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Summary: A key ingredient to stir into all of your sales techniques is creativity; it will make you more effective and your job more interesting.

I’m going to bet that if you’ve been in sales for more than a few years you’re probably a little boring to your customers and prospects. You may also be down on your energy level. This matters because customers and prospects respond positively to energy and creativity.

I was talking recently with a very young and green salesperson that works for a Fortune 500 company in a relational sales position. His company has been trying to get an appointment with the VP of a very large prospect for years. Within six months of being assigned to this prospect he had an appointment with the targeted VP. How? The VP gave as the reason for not seeing this salesperson that half of his office was out with the flu. Two days later the salesperson delivered to the VP’s office three certificates for flu shots with a note that said, “I’m not going to let something as simple as the flu keep us from meeting.” One week later the appointment was set and the VP told him, “Every time I was told someone else was out with the flu, I thought of you.”

Was this technique a little corny and maybe even aggressive? It may have been, but the new salesperson correctly calculated that he had nothing to lose and that the traditional techniques obviously were not working. This is but one example of a million new and fresh ideas that you can use when selling. Customers and prospects know all the old and tired sales techniques; try something new! Climb out of your box. Think of your customers and prospects as sleeping beauties that you need to wake up. You don’t want a competitor to be the handsome prince that kisses them and wakes them up.

An added benefit of introducing some novel thinking into your sales techniques is that it can make your job more interesting. Do you think the salesperson had some adrenalin pumping when he delivered the flu shot certificates to the VP’s assistant? Of course he did, and that’s what can make sales exciting.

Get back in the game. Amp your energy level up and introduce some fresh and off-the-beaten-path ideas with your customers and prospects. It won’t be easy and will probably scare you a little at first, but it will increase your sales and make your job more fun.

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Tags: creativity

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