A number of years ago I was out on a sales call with a fellow salesperson. This salesperson had a track record that spoke volumes. Well, on paper that is.

I decided to let him lead the conversation with the customer as I was hoping to learn something from his approach.

At the beginning of the call, we re-introduced ourselves to the (current) customer, and as soon as the pleasantries were out of the way, the customer provided us with his wish list. He simply wanted us to prove that our product could meet his production needs and he would sign an order.

Internally, I was quite excited as he was considering one of our biggest products.

Fast forward to what I thought was the end of the meeting and, as expected, the customer worked with us in setting the agenda for our next visit. I personally felt it was time to bring the call to a close.

Apparently, my co-worker disagreed.

So I watched in shock as he launched into a presentation that started with