Testing Your People Skills--DeWese

Then there are the fax and e-mail. There is also the grossly underused U.S. Postal Service mailed letter. Finally, there is the old fashioned, face-to-face sales call.

Printing salespeople, I hope, know that the best way to persuade buyers is in a "sales" conversation during a face-to-face sales call. And, yet, too many print salespeople are poor conversationalists. I'm convinced that most poor conversationalists are fundamentally insecure. Low self-esteem causes them to talk when they should be listening. When they do listen, they aren't actively listening.