Have you noticed that many prospects are perfectly willing to string you along for as long as you are willing to let them? Have you noticed how many would rather stand you up than say no? Whats a sales professional to do? Just keep plugging away, call back and reschedule, etc., right? Absolutely not! While this will go against what many sales experts will tell you, I beg to differ. It is time that you recognize that your time and effort is valuable and conduct your business in a manner that reflects that. After all, if you dont value your time and effort, how can you possibly expect your prospects to?

Let me give you a real life example. I have a friend (for purposes of this example, well call her Mary) who set an appointment with a potentially valuable prospect (for purposes of this example, well call him Jim) that could have meant well over a thousand dollars in commission. She and her prospect agreed upon meeting at the prospects office at 2:00 on a Wednesday afternoon. The drive Mary to Jims office was well over an hour and having spent several hours prepping for the meeting, she had invested more than five hours in this meeting.

Mary arrived at 1:55 and after having to explain to the receptionist that she had an appointment (red flag) was told have a seat until Jim became available. 2:00 came and went. 2:15 came and went. 2:30 came and went. Finally, Mary inquired of the receptionist when she would be allowed to see Jim. The receptionist promised to check. At 2:45, more than 45 minutes after the scheduled start of the meeting, the receptionist informs Mary that Jim is in another meeting and will not be able to make their scheduled appointment.

Mary, clearly disappointed, left her card and told the receptionist that she would call Jim back in a day or two to reschedule. Would anyone like to guess the response when Mary calls back? Jim is never available and never returns her calls. Unbelievable, but certainly not out of the ordinary these days.

Mary is a victim of bad adviceof the conventional wisdom that says that we as sales professionals need to bow to the needs, wants, and desires of our prospects and accept their rudeness because we need them more than they need us. I disagree completely. Is your time valuable? Is it just as valuable, if not more so than your prospects? I say it is and the sooner you realize that, the sooner you will notice fewer and fewer of the situations like the one I just described.

Mary and I had a long heart to heart about her situation. We put in place a process for each new appointment that while adding several steps to get to the appointment has resulted in a far fewer situations like this one, far less wasted time, a conversion rate more than double her previous rate, and most importantly, a 52% increase in her income.

Take control of your sales process. Your prospect needs to be led. The minute that you let him or her lead the process is the minute that you lose control and your odds of conversion drop dramatically. You are the boss. You have something that your prospect needs and wants. Start acting like it today and watch how much respect you will command and how many prospects will be willing to follow wherever you lead themultimately to a sale that leaves both of you better off than prior to your transaction.