Sales Stories

[Crate Crazy]

Hey Guys,

One thing I've seen from other sites and forums are;
- posts about doing business cross border (our experiences)
- memorable stories from the sales side of things
- things not to say in sales calls
- etc...

Any interest in building some of these threads?! Or what information are you looking for which you cannot find or would like more details about?!

We're all here to help and learn from each other.

Thanks

[BoxAndGo]

What NOT to say!

• I was just in the area and thought I’d drop by.
• Its not my fault.
• What would I have to do to get you started today?
• We are the cheapest price in town.
• Trust Me

These send me running!!

[Crate Crazy]

Here's one about doing business cross culture (Jeff, I know you've heard this one)!

To keep it brief and painless... we were looking into acquiring a company in Italy. We were at a restaurant with their owner, managing director and lawyers. As dinner/drinks went on and conversation was flowing everything seemed to be in line. Next thing we know, the owner of the company stands up in disgust. Everyone from our company looked around shocked as to why... well long story short, when one of my colleagues was pouring the wine around the table he had tipped the wine bottle in the wrong direction.

In Italy, when pouring wine you always tilt your hand to the left (assuming the bottle is in your right hand). My colleague when going around the table starting from left to right stood up and started filling glasses. Without moving to any degree once he got to the person to the right of him, in order to pour the glass he thought it was wise to just tip the bottle to the right (makes sense knowing how your arm bends). As soon as he started pouring the glass of wine the owner stood up and started to yell (what did I do to you, etc with arms flailing in Italian fashion). Apparently many many moons ago in Italy, two priests/monks were sent to a room (or cave) to determine who would reside as the leading priest/monk in Italy. During their discussion, one of them tilted their hand to the right while dropping poison into the others drink and the priest/monk was assassinated. So long story short, when you pour wine by tilting your hand to the right in Italy it stands for wanting to seek death ... or something to the same degree... Italians, please correct my story as necessary!

[Admin]

In the theme of what not to do, I learned a lesson early in life...

When I was young and fresh in business, I was assigned to 'watch over' the account for a large and famous clothing designer. They were a well known name that was in every store and we were constantly crating display equipment for them. They were about 1/3 of our business at the time.

I was told to "tell them whatever they want to hear to make them happy". I wasn't a salesperson but since I was heavy into the Miami Vice look at the time (yes, it was a couple of years ago) I was the one to hang out with them.

Over time, telling them whatever they wanted to hear hit critical mass when I was trapped in a corner and stuck staring the customer in the face telling him that I used to ski professionally. He did and I didn't.

Fortunately, I learned early about sticking to the facts and about how to interpret the instructions passed down to me.

So I guess the moral to the story is to stick to your morals.