The Sales Lesson From A Real-life James Bond

When I lived in my early 20s and working on my first job after college, I met a wealthy Italian businessman, a James Bond lifestyle.

I was at the small North American sales and support office for a much larger German companies. We sold machines for the packaging industry, and was a salesman with a degree in mechanical engineering - who knew that our products technically.

We were not enough volume - so we decided to CEO of the company, the European top-seller to send (theItalian) for a year.

He was divorced in his 50's, and traveled around the world - a life of fast cars and women from many different countries. His exploits became legendary around the company.

He sold to ease our regular vendor.

I made friends with him and stated that he was not at all technical. Instead, his gift was that he could speak 6 languages fluently - to the point where he thought in them.

He gave me the following Sales Training:

1. Is sellingTheir most important task. From 9 am - 5pm (when customers were in their offices), he was always on the phone. He did his routine paperwork 9 clock or clock by 5.

2. Sell first - he developed a relationship with the prospect.

3. Sell your product, the need for seconds - he was on the customer, why a machine like the one we sold, and how to help their business.

4. Finally, if you sell your particular product - after the customer trusts him, anddecided that they should have a machine, he would try to sell them one of us.

5. Be patient - he has a very long-term perspective. Our German equipment was the best quality-wise, and would drag on for decades, but cost half in some Asian machines so far (but only lasted a few years). Many of his prospects decided to go with the cheaper machines. He told them that they took a short-term, and they would change their mind. He kept in contact with them, and sure enough, theyended with our customers.

In summary, it must be, he purchased leads, and then she changed the outlook. He was ready to build a relationship with them - even if it took years to make a sale.

PS The last time I heard from him about 5 years ago. He has remarried, bought an expensive log cabin in Wisconsin, and had them shipped and rebuilt in Andorra (a tax haven country between Spain and France).