but waiting at the bus stop for a route that does not exist.
Embarrassed, she reaches back once again to unzip it a little more. Still she couldn't reach the step. So, with her skirt zipper half way down, she reaches back and unzips her skirt all the way. Thinking that she could get on the step now, she lifts her leg only to realize that she still couldn't reach the step.
Seeing how embarrassed the young woman was, the salesman standing behind her, put his hands around her waist and lifted her up on the first step of the bus. The young woman turns around furiously and says, "How dare you touch my body that way? I don't even know you!"
Shocked the salesman replies, "Well Miss, after you reached around and unzipped my fly three times I had just assumed we were friends.
Moral of the story. True sales professionals never assume that they have any sort of person relationship with their prospects. Assuming that your personal relationship will automatically get you to the next "step" in your sales cycle is faulty thinking and can cause your opportunity or opportunities based on such misguided beliefs to just disappear into thin air. Thinking for a moment, that some fantasy friendship-based ride will come along and just take you to the promised land of sales success, will just leave you doing nothing but waiting at the bus stop for a route that does not exist.
"I think that more and more you're going to see people of good will on their side of the aisle say you know what, we got to get off the bus here, this is not headed in the right direction."
- David Axelrod
