A few weeks ago, we got a dog. An eight-week old spaniel, to be precise. And although I’d grown up with dogs, I’d never had my own before.
Within the first weekend of his arrival, we must’ve visited the biggest pet store we knew and bought everything available for puppies, including toys, food and house training items.
When he started chewing the furniture, we started buying more toys to distract him. And when he stopped eating his puppy food, but pining after whatever we had for dinner, we bought different varieties of dog food, all proclaiming to be the tastiest on the market.
And when he started waking up at 4am every morning, we bought inoculation shots, collars and leads to take him for walks in the evening.
Even the first real day of sunshine this year ending up with a big bill after he chased a bee round the garden, got stung on his nose, and had to go to the out-of-hours vet for antihistamine and steroids.
And, if you dear reader are a proud parent, you know that this is just the tip of the financial iceberg required to keep children happy, healthy and occupied.
But my point is this – no hard-sell salesman was necessary to help me part with this huge amount of money. Well, none other than the dog himself, and I’m not sure his grasp of all things fiscal is up to much.
I wanted to spend for all my own reasons, and the salespeople I encountered en route simply helped direct me to the inevitable outlay.
You can be pretty sure that your prospects have been through a similar process of need in order to bring your paths to cross, so don’t get in your own way for a sale. Let them tell you all the reasons they need you, and then help them buy.
