Stephen M. Haines - Tips for sales professionals

Facebook is so funny.  You're sitting there trying to beat level 89 of Candy Crush, and up pops this friend request - this person you haven't seen or heard from in years, you were in homeroom with him in 10th grade.  During your years, you probably exchanged... I don't know... 35 words?  Now, he is so excited to have found you. So, your finger hovers over the button on your smartphone... Do I accept?  What's his name again?  oh, yeah.. Jake.   So, you click on his profile to see what he shares with the public.  A few photos, not much.  He looks like his younger version, just heavier.   Oh, his wife looks nice.  Looks like they live in Rhode Island.  I don't know anybody else in Rhode Island. So, you accept the request.  Now, there he is.. friend number 389.  You don't really care that he found a new shawarma place for lunch today, or that his kid lost a tooth.  You don't want to be bothered with how upset he...

Time to wrap up the 4 parts on "Are YOU on Demand?" with the final challenge - how engaging are you?  Chances are, you probably consider yourself pretty engaging, which is why you are in sales, but let's take a step back and compare back to these "smart" devices again, and find out how engaging  they are. On a recent 12 hour drive to see family in Maryland, my kids thought it would be amusing to talk to Siri.  They asked it every possible question to confuse and mesmerize this 'artificial intelligence,' while I, the driver, was pretty amused at the...well...conversation. Kids: "What is the best smartphone?" Siri: "I think you've already answered that question" Kids: "what is the best smartphone?" Siri: "Seriously?" Kids: "Whatever" Siri: "Fine" Kids: "Whatever!" Siri: "Everything is definitely OK" Kids: "You are so weird" Siri: "You are certain...

It never fails - when I go to a conference and we take a break, the networking and collaboration have come to a grinding halt. As if captured by some mind ray, you see a sea of business-dressed junkies face down in their late model smart phones. It could be a business crisis, updating Facebook status (conf is lame, let's do drinks l8r), or trying to figure out what to do with 4 U's in "words with friends". Whatever it is, you'll see tons of people inches from each other NOT TALKING! Here's some advice - be prepared with some networking questions that are irresistible whenever you find yourself or someone you are trying to do business with in a smart phone coma. Here's a few to get you thinkin': At a conference/meeting: "How did you break into this industry?" "If you were in charge, what would you change?" "What is your most memorable business meeting?" When selling to a Smart phone addict: "Tell me abou...