In the summer of 1985, I was a junior sales rep for Control Data in Chicago selling computer services. I had just returned from a week-long sales training conference, full of confidence and the latest sales techniques.

In a sudden burst of motivation, I had successfully booked an appointment with the president of a bus company in Kankakee, IL. Full of pride (and myself I might add), I bragged to my boss about the call, at which time he promptly invited himself along. Little did I know that this appointment would forever teach me the importance of planning out a sales call.

After an uneventful car ride down, the two of us sat waiting for the president to greet us in the company’s reception area. Finally, the door creaked open and Clarence approached. He was a gaunt, 80 year old man dressed in plain clothes that hung off his body. I noticed that he shuffled, rather than walked, and it felt like it took hours for him to finally reach us.

But what really made an impression on me was how thick his glasses were. Each lens was at least an inch thick and resembled the bottom of a Coke bottle. I wondered to myself what, if anything, he could actually see. As I shook his hand and peered into those glasses, each of his eyes appeared huge—like a full moon rising on a summer’s night.

After we exchanged pleasantries, he ushered us into his office and I recoiled in horror at what I saw. Windowless and lit only by a flickering 40 watt bulb, his office reminded me of a dark, dank cave. A thick film of dust covered every piece of furniture in the clammy room and spider webs floated lazily in the corners of the room.

Shaking off our collective revulsion, my boss and I headed to our seats at the far end of the room. Ten minutes later, I had rebounded somewhat and felt the call was going pretty well. When all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move. Stealing a glance over my right shoulder, I caught sight of a wolf spider, as big as my fist, crouched in the corner. Seized with panic, I shot a glance over to Clarence hoping he had seen the spider too. But even as his full moons gazed back at me, I realized with shock that he couldn’t see anything further away than six inches.

Summoning up every ounce of courage, I dove back into the sales call and started to outline our company’s capabilities. When I got to the part where I explained how our company could help Clarence’s, I moved slightly forward in my seat, just as I had been trained. Right at that instant, the spider raced towards me and disappeared under my chair. My heart jumped into my throat. Where was it? Under the chair? On my leg? Climbing up the armrest?

This time, I shot a glance over at my boss, but he paid no attention. Realizing I was on my own, I continued on with the presentation, but just to be safe, stretched my legs out as far from the chair as I could.

Moments later, the spider scurried away past my outstretched feet and returned to the corner. Again, I looked directly over at my boss but this time raised my eyebrows hoping he’d get the hint something was wrong. Instead, he interpreted my expression as one of sales call helplessness and dove right in rescue me. Several minutes later, he looked back at me and raised his eyebrows as if to say “OK I saved you then, now it’s your turn.”

Luckily, before ever leaving for the appointment, I had carefully outlined the steps I wanted the sales call to take. I had planned out what I was going to say, what objections I would encounter and how I’d respond to them. Taking no chances, I had also practiced my portions of the sales call.

So even as this hairy, wolf spider lay in wait just inches from my ankles, I knew what my next steps were. In short I didn’t panic, but instead continued along with my plan. And even though the spider made another run at me during the call, I really never lost my cool.

At the end of the call, I leaped out of my chair and raced over to the door. As I asked for another appointment, Clarence was only too happy to oblige. But as we headed out the door I insisted on holding the next meeting in our offices; so we could get him (and me) away from any “distractions”.

Sales Lessons

• Always pre-plan a sales call by outlining every step you expect the call to take.
• Identify all the objections you’re likely to hear and what your responses will be to each.
• Rehearse your portions of the call. Practicing your sections out loud will help you keep your focus—in the face of any distractions.

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Author Bio

Jay Lipe, aka the “Plan Man”, is the CEO of Emerge Marketing; a firm that helps growing companies improve their marketing. He is the author of the book The Marketing Toolkit for Growing Businesses (Chammerson Press) which is available at major bookstores and online at www.amazon.com. He is also a sought after speaker and seminar leader, and can be reached at (612) 824-4833 or lipe@emergemarketing.com .