A Key Component to Winning More Sales—An Interview with Dan Waldschmidt

RainToday.com's Podcast: Marketing & Selling Professional Services

You can have all of the passion and enthusiasm in the world, but unless you really listen to your prospects and your clients, selling will be a challenge.

There are two reasons for this, says sales and business strategist Dan Waldschmidt. First, your enthusiasm causes you to pursue client relationships without fully considering whether that buyer is right for you.

"Sometimes customers that look like they have a checkbook really are a big waste of our time. And we only realize this way too late in the process," he says.

Second, when enthusiasm is running high you have a tendency to think only of your ambitions, and you run roughshod over people.

"We blame it on passion," Waldschmidt says. "'I'm just passionate,' we say. What we really are is a little bit inconsiderate. We're a little hurtful. So, what we have to do is start listening—listening to what's being said. Most of what gets said is never spoken. It's either inferred or implied. It's never actually said with our lips. It's said with body language and eye sight. You really have to listen to what the soul of the person is saying."

Listen as Waldschmidt discusses other qualities of successful salespeople and gives a preview of what he'll be covering in his Jan. 19 webinar Break the Rules: Edgy Ways to Drive Sales and Business Growth.