Recently my son decided that he did not want to play ice hockey this year. He was more interested in Tai Kwon Do and wanted to give it a try. My wife and I had several conversations with him to see if there was another underlying reason he wanted to stop playing “Canada’s National Sport”, but his passions just seemed to lie elsewhere.

Our stomachs initially felt weird thinking about missing all the great friends that we had made over the two winters while Elliot played hockey. I also felt sad about not coaching anymore because I really enjoyed being involved with the kids, and seeing them progress every time they laced about the skates.

My wife and I soon had a reality check. It is NOT about us. It is about our son and his happiness. We are going to support him 100% in whatever he chooses to do in life.

My thoughts quickly turned to the sales profession. So often people get caught up in their own agendas, goals and motivations, that they tend to forget that they are supposed to be acting in the best interests of customers and/or prospects.

• Remember the great quote from Frank Tyger,

“Be a good listener, your ears will never get you in trouble”.

Don’t just “barf” your sales pitch on them.

Find out what they really want to buy!

I would love to hear your thoughts about a time that a sales rep acted in your best interests, or maybe a time that they did not.

How quickly from the start of an interaction did you know if it would be a good experience or not?

Thanks in advance for your contributions!

One last thing… I would love to connect on Facebook (if we are not already) at http://www.facebook.com/SellLeadSucceed