When I asked Bob Jiguere why he was such a good salesman, he put a twinkle in his eye, a sly smile on his lips and asked, “The right hair tonic?”

Here’s the real reason. I don’t care. Seriously. I don’t care nearly as much as you. Take Doug for instance. (I should use Pete, but he’s busy with Art, Wine & Networking and How to Increase Sales in your Small Business. He’s to tired to fight back.)

Anyway, Doug’s a really smart, really successful guy. MIT Graduate, Entrepreneur, Former VP, Frequent Speaker, obviously an expert in his field. If you ask him what his field is, he might respond by saying something like this, which is absolutely well written, truthful, and on point. If you ask me what he does, I might say something like this, “Different things for different clients…….What do you do here? Do your salespeople sell or take orders? How educated are they? How do you keep them informed?” Lots of little questions get lots of little answers and LOTS of involvement by your prospect.

Another difference happens sometime later when I don’t assume that the issues that we’ve been talking about are important to my prospect. Somebody who knows the answers will say something like, “I’ve got a pretty clear idea of what’s going on here and what needs to be done. When do you want me to start?” and the prospect replies, “Oh, the assumptive close! Very good, but I’m not there, yet.” Whereas I might say/ask something like, “We’ve been talking for a while and you’ve been sharing some pretty interesting stuff. It sounds like you’re not happy with some of it. Why do you put up with it?” and the prospect comes back with, “I didn’t know there was anything that I could do.” RIGHT HERE IS WHERE IT HAPPENS! The average salesperson says, “Sure there is! Wonder Dog is here! and he tells the prospect everything he needs to know to say, “No!” I ask, “There isn’t?” and they’re mine.

However, the biggest difference isn’t my technique. It’s my head and that I’m gonna leave for somebody else to comment on.

One last point: I have left out the one reason that Doug will someday be able to sell his stuff better than I could sell his stuff. Product knowledge! But not the way you think. I’m still not gonna answer there questions the way you will. I’m still not gonna make a proposal unless it’s a done deal. Someday, Doug’s gonna learn how to use his product knowledge to ask questions in such a way that his prospects will ask something like, “So, do you think you can save my business?”……..and he’ll answer with the question that gets him the business.

But, (sorry Doug) probably not today. Maybe tomorrow?