SALES 101

I was at a great event this past week.

The motto of this event is "Cooperation NOT Competition". What a great way to do business!

How many times do you go to a networking event and come home with a stack of cards that people basically threw at you? Recently this happened to me, I was at an event and an architect thrust her card at me and said, "Hi, I'm Beverly(not her real name) and I am a Real Estate Agent, here is my card, so if you know anyone let me know".

Wow. That was an ineffective sales pitch. Really, I just took her card and it is sitting here on my desk as I type this right now. I don't even know what to say to her to follow up and I AM AN EXPERT AT THIS. I know nothing about her and she knows nothing about me, there is no sense in that. How can we help each other grow our businesses using this model?

We can't!

I could feel her desperation, I could see her nervousness and really I could tell she didn't really know how to sell herself.

That is the problem with this model of competition, you have to sell yourself.

I believe that "Sales" is about building relationships and in order to do that you have to ask questions that lead you to the real answers. You can't solve a problem if you don't know what it is, right?

Why not give this "new model" a try at your next networking event. Walk up to someone and ask them, "Hi, My name is Carolyn (use your own name), what are you doing and how can I help you"? I bet you will get a warm response and this will be the beginning of a great relationship. This is the building block to sales!

Write to me and tell me about your responses and the quality of connections that you make. I bet they will be pretty great!

Good luck out there. Keep in touch and don't forget to visit my website to learn more about building relationships, the core of Essential Selling. www.essentialselling.com

Email me your stories and I can put them in my next newsletter! carolyn@essentialselling.com