The Best Salesman I Ever Knew
My 1st sales mentor, who sadly recently passed away (here’s one for you Dennis) was a salesman through and through. He didn’t need the internet or Powerpoint to make his case to a customer. He created an environment where people trusted him to have their best interests at heart. In the end he acted in such a way that all of his customers knew that he would never let them down or make them look bad for buying from his company.
He understood them first. He delivered value to them way before they ever spent a penny. He knew their company better than they did and the decision makers he knew even better. He knew his market and exactly what it was that they needed at the right time at the right price with the right specifications and presented it in the right way.
As a young sales engineer I accompanied Dennis to a Ford plant for a vendor meeting. The plant manager was a loud obnoxious and quite a profane guy that had 5,000 people working for him and 50,000 parts to put together correctly once a minute for 3 shifts, 5 days a week. I understood why he would use language and intimidation to get what he absolutely had to have out of the key vendors for his cars.
This manager would walk around the plant with about 50 people in tow and would verbally assault anyone that didn’t know their stuff and have the answers exactly when he wanted them when he wanted them. These people would wait nervously for their turn in the box while Dennis and I stood by, quietly smoking cigarettes, on the edge of the group (this was in the late 80’s so smoking was still very much ok in Detroit).
Eventually the plant manager got to us and I waited for the barrage to begin…..what we got from the plant manager was “Hey, Dennis, how you doin’?” and he walked away. Dennis gave me his great smile and I knew that he had figured out what the issues were ahead of time and made sure that the plant manager knew that the solutions were in place and that he had nothing to worry about.
Dennis knew his market, listened to them, delivered the value they wanted, how and when they wanted it, always. There are very few salespeople that can say they can do that.
I miss you Dennis my friend, I have never known a better salesman.
Todd Hockenberry
Top Line Results - Orlando,FL
todd@top-line-results.com
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