The following is a pieced together DM (direct message) conversation I had with a friend of mine on Twitter we’ll call “Nancy” but that is not his/her name. Because of the 140-character limitation some sentences took place over several tweets. Also, I’ve elongated many  “twitter-speak” abbreviations.

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Nancy: I worked really hard to give a customer a good price / value / etc. Now he has asked for all specs/$ breakdowns so he can shop other stores.

Me: I’m sorry to hear that.

Nancy: I guess this is the flip side of your AT&T disclosure post. “Can you give toooo much information?”

Me: Yes.* And while your intent is totally different from the other example, absolutely you can give too much information… Especially without first qualifying them and their commitment. I would also ask, did you establish the proper rapport, eliciting their liking and trusting you? And, did you build the “VALUE” of your offer to the point that there would be no question in their mind that the value outweighed the price?

Nancy:  I must not have.

Me: Not necessarily. Remember, even if you did it perfectly, not every presentation is going to result in a sale.  And, some people are simply shoppers who will try and extract as much information from you as they can, leading you on (either intentionally or unintentionally) in the process. Again, nothing necessarily of an evil intent; it’s just what they do.

Nancy: I agree. Not everyone is going to buy and you can only invest so much energy and then move on.

Me: If you often do what you did with this prospect, and with great results, keep it up. If it usually comes back to bite you in the tookis (Yiddish for rear end) like with this person, change gears.

Nancy: I will call him and review with him. All is not lost. My last conversation with him he was coming in with deposit. Between then and now a question arose or another “factor” intervened. I’ll find out when I speak with him on Monday.

Me: Great. Please let me know what happens. Make sure and send a handwritten thank you note today so he knows that you are the one who will take your time to add the thoughtful, professional touch and provide great value throughout the transaction.

Nancy: Great advice. Note card sent!

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*Please note that different sales situations call for different procedures. Depending upon what you sell, and the type of buyer they are, sometimes the more complete and detailed information you give is better. Other times, too much information can result in overload and the second appointment will simply never happen because of this. In other words, they are so overwhelmed they become intimidated and will talk themselves out of continuing the process.

Wisdom is knowing the difference with the various factors and working within that particular context.

The big question should always be, “What will best serve the prospect?” Please judge the above situation and my responses in its obvious context understanding that I know the type of business she is in. And, her situation  might be different from your unique selling situation.

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During the recently held Extreme Business Makeovers event, I had the honor of being onstage with the great, Zig Ziglar himself, along with Mrs. Jean “The Redhead” Ziglar, proud son, Tom Ziglar, mega-successful entrepreneur, Howard Partridge, and my great friend, XBM Creator, Thom Scott as Zig delighted the crowd with his wisdom.

At one point, Howard Partridge asked me to recount the time more than 25 years ago when, as a struggling beginning salesperson I invested in a set of Zig’s tapes (yes, children, back then audio programs actually came on cassette tapes) that I could not afford, and which totally turned around my sales career.

A touch of laryngitis aside, I was honored to repeat a small part of this great man’s teachings right in front of the man himself.  I hope you enjoy it.

And, remember, Zig will see you; and yes…he does mean you!…At The Top!

First, please understand this is not a rant. Not that I don’t like to read a rant every so often. My friends, Rebel Brown and Randy Gage occasionally write rants and I always learn something from them. But, that’s not what this is.

This is simply one of those things that – while it happened with a major company — contains a basic lesson that medium and small-sized businesses alike are also wise to heed.

Learning that the daughter of a family friend is graduating high school I asked my Mom (hi Mommy!) to suggest a place that a young woman would probably like to receive a gift certificate to. Being the quasi lazy soul I am, I figured a $100 gift certificate would make up for the total lack of imagination I have in this regard, not to mention the astounding lack of  interest I have in personally shopping for a gift. Mom suggested a nationally-known, major store; one that would probably be easy for me to locate.

I searched the Internet and found one near her. Then, the call was placed. It would be quick and — even better — done…not!

Yes, the auto-whateverit’scalled; that thing that provides you with a bunch of departments from which to choose; none of them being the “human department” with real, live person, was activated. After three tries, I finally pushed “0″ (duh!) but, instead of being delivered into the safe and caring hands of the operator who would then send me to the order department…I was informed that — apparently for the privilege of speaking with a real person — I must first enter my customer number.

Huh? Bud (Bud being the, err, autowhatever), I shop…hmm, when was the last time?…Oh, that’s right, NEVER! Okay, actually, occasionally I do have to buy a new suit or something that necessitates me stepping into a store. But I don’t do it often. And I definitely don’t have a customer number to any retail establishment! So, having no way to get to a live person, I hung up.

Now, don’t get me wrong; I’m not mad. I’m not even frustrated. I’m more bewildered than anything else. I’m confused that, in an economy where people (including heads of major companies) are complaining about a lack of business, nobody wanted to take my order. Sure, it’s just $100 but I can’t imagine I’m the only one who has had this type of experience.

Make it easy for your customer to buy. Is it really that hard?

Now, I might receive some suggestions from people telling me I could have ordered via the store’s Internet system, or had I punched this number it would have taken me here or I punched a wrong digit somewhere (this last one entirely possible, by the way) or the next time just to…whatever. And, while I appreciate the thought, I would need to respectfully suggest that isn’t the point.

The point is that they had an easy $100 sale from someone who wanted to buy and had his credit card out and waiting (this is called a “lay-down”), but who found the process more difficult and time-consuming than he was willing to put up with. Thus he got “back up.” So, while that store lost an easy sale, our young graduate will receive a check directly from “Uncle Bob” instead.

Make it easy for your customer to buy. Sometimes it really is that simple.

Note the title? How often do we say that to another or, if not say it, how often do we think it?

If I were to be honest with myself, however, I’d have to admit, “No I don’t know what you’re thinking.  I only know what I’m thinking.”

Let’s take it a step further: I only know what I think you must be thinking based upon my unique experiences and circumstances from the moment of my birth up until this point in my life.

And, all of those experiences and circumstances are based on a belief system formed by a combination of my upbringing, environment, schooling, media, etc. And, all of those are affected by everything else, causing an absolutely unique set of beliefs. And, the same can be said of you!

Which means that – no matter how good a “guesser” or logical thinker I am – I cannot possibly know exactly what you are thinking.

And you cannot possibly know exactly what I’m thinking.

Which means, we all need to be careful about what we assume, how we judge, false conclusions, false premises, misunderstandings, non-understandings, communication gaps, mis-communication and all those things that stand in the way of simpatico between peeps.

Solution? One is to ask, clarify, ask some more, continue to clarify. And, of course, continue the process until, while we may not know…we can get pretty darn close.

Is that what you were thinking?

Last week’s “Endless Referrals Video Brief” took us to the point where Referrals are now coming your way with your current referral source. In this week’s video, we’ll look at one more key tip. This will allow the process; the flow to continue uninterrupted until you have as many referrals as you can handle.

Now, put it all into practice. You ARE a referral-generating machine!