This is a Guest Post from Julian Blee, of Fat Cat Ideas.

I love the old sales joke about two salesmen taking a cigarette break outside their office. One turns to the other and says, “What a morning I have had, I must have done over 12 sales presentations, I have had loads of positive calls, people are just loving me today.” The other salesman turns to him and says, “I’ve not sold anything either”.

The above joke refers to the myth of mistaking being busy for being productive. The same goes for the compliment, “You’re a Great Sales Person.”   A lot of sales people will attribute positive connotations to certain things when in fact they are not.

I have actually heard telesales people boast that they were called a great telemarketing professionals by the prospect that they just pitched. Notice I said ‘prospect they just pitched’ and not ‘client they just closed.’  The reason that I say this is that the so called compliment, “you’re a good sales person” is usually followed by “I’ll think about it” and a lost deal. The ‘no sale’ is the natural conclusion to that type of comment.

Let me give you two hypothetical conclusions to a sale:

1. Client hangs up receiver and thinks to him/her self. ‘Wow that guy was a good sales person, he talked me into that.’
2. Client hangs up receiver and thinks to him/herself. ‘I made a good decision there.’

Which one do you think is the best thought to have running through your clients head at the end of a so called successful presentation. It is of course number 2.

Normally, by the time that this ‘compliment’ arrives the sales person has become desperate, or the deal isn’t going the way they want it to go and they start asking for the business in a pushy fashion, or become clumsy with their closing skills. The comment ‘you’re a good salesperson’ is almost paradoxical because a sales person will usually prompt the comment ‘You’re a good salesperson’ by being a bad sales person.

The prospect has to be aware that you are selling to them for them to actually come to this conclusion. I know that some of you will be saying that I am wrong and that everyone knows that they are being sold to. I cannot deny that in the inaugural moments of most presentations and pitches prospects will be wary that they could be sold to. However, I would suggest that if you are thinking this that you seriously think about a career change or at least a major change in your viewpoint. You can’t go through your career thinking you’re just a salesperson; you’re a problem solver, a consultant a provider of good.

A  good salesperson that has the consultative approach will quickly be looked upon as a problem solver, and any idea of them being a salesperson in its traditional form will dissolve in the prospects mind. These are the people that help their prospect become clients.

A good sales person will employ an eclectic range of sales skills from downward inflection and not being over friendly and sounding like a typical ‘smile while you dial’ sales person. Also, they will listen to what the client has to say, and ask layered and pertinent questions. They’ll find out what the clients pain is through consultative questioning and by talking to the prospect and not at them. By using constant feedback questions they will be able to ascertain if their presentation is going in the right direction, and by molding their product around what their prospect needs they will  find that their client says yes not because of a tricky closing line, but because it is the natural conclusion to a professional sales call.

If you are not convinced that the ‘You’re A Good Salesman’ comment is a gentle let down then I would urge you to look up the term ‘compliment sandwich’ on Google. This is a process designed to reprimand, or let someone down without hurting their feelings. (It’s also a process that’s taught in some anger management classes).

Quite simply to execute this technique you must first give a complement, then your negative point, and then you complete the sandwich with another compliment. Here’s an example:

1. You’re a great salesperson (The bread)
2. I am going to have to think about it (The Filling)
3. But I really like the way you come across, your good at your job (The Bread)

This is a simple outline of the Compliment Sandwich…  Sound familiar?

My motivation behind writing this is to point out that if a prospect tells you that you’re great at your job, and then decides they want to think about it, then this is not a time to plump up your chest feathers in pride. You’ve more than likely done something wrong.

Don’t boast, think about the sales process that you have just employed and try to see where you went wrong and how you could have made it easier for your prospect to of become a client.

Julian Blee has been in the sales business for 20 years and is currently the ‘fattest cat’ at Fat Cat Ideas, a company that offers sales orientated SME’s a range of no nonsense, jargon free, sales training, marketing and copy writing services.

Other helpful telesales tips and telemarketing tips posts for you:

Wait for it! This is What Will Happen on Our Call Next…

Fun Post – A Little Family Sales Motivation

How to Support Telesales Cold Calling with Great Follow-Up Sales Emails!

Telesales Jump-Start Tip! How to Wake Up Stalled Sales