70 Feet down and sinking fast!... By Steve
Waterhouse
Saturday afternoon I was scuba diving off of West
Palm Beach, Florida (in front of Donald Trumps new place
with the 8,000 square foot living room). The seas were a
little rough but otherwise life on the boat “The Wetter,
The Better” was pretty good. The first dive after lunch
was supposed to be a drift dive into 70 feet of water.
That’s deeper than I had ever been before, but I had a
good team with me so I was ready. After we all entered
the water and signaled OK, we all started down.
Something went wrong.
I started down a little slower than the rest but
thought I’d quickly catch up. Wrong! The current was so
strong that we were all quickly separated and I was left
by myself. I was watching my gauges as I descended past
60 feet and still could not see the ocean floor. At 70
feet, still no floor and no team, it’s a little
disconcerting to be in a totally grey world, dropping
into the abyss and getting well beyond your comfort
zone.
This is where training counts.
With the equivalent of a 7 story building of water
above me and no idea what to do next, I was a little
concerned. That’s when my training kicked in. My
instructor had taught us how to get out of situations
like that. I had been taught how to quickly surface from
those depths without killing myself. (Done wrong, the
air in my lungs would more than triple in volume!)
It worked.
A few minutes later, I was on the surface and waiting
for the boat. No harm done and ready for the next dive.
When does your training kick in?
Any good sales person will get themselves in over
their head from time to time. You’ll be faced with a
tougher customer or a bigger opportunity than you ever
faced before. This is the time to go back to your
training.
Questions will save you.
Whenever you start to feel stressed and don’t know
what to say, start asking questions. Questions are your
emergency kit for all situations. Simply asking, “Please
tell me a little more about that?” or “What could we do
to help you?” or “What would you like us to be able to
do for you?” will often turn it all around. Once the
prospect is talking, you’ll have the opportunity to
regroup and prepare your next move.
Good training will prepare you to go where others
fear to tread. It will give you the confidence to call
on CEO’s and bigger accounts. As long as you know that
you can always handle the situation, you will have what
it takes to constantly move your career up to the next
level.
Ever been stuck and panicked on a sales call? Send me
your favorite stories and I’ll put them on my blog (and
omit your name!).
Have a great week and keep selling,
Steve Waterhouse
Steve Waterhouse is Principal and Founder of Waterhouse
Group (www.waterhousegroup.com), a sales consulting and
training company that helps companies dramatically
increase their sales. He can be reached at
1-800-57-LEARN or
info@waterhousegroup.com.
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