thought Mark was just trying to make a sale, but Mark persisted because he
knew his motives transcended Sam’s opinion of his motives. Genuine, sincere
motives such as those possessed by Beulah and Mark fuel an inexhaustible
supply of persistence.
People will wonder why you are so persistent. Clarity will come by virtue
of the fact that you will not go away. Opportunity comes by way of impor-
tunity—persistently pursuing what you want. But that importunity must be
sincere in its desire to help the client.
One member of my seasoned sales pro roundtable offered the follow-
ing metaphor regarding the role that empathy-motivated persistence has
played in his career.
“I often think of the story I heard about teaching new tricks to
a old dog. There was this owner that put up an invisible defense
that zaps the dog in order to control the dog while he was at work.
The dog overcame the zapper defense by moving just close enough
to it to set it off, but not close enough to get the full charge. Even-
tually the dog wore down the battery and walked right out of the
yard. Many potential clients have such defenses. I wear down their
batteries by my persistence in demonstrating that I’m here for
their good.”Stephen Halperin, president of a leading, professional static-control
service, told me a great sales story that contains an instructive subplot on
identifying and empathizing with the client’s need. Stephen’s father, who
started the firm, invented a solution that, when applied to carpets, would
eliminate static electricity for one year. His father, being a natural-born
salesperson, would walk into corporate office suites on the top floor of high-
rises where, apparently, static electricity would be at its worst, and announce
to the receptionist, “I’m here about the static electricity.”
The receptionist, accustomed to seeing customers receive a shock when
touching her counter after walking across the carpet would declare, “Oh,
thank God, it’s about time!”
Mr. Halperin would then ask, “Who should I see?” and go about mak-
ing his sale.
We would all agree that this sales ploy was very clever, but we should
also pause long enough to ask whyit was so clever. The reason his approach
worked so well was that he understood their problem, empathized with
them, and had a solution in tow.
Before you open your mouth about your product or service, be sure
you know what problem you are there to solve.
198 SELLING WITH EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE