May 27 – 4/1/1 Spotting Fakery

This is actually the 2/1/1 since the second one is very long. 

Sale Engineers, in general, are a skeptical bunch. Well, not just sales engineers, most engineers. We need proof. That’s why most of our customers want demos, want proof of concepts, want documentation. Here are my thoughts about this:

1. Customers are very good at spotting fakeness. If you look at your Salesperson as an SE and think to yourself, here we go again, then he or she probably has a hint of fakery, and the customer can spot it. Which is why it is in your best interest to not be fake. Be real, be human, and build relationships that way. 
2. Telling stories is an integral part of Sales and Sales Engineering. However many SEs get to the point where they’ve told the same story over a hundred times and it’s starting to get stale. Many comedians have 2 to 3 bits that they do over and over again. And yet they don’t get stale. I must have watched Robin Williams’s Live on Broadway 10 times in 1 month, and I laughed every time. Also comedians change their bits around, tailor it to the city and audience they are in. Just because you have a story, doesn’t mean we have to say it the same way over and over again. We can change it up. Keep in mind that you may have told this story a thousand times, but this is the first time the customer is hearing it. 

Meditation is a helpful practice that everyone should try once. I’ve tried it on several occasions, and when I do it, I feel better. Not sure why, but it seems to work, but not enough to stick with me. 

I still think you should try it out. Here are 2 options below. I’m not affiliated with any of them.

Free: https://sites.google.com/a/freemindfulness.org/free-mindfulness/download

Free 10 sessions which you can do over and over: Headspace