Well, the definition of a "bonanza" is a mine of gold, as opposed to a "gold-mine" or if you are my age, the TV show starring Little Joe, Hoss, and the rest of the Cartwright family slugging down root-beer in the local saloon during mid-week TV.

 

Getting back on track, why would I mention "Blackberry" and "Bonanza" in the same sentence? It seems that the little black rectangle sitting on your customer's desk, or hooked onto your customer's waistband is the greatest source of irritation and interruption that most of us have to deal with regularly. Your customer sees this little device as a nugget of gold--having the ability to immediately pick up messages. WE, as salespeople with limited time, who have FINALLY secured this appointment that took 6 months to book, see it as gold being sucked out from our pockets. Hence, the dilemna.

So, what's a salesperson to do if your customer is hooked on his/her Blackberry? (With all due respect to Blackberry, the company.) Here are 7 tips on how you can get the focus back onto YOU and away from your customer's PDA. See what works for you.

 

1. Pause. When the BB goes off, your customer will probably encourage you to continue with your presentation, provided that's where you are in the sales call. Just be quiet (I know it's tough!) and wait. Resist the urge to keep talking because you certainly don't have his attention.

 

2.  Smile broadly and after he re-establishes eye contact with you, and say, "Now do I get those two minutes back?"  He will typically get the hint and turn the device to "silent".

 

3. Before you begin the meat of your call, pull your BB out and say, "You know, Jan, this meeting is so important to me that I've turned off my phone." Hint. Hint.

 

4.  See if you can get the customer out of his/her office and into a more neutral place, such as a conference room, cafe, or better yet, a sound-proof room where the signals don't get through! Seriously, if you take the customer out of his/her office space, sometimes they actually forget their BB and you are safe for awhile. Hey, it's worth a shot!

 

5. If you have been interrupted more than twice, politely ask the customer to  turn off their BB for the remainder of the call. It may sound like this, "Fred, I know you are really busy, and I value your time. So we can finish up this call on YOUR time frame, do you think we could silence our phones?"

 

6. During your sales call, have your computer demo or a visual to keep your customer(s) involved in the presentation. Resist the urge to use 1,578 PowerPoint slides, just have something going on that is interactive enough to keep the customers attention.

 

7. Never, ever, let your customer see that you are irritated by the interruptions. Stay cool and relaxed. It's our jobs to maintain professionalism and conceal our discomfort or frustration. Sometimes it's a test, and we need to pass it.

 

Also, on this topic. If your customer is internal (your boss, sales partner, a senior executive, your employees, etc.), use the same techniques. This is YOUR valuable time that is being wasted on someone else checking their mail on your Bonanza (the gold this time). And honor YOUR commitment to other's not to waste their time by checking your BB every time it goes off, as well. You  may be meeting with your employee, an engineer, or your boss, so setting a good example by waiting until the meeting is over will help set the standard for others. After all, it's only fair. Right? Now, go and enjoy your Bonanza!