Ego and the salesman

[roblewis]

I had a unique opportunity to work with someone for a short time that had previously been a very powerful competing salesrep to me. He was a very smart guy, he was well spoken, and he was quite knowledgeable. I like to think I am unique in my sales approach and never tried to push my approaches on anyone. Like any previous manager, I think that your sales technique should be personal to you, not a boxed presentation or written speach (I hate those with a passion).

We were hired on at this company the same week and were given a chance that week to do what we called a sales blitz where we hit a bunch of offices in one specific area as a group. It was interesting to say the least.

After a few visits I started to notice a pattern. He liked to take control of the call and pretty much acted as a mail card. You know, like "Hi, I am Bob and this is our company. We offer all of this stuff. You should rent or buy from us. Thanks, Bye" It obviously was a little more involved than this, but not much. After a few more calls, I started to get a little more active, because otherwise these calls were nothing that couldn't have been done by phone or mail. I hate stepping on toes, and my VP told me to let him take the lead (he was a little over twice my age). After the first call I did this, he scolded me going on and on about his experience and how he was a manager, etc. I asked him to follow my lead on just a couple calls and if he didn't feel it was effective we would work out a better attack plan.

We went into a contractor that his previous company did substantial business with and he told me it would have to wait until our next call, so I agreed. After a horrendous five minutes of very broken small talk, I had no choice but to intervene. He was asking for this other guy who was not there and then went on to "brag" about his relationship with this company. I found my little ice breaker which was an industry association that we had shared and went in for the jugular. I asked the guy about their fleet size, how they maintain it, danced into how much they rent and how often, and then asked him "who is so-and-so's boss", the guy who Bob was trying so desperately to get a hold of. He was!! The rest of the call went fantastic with a little bit of showboating by Bob, trying to save face. We left with a good feeling, and I ended up getting a call later that week to revisit, alone.

That next week, Bob made a powerplay on our boss. He went to the VP and explained that he thought he was a better manager than our current one and that our current manager would be better off in sales. He was fired that day.

I have learned that ego has no place in a sales call. In fact, I generally play the opposite. I like to learn as much a possible, not so much that I look like an idiot, but enough that my clients or prospects know I am genuinely interested in them and their business.

Have you ever worked with a Bob? How did you handle it? Any advice for anyone else having to deal with it on a regular basis?