I need more leads. Help!

I would like to answer this question by sharing a story with you.

Donald the management consultant arrived late to a public sales seminar I was conducting. The rest of the participants arrived early for their 8.45am registration and had been chatting amongst each other. He apologised for being late and then rushed in and sat down. His body language was stiff and noticeably anxious. Although now behind schedule, for Don’s benefit, I asked everyone to again quickly introduce themselves and describe what business they were in. All were happy to oblige.

A couple of minutes into the introductions I sensed Don’s energy. He seemed disengaged and uninterested in the stories the others were sharing. I continued into the morning break paying extra attention to him but not at the detriment of anyone else. As soon as the other participants left the room for the break, he approached me and explained the seminar was not what he had expected.

Don had white-grey hair and the lines on his face told me he was in the twilight of his career. He looked stressed and his desperation was obvious. He thought the content was about generating more leads. I explained this was not advertised – the session is about the ‘sales fundamentals’ – things that are easy to do but easier to forget. He responded, “No thanks, I’m really busy, I just need more leads.” His comment didn’t make sense to me, yet hearing the resolve in his voice, I explained that’s not our content for today and offered a refund. With half a foot out the door, he promptly agreed, but pretended he didn’t care about the money.

When everyone returned from the short break I explained, Don had left for his own reasons. With a collective shrug of the shoulders’ everyone quickly drew their attention to my presentation on the big screen. Unperturbed I continued with the seminar.

What Don missed in the next section would have provided many answers to his sales problems: the fundamentals that are ‘easy to do but easier to forget’: aligning values and maximising value, buying-in and being interested in others, the ABC’s of selling – ‘Always Be Contributing’, the Seven Sales Pillars – ‘Presentation, Preparation, People Skills, Passion, Persistence, Patience and Process’. We explored how to create and develop business friendships and a retro-service culture by harnessing change yet not forgetting the essentials of human interaction: courtesy, politeness, integrity, listening, trust and loyalty.

Also in attendance was a young girl, Taylor who was just starting her business journey. Don and her worlds couldn’t be further apart. She had just graduated from high school and came along with her step-father who owned a promising online start up business. In a relaxed manner she listened intently throughout the session and engaged and contributed where she could. Her receptors were wide open and she devoured the content as nourishment. Taylor wants to get into PR and marketing when she graduates from university. To her credit she is already investing in her own development. If she stays on this path her success will only be limited by her imagination.

The reality is, despite whether you understand the fundamentals or not, there is a world between knowing and demonstrating them. As for Don, he’s most likely still chasing leads, and for his sake I hope he does catch them eventually. Had he taken the opportunity to stop chasing and start contributing he would have learnt: when you get the fundamentals right the business will chase you.

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Trent Leyshan is the founder and CEO of BOOM Sales! a leading sales training and sales development specialist. He is also the creator of The NAKED Salesman, BOOMOLOGY! RetroService, and the Empathy Selling Process.