Mindshare Marketing

One of the most important lessons of both sales and sex: don’t kiss and tell.

You’re going to be proud of your accomplishments.  You’re going to want to brag, tell all your friends and colleagues, and shout your own praises from the mountaintops.  I can almost guarantee that, if you do, your success will stop right there.

First of all, bragging about how easily you made a sale will undoubtedly upset your customer.  Maybe not this time and maybe not next time, but eventually you’ll have a customer who will feel used after you talk about them as ‘just another conquest.’

Secondly, bragging about past sales will make it more difficult to close later sales.  In a sales meeting, no one wants to hear how much the other guy bought your widget for.  They want to know what unique discount you’re giving to them … not how much it actually costs or how much profit your boss wants you to bring in.  Your customer will always want the best deal, and being able to compare what you’re offering with what the last guy accepted will do one of two things:

1. They’ll feel pressured to accept the same deal as one of their competitors - never put a prospective buyer on the defensive like this.
2. They’ll want a discount that’s more generous than you’re willing, or able, to actually give.

In the same way bragging about sex will hurt your chances at meeting someone in a bar, bragging about sales will destroy whatever chance you have of bringing in the next customer.

Think back to your buying experiences.  What did you know about the salesman before he started his pitch?  If he was a braggart, were you more or less enticed to listen?  Were you more or less apt to actually buy?