I always hated it when my extraverted sales managers told me, “Don’t ever pre-judge anyone.” No, I’m not prejudiced against anyone, but I knew what was always coming next. “Just pick up the phone and call them!” Or, “You never know until you ask!” Something along those lines. Now, looking back on the last couple of months, I agree with the problem, but certainly not the solution.

I agree that pre-judging doesn’t make sense. One thing that I’ve learned in my life is that there’s no accounting for what’s going on in someone else’s head. Hell, sometimes I can’t make any sense of what’s going on in MY head. But that doesn’t mean you have to be obtuse and ignore the obvious. While it’s certainly true that some of the most unlikely prospects could one day become your best customers, certainly there are less painful ways of finding out than what traditional sales organizations will recommend to you.

Pre-judging is emotional, and it’s based on assumptions. Pre-judging screens out the wrong people. Pre-qualifying, on the other hand, is factual, and is based on direct measurable observations. When you qualify or disqualify a prospect, you can walk away feeling good about what you found either way.

Instead of trying to sell everyone, instead of throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping for some of it to stick, and instead of calling all of your friends and relatives, hoping for their answering machines to pick up, reciting some God-awful sales script, and holding your breath, why not put some effort into coming up with a tactful question to ask? Better yet, how about a fun question to ask? How about coming up with a question that will pique the interest of a good prospect, and get a “sounds great; good luck with that” out of a bad one?

Here’s a little tip. Try going to a leads group to try out your qualifying question. Those places are full of people who don’t mind being sold to, and who probably won’t remember you if they see you again. A great place to try out the effectiveness of a sales question. More on this in later weeks.

One of the things I’m realizing, especially looking back on this week’s events, is that authenticity is a key trait of all successful businesspeople. While this applies equally to everyone, I think it is more apparent in the case of an introverted entrepreneur (my example will show why).

I got a phone call from a classic annoying salesman earlier this week. He was selling something called the Jaguar Marketing system, and from looking at their web site, it looks like a great place to throw away $4000 and get absolutely nothing in return. If you have time to kill, take a look at www.superbsystem.com, but don’t expect anything good. (See my earlier blog post about systems; this sort of thing is exactly what I was warning you about.) Now I’m convinced that their “turn-key marketing system” is utterly worthless, but that’s not what this is about.

The guy who tried to sell me this system was a classical introvert, which you could tell by hearing his voice. He repeatedly got nervous on the phone, stuttering over and over while he was talking. I could also tell that he was reading from a script, just like his bosses trained him to. He then asked me to “hold on one second” while he then connected his boss on a 3-way call, which I’m sure he was also trained to do. He talked over me, didn’t ask any questions about what my needs were (except that he came right out and asked how much money I was currently making per month). Suffice to say, it didn’t work.

What’s my point? My point is that this still happens all the time. Extravert managers teach the cookie-cutter approach, and for an introvert, it simply isn’t authentic. Granted, this guy was particularly obnoxious, but you have to understand how sales training looks for the newbie introvert. You’re told that “this is what works” and that you have to just “get over it” whenever you have apprehensions about offending someone. See, the hard part for me to accept is that earlier on in my career, when I made those first few sales calls, I must have sounded just like this guy. It sure would explain some of the hostile looks and unreturned phone calls.

So, if you’re willing to be yourself, you at least have a chance at getting your foot in the door. If you pretend to be someone else, you’re not going to fool anyone. Chew on that awhile.

As we head into 2008, I’ve been reflecting on some of the mistakes I made in 2007. One word of caution that I’m putting out to all introverted entrepreneurs is this: be highly skeptical of any “system” for selling (on or off the internet).

I’m not just talking about scams and obvious BS. I’m not just talking about web sites that make ludicrous claims that are too good to be true. We all know about those. I’m also talking about systems that sound realistic and really strike a chord with you as something that could actually work. I’ve found how easily I tend to get excited when I read an article by someone I can relate to. Someone went through the same struggle that I did, and it inspired them to create a revolutionary new system.

Make no mistake; there are systems out there that do actually work, and very well. But here’s the thing you have to understand. Any system, no matter how good it is, will take time and money to implement. They all require persistent effort over an extended period of time. They also require having a clear idea of what direction you want to go in with your business. In other words, if you’re not clear on who you are , what you do, and whom you can best serve, no system can answer those questions for you.

One other note: I’ve found that almost every system out there takes a minimum of 90 days to deliver any kind of tangible results. Keep that in mind.

So, if you’re considering investing in a selling system, here are some questions that you might want to ask yourself first.
1. Who has implemented this system successfully, and how did they do it?
2. What do you need to accomplish in the next 90 days, and how will this system help you do it?
3. How many hours a week are you willing to dedicate to this system? Will it be enough?
4. If this system didn’t exist, what would you do?

The bottom line is this. Before you invest in a system, be crystal clear on what you want to use it for, and what results you hope to get from it. If you buy a system hoping for it to magically resolve all your problems for you, you’ll be disappointed.