As a customer development consultant, when I’m a customer, I might be a salesperson’s worst nightmare. I have a clear idea of things great salespeople do, and many salespeople think one of those things is too obvious to be valuable.
Great salespeople write things down.
There’s a reason businesses still operate with contracts. They work. The written word offers invaluable clarity. When I’m a customer, and a salesperson doesn’t write down what I want, I have no confidence I will get it. I usually don’t. Some aspect of what I want always seems to be missing. We’ve all had the wait staff member who doesn’t write down our order. Then we get half of what we asked for. It’s can ruin an evening, and it can be a guarantee of no future business for the restaurant.
Write it down.
When customers are telling me what they want, I write it down, I type it up, I let them read it, and I get them to confirm that I have captured verbatim what they want. I’ll often hear, “My God…you’re a human audio recorder.” That’s correct. Now may I have the business? Great salespeople have a simple motto…
If it ain’t written, it ain’t strategic!
Do your salespeople write things down?
