The most persistent salesman I’ve met

The best salesman I’ve ever met is a Swedish bloke called Lars who sells business intelligence software. He’s a pretty normal guy. He’s not a sweet-talker and doesn’t make too many promises. But he’s unbelievably persistent, which is how he won my business.

4 years ago I was at a trade show and saw some amazing reporting software that I thought we could really benefit from. I got home and downloaded a trial version. Lars is the Aussie broker and got the lead when I signed up for the trial.

He gave me a call and explained our options. I was dismayed when he said that it’d cost about $30k – WAY out of our budget. I told him we were growing, and maybe one day we could afford it. I hung up.

Lars called me EVERY 6 WEEKS for the next 3 years. I must have told him 25 times “No, we can’t afford it”, but with each call he got me a little closer to the sale.

One by one, he broke down my objections. “I can’t take such a massive hit to our cash-flow” I’d tell him. He put me in touch with a leasing company so we could pay monthly. “But we only need four licences. The vendor minimum is eight” I’d say. “Let me see if I can get an exception for you”. He got the exception. Eventually we bought the software.

Sales is not just a game for fast talkers. The prize often goes to the persistent.