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As most of you know, I’m attempting what on the surface seems to be impossible. Firstly, for some reason I have this deep seeded belief that I need to do everything myself. I suppose I can thank my dad for this indelible flaw. I often times hear his voice ringing in my head. “Dom, if you want something done right you’ve got to do it your God Da*#%ed self!” This direct way of expressing himself made sure the point was clear. Thanks Dad for your knowledge and personal advice.

I’ve been criticized by colleagues, friends and family ever since. “Dominic, why didn’t you just ask for help? We’d be happy to help you if you’d just asked.”

My tasks at hand are simple.

1) I’m building my own website and web presence – that makes me a web designer and IT expert.

2) I’m making, creating, editing and starring in my own Sales Success Training Videos- That makes me a videographer, writer, editor and producer all in one

3) I’m integrating a CRM system, shopping cart, social media campaign, blog etc. – This makes me cringe at the thought of countless hours learning a new system

4) I’ve finished writing my first book. that means I’m a writer.- I’ve been smart enough to hire an editor named Wendy Dewar Hughes at Summer Bay Press to make sure my thoughts come out in print the way they were intended.

So far so good, I’ve spoken to countless providers and they are ever so happy to tell me how there systems are better than the pack and I’m free to try them out for free. My question is…Why would I want to do that when I know they want to charge me $2000.00 for training and then $200 – $300 per month after that just to keep it running with my small list of subscribers? I’ve looked at Infusionsoft, 1Shopping Cart , Office Auto Pilot and countless others.

One company in particular Premium Web Cart has been extremely helpful mainly because a technician answered the phone instead of someone from sales (apparently the sales team was in a meeting and Tony was helping out by taking calls). I thought something was strange a couple of minutes into our conversation because Tony was allowing me to think and ask questions. He didn’t interrupt me and actually seemed to be listening because his answers were direct, informative and honest. He wasn’t trying to sell me his service, he was trying to serve me. Tony was honest about his company and how his software solution compares with the others. I noticed his German accent so we had the opportunity to relate in that area. My wife is German.

He even spoke highly about  Office Auto Pilot when I mentioned my struggles with their system.  He allowed me to ask countless questions and never interrupted me when I was talking. He spoke with pride about his company, the reasons they have been successful and why he is proud of their products. Mostly, he helped me to understand how his service, although it might be a bit more pricey, would  allow me to do other things like, host my videos and allow me to set up a membership area inclusive with the price. If I chose one of the competitors then I would need to pay additional companies for those additional services anyway thus adding to my overall yearly cost to run my online business.

All in all it looks like Tony (a software engineer) put his company in top ranking for my business. The lessons here are obvious don’t you think?

Be sure your sales people engage in a real conversation with potential customers and allow them to explore all options and opportunities. They should allow their potential customer’s to decide in their own time and in their own way and Don’t stress… when it’s the right time to make the final decision the buyer will act.

“When the buyer is ready the sales will be there”

How are you developing your sales people’s skill? You might want to take a page out of “Tony the technicians” playbook and chill your sales force out a bit so they can attract the right customers for you. Happy one’s that are willing to take the time to rave a bit and write a blog about your company.

Think about it!

Dominic Kotarski