In David Mattson’s book The Sandler Rules: 49 Timeless Selling Principles and How to Apply Them, he discusses some core sales concepts. We will be discussing core concept #2: Don’t Spill your Candy in the Lobby. Mattson is discussing an analogy connecting sales and a box of candy, and in this case your box of candy is your knowledge and expertise. You don’t want to give away too much information, too early. This is similar to dating, in the sense that the most exciting relationships have a little bit of mystery in them. Once you know everything about each other, you lose the excitement of surprises. Which leads to the conclusion, that sales is very similar to the “talking” stage before you start a relationship with someone.
Mattson says in his book that too many sales people are too eager to tell all they know and show all they can do prematurely. Of course, the salesperson likely doesn’t realize that it is premature. Instead of babbling on about yourself and all your own expertise, you should instead drive the conversation back to “fact-finding” such as asking things like, “mind if I ask you a few questions, first?” The goal is to know more about your client so that you can use your knowledge and expertise to provide them with the best solution for their needs. Not to show off or push your own product for the sake of economic gain.
Similar to a first date, the more you learn about the other person by intentional questions and conversation, the more successful the date. No girl (or guy) is impressed by someone who only wants to talk about themselves. And you don’t want to leave the date knowing everything there is to know about the other person, because that is what makes the second date worth having. If you’re doing your role correctly, the other person will want to know more about you too, which leads you to the appropriate time to “spill your candy” but not all at once.
As you can see, though there are some obvious differences, dating and sales both rely on not spilling your candy in the lobby.
BoweryJE22
Libby,
This topic was one of my favorites that we talked about in class. Not only does it address issues that I struggle with everyday, it allows me an opportunity to better myself and my business skills. I often trip and fall when carrying jars of candy to my hotel room. It is truly a troubleling habbit of mine. I feel as though I need to work on not talking as muich as I do when I am carrying such precious cargo to my room. Thank you for your thoughts and consideration on this topic.
Such an interesting topic when put in terms of how you naturally use good sales tactics in your everyday life, like with dating. When you go on a first date, if you only talk about yourself, you probably wont end up with a “conversion”.