Bob!

Recently, I was standing in line to pick up some SST^® materials I had printed at the State College Kinko's. The place was jammed. Cars were in a holding pattern to get a space in the parking lot. It was reminiscent of the hustle and bustle I experienced growing up on Long Island.

A frenzied Kinko's worker approached me thrusting a completed print job in my direction and said, "Bob."

It was more of an assertion than a question. Impatient with my slow response, she turned up the volume the second time, "Bob!"

Finally, I responded by indicating that, no matter how many times she called me "Bob", or how loud she said it, I wasn't going to become a "Bob'.

This brief encounter captures how many of us behave when we become harried during a sales call:

• We don't ask questions
• We don't listen
• We push our agenda
• We repeat the same message, a little louder each time

If you practice SST^®, you will do the opposite.