Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Howdy From Denver!

Hello from the great state of Colorado. I'm in the mile-high city of Denver after making the drive up from Amarillo. They may have shot the Emperor of Colorado yesterday, but there are still plenty of crazies here.

Part of that drive is enjoyable, and part of it is the pits. From Amarillo to Pueblo is not bad. Once you get to Pueblo on I-25, the traffic starts to pick up and gets worse all the way into Denver where it becomes a parking lot. In the future I think I'll approach from the east. It usually isn't too bad.

From Clayton to Raton, New Mexico, is my favorite part of the trip. This year the grass is green and seems to stretch forever. I've always been one to count the antelope that I see across that stretch of approximately 90 miles. Today, I counted in excess of 200 of them that I could see clearly and "think" I saw another 50 or so. They have really thrived in that open stretch of country.

The trip took a bit longer than usual due to stopping to maintain a cell phone signal at various points along the way. Just because I'm traveling doesn't mean that business stops. In fact, I generally have to allow extra time in my traveling itinerary to accommodate calls. Most of the time they are routine, but today I had a great call from a potential customer. He was referred to us by an existing customer (referrals are wonderful). I spent nearly one-half hour on the cell phone while parked beside the highway educating him on what we do in our business. He had a number of misconceptions that needed clarification.

Misconceptions are something that every salesman needs to learn how to handle. The best way that I've seen to approach it is by asking lots of questions. You have to understand where the prospect is in his thinking before you can begin to fill in the gaps and clear up misunderstandings. Questions also get the prospect to loosen up because they get to talk. Everyone wants to say what they know and feel that it is important. That's why God gave us 2 ears and 1 mouth. We need to learn to listen at least twice as much as we speak. One of the primary tools the salesman needs to develop is the skill of listening.

Tomorrow is meetings. These are not the most productive kind of meetings -- they're more political. Committee meetings. I like meeting with customers -- not indecision non-makers. The call today was fortuitous (I like that word) because I was able to fill in an open time-slot tomorrow with a meeting with the prospect that I talked to today. Wish me luck.

9 comments:

WomanHonorThyself said...

good luckkkkkkkkkk! :)

Incognito said...

yeah... good luck with the meetings.

AmPowerBlog said...

Howdy back to you! Your spirits seem soaring. That's great! Good luck with the meetings. Things seem fortuitous.

Have a great trip!

Anonymous said...

Lord, how I envy you. There's no more beautiful country in the world than where you are driving now. I went to school at the University of New Mexico from 1971-75 and really loved that country.

Anonymous said...

Hi from the great state of New York, home of the New York yankees and Hillary Clinton
Oh well, we can't have it all......

That Janie Girl said...

Woohoo! Denver. I love it. I wanna go back in the summertime! The one time we went in the summer (about now!) my hubby took me fly fishing for my first time at a friends place on the North Platt river. Beautiful.

Try the Kona Grill and of course, Del Frisco's.

Gotta love it!

How did the meeting go?

Blazingcatfur said...

Sounds like a great road trip all round.

Chris McClure aka Panhandle Poet said...

Hermit: It is beautiful country -- and I haven't even gotten into the mountains.

All: Thanks for "luck!"

Janie: The meeting had to be rescheduled and will take a special trip. That's OK -- I'll get more time hopefully. Haven't made it to Del Frisco's, went to Ruth's Chris last night though. I prefer the one in Austin but it was good. Had some great relationship building time with some customers and prospects while here. It's been worth the trip.

Anonymous said...

God's country, all this part.

Listening. It is an art.

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