Terrific and Terrible Salespeople

At the internship fair last November, I had two sales experiences that were polar opposites. One was fantastic and left me interested in learning more – the other, well, not so much. The first was with the Peace Corps. I was cheerfully greeted by a woman who took great pains to learn as much as she could about her prospect – me – before delving into what the Peace Corps could offer me through an internship. She was wise in her selection of questions, narrowing down my passions and skills so she could point me in the right internship direction. She didn’t answer any unasked questions, she deflected some of my questions with “well, what are you looking for out of _____?” to glean more information to work with, and she didn’t spill all of her candy in the lobby, so to speak, right off the bat. It was a pleasant experience that left me feeling like I had made a genuine connection and that I might have opportunities there that I would want to pursue.

Enter the other non-profit that shall go unnamed. I was at their booth for twenty minutes, not of my own volition – the man working the booth never. Stopped. Talking. Once. As soon as I had introduced myself, he launched straight into telling me absolutely everything about the non-profit. Everything. He spilled all the candy at the lobby, he answered every question I never asked, and told me more about the non-profit than I had ever cared to know – even details that made me unsure about whether it was the right fit for me. Instead of reassuring me with his knowledge, I was overwhelmed and confused, and more than certain that it wasn’t the right internship. I couldn’t get a word in sideways as this man made me incredibly uncomfortable with his poor selling, and I had never been so grateful to get away from a booth that day.

Selling technique matters! Just spewing facts and details that you think are nice for twenty minutes straight does not enchant your prospect – it makes them want to run away. Practice and always learn more about how to sell effectively, because it really does matter.