--- title: The Most Persistent Salesman I've Met description: Sales is not just a matter of fast-talking, but of persistence and tenacity. image: https://23226544.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/23226544/Imported_Blog_Media/sale.png --- General # The most persistent salesman I’ve met Sales is not just a matter of fast-talking, but of persistence and tenacity. [ Oliver Pennington ](https://www.serviceseeking.com.au/business-success/author/oliver-pennington) May 10, 2013 [Business Articles](https://www.serviceseeking.com.au/business-success/tag/business-articles) [General](https://www.serviceseeking.com.au/business-success/tag/general) ### Share this article [mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https://www.serviceseeking.com.au/business-success/blog/the-most-persistent-salesman-ive-met&utm_medium=social&utm_source=email%20&body=Check%20out%20https://www.serviceseeking.com.au/business-success/blog/the-most-persistent-salesman-ive-met&utm_medium=social&utm_source=email](mailto:?subject=Check%20out%20https://www.serviceseeking.com.au/business-success/blog/the-most-persistent-salesman-ive-met&utm_medium=social&utm_source=email%20&body=Check%20out%20https://www.serviceseeking.com.au/business-success/blog/the-most-persistent-salesman-ive-met&utm_medium=social&utm_source=email) ### Subscribe ![](https://23226544.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/23226544/Imported_Blog_Media/sale.png) 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. ## Similar posts Building ### [Why Hiring Your Tradie Mate is a Bad Idea](https://www.serviceseeking.com.au/business-success/blog/why-hiring-your-tradie-mate-is-the-worst-idea-ever) The beer economy is alive and kicking, but is it worth swapping a beer slab for a concrete slab, when the latter could take months and months to... Staff Writer Nov 17, 2023 Featured ### [An Introduction to Social Media](https://www.serviceseeking.com.au/business-success/blog/an-introduction-to-social-media) If you still think ‘Twitter’ is a noise made by birds and that ‘Facebook’ is some kind of photo album, this beginner’s guide to social media is for... Oliver Pennington May 15, 2013 Marketing for Tradies ### [Tradie Marketing: Benefits of Industry Associations](https://www.serviceseeking.com.au/business-success/tradie-marketing-benefits-of-industry-associations) Considering marketing for tradies? Industry Associations offer credibility, training and networking to boost your business. Discover top Aussie... Mari Julian Jun 11, 2024 ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Oliver Pennington", "url" : "https://www.serviceseeking.com.au/business-success/author/oliver-pennington" }, "dateModified" : "2023-12-04T05:20:11.949Z", "datePublished" : "2013-05-10T06:42:53.000Z", "headline" : "The Most Persistent Salesman I've Met", "image" : [ "https://23226544.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/23226544/Imported_Blog_Media/sale.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.serviceseeking.com.au/business-success/blog/the-most-persistent-salesman-ive-met", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject" }, "name" : "Service Seeking Pty Ltd" } } ```