Last week I reviewed a book called Coffee’s for Closers by Tony Morris – a perfect gift for someone who works in any aspect of the sales industry or has their own business.
I wanted to know a bit more about Tony, so here is (part of) my interview, so you can learn a little more about the man himself.
Who is Tony Morris?
Tony was born on 12th September 1978 and was brought up in Hertfordshire. He graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with a 2:1 Business Studies (HONS) degree and then went travelling around the world for a year. He has always been involved in sales roles and set up the Sales Doctor, a sales training company, in May 2006, alongside his father in law Boyd Mayover.
How did you get involved in Sales Training?
In my first sales job where I was selling utilities business to consumer for Sitel, the largest outsourced call centre, I was very successful on the phone. After a couple of months, part of my role was to train every new telesales executive how to cold call and persuade people to switch their utilities. My patience and understanding were my two contributing factors to my success in helping people get better.
What made you decide to write your book?
Every sales trainer I aspire to is an author. Therefore I felt in order to progress in my career and build my credibility it was a natural stepping stone. I actually found it a really enjoyable and relaxing experience.
Who are the hardest people to sell to?
Definitely not sales people, they are by far the easiest to sell to in my experience. I would say middle aged consumers who have been around the block and had some bad experiences with pushy and irritating sales people are the hardest, as you are starting off on a back foot.
What is your biggest sale?
It was a £258,000 sale to BNP Paribas when I sold address management software. It was a five year contract and it took me four months to close. The sickening part was they cancelled the contract on the 29thday of the 30 day cancellation period. This was the best sales lesson I have experienced to date and I explain it in detail in Chapter 3 of my book.
What is the strangest thing you have had to sell?
Encyclopaedias in Australia.
What makes a bad salesperson?
Someone who confuses tenacity with pushiness and desperation. Someone who doesn’t listen to the prospects needs and is just out for a quick sale.
Who is your book aimed at?
Anyone who is involved in sales. This can range from a junior sales person, a more experienced sales person, a sales manager, a sales director or a business owner. It is beneficial for any person interested in self development.
He also has funny story to share which is brilliant, but a little too long to add to this post, so I promise I will bring it to you in the new year!
In the meantime, Tony has offered me a copy of his book – Coffee’s for Closers to giveaway on your choice of format (E-Book or Paperback), perfect to help you get the best out of the January sales!
To Enter:
a Rafflecopter giveawayThePrizeFinder – UK CompetitionsLoquax Competitions
Easy (and yes I’ve worked in retail for 13 years so can see both points). But in WH Smith’s in town there was a woman that worked there that hated me for no reason. When I went to the till, I never got a “please” or a “thank you” and one day she threw my change across the counter at me. I was never rude to her but that day I said “Can you pick that up and give me it” and asked her why she was so rude to me. Her reply was “No, I can’t!” When quizzed why she was SO rude her reply was “I don’t know you”. I didn’t want to be served by her again, but had no option one day, unbeknowing to her and myself, their new area manager was in the area (not in his suit and had popped unannounced) and she did the same that day in front of him! She wasn’t in there 2 weeks later and has never been in that shop (serving since)
I worked as a customer service assistant and have had people swear at me which is the worst thing ever It always upset me but on the plus side there was the odd nice customer that seemed to cheer me up.
My worst has to be the sales person trying to sell me something I did not want and would not take no for an answer in the end I walked out of the shop without the item i came in for
WOW just what I was looking for. Came here by searching for ploys
Stop by my web blog … how to make money fast and easy online
when i was about 19 i had a financial adviser visit me at home and he was so pushy i had to get my dad to make him leave!
i only have problems when people come to your door or phone trying to sell stuff, i dont like things like that, especially when they get pushy. i know what i want, they just need to get the picture and back off, i know they are doing a job but i dont like it.
@sarahrees151286
I want it for hubs! He’s always having annoying customers, swearing at him! Something for nothing! And finally NO MANNERS! Grr
I once got accused of being a regular shoplifter and kicked out, with no real proof. Silly thing is, it was literally my second day in the area and the member of staff wouldn’t hear me out!
Being hung up on
When the man on the market wouldnt refund some earrigs i bought even though they were faulty!
Great Blog
I just don’t like it when shop assistants keep asking me if I want assistance
Working behind a bar, and having to tell wasted people that I’m not letting them have any more, wondering if they’ll leave, kick off, take a swing, swear or whatever. Hated the unpredictability.
Anything that involves contacting utilities companies via Indian call centres!
POP BOUTIQUE ..in Manchester; its a vintage shop.
Never been so digusted in my life!
i went in to exchange some shoes and one of the staff made a mix up on the books in which they record their sales. so when i wanted to exchange them the sales member was saying they cant find my log of sale. I had to manage (woman with sort brown hair) basically accusing me of lying and trying to return shoes which were cheaper than what i was saying because apparntley ”she prices allll the shoes, and there was no way they were £20” she was pulling dirty looks at me and smirking.
I didnt move though! i made the staff look through the whole book and low and behold, there my sale was written in the wrong month of the book.
the manager didnt even aplgoise to me. she was blaming it on her staff member saying il be having a staff meeting about this … yet im sure she prices all the shoes her self.
I made me so mad! me and my friends dont shop there anymore. i dont care if i seen the nicest thing in the window i would never spend a penny there again!
pheww.. rant over lol.
dont shop there 🙂
I’ve never had any really bad experiences, although it always annoys me when the till staff are chatting to themselves, and seem to act as if you’re interrupting their day
I only have problems when people – especially these wretched PPI claim companies – phone trying to sell their services – drives me insane!
When staff are rude!
yes defo, when they serve you without a smile, theres no need, its unpleasent and makes you more mad than when you spend money you havent got in there shop!
When I was Christmas shopping I couldn’t help notice some of the sales assistants were clearly on a power trip and loved being able to boss around their staff. Some of them seemed completely unpleasant to work for but there was one boss in TK Maxx who stood out as being supportive and kind to her staff. The worst one I came across was extremely rude to her staff and then turned around to serve me with a hardened attitude and face like thunder. I hated having to spend money there but I was buying gift vouchers for people who wanted them from that shop. I will not be rushing back.
happy new year
I hate someone trying to sell me something that I do not want – what the salepersonscompany don’t seem to understand is that when a company does this I never buy from them but shop elsewhere
Being hung up on ahhh
People trying to tell me my computer is infected and want to ‘clean it for me’
Having invited a double glazing firm round for a quote and them spending a whole day trying to powersell the most expensive windows I had seen.
mine has got to be sales people who try to sell you something you really don’t want and they wont take no for an answer
phone calling every evening by those annoying cold callers
I am cabin crew and I have a nightmare with some passengers treating you like a piece of dirt on their shoe! I think people forget you are there mainly for their safety. I was once told by a skiier that she didn’t like her breakfast and could I not bring her a meal with egg in it. On an hours flight we had to serve drinks, then a full meal service and duty free on top of our safety checks! I had to bite my tongue as I wanted to say no problem I will just go and fry you one up in the galley! I always treat people how I expect to be treated myself with a positive, happy and generous personality but some people take the biscuit and my job over the years is getting harder as we find people are getting more demanding beyond our means and ruder!
When I was 16 and working in Superdrug after school and at weekends some customers were ridiculously rude! I had a customer shout at and threatening me one Saturday morning because I asked her is she wanted a phone top-up – something I needed to ask anyone. She was annoyed because she worked in a phone shop and didn’t like me asking her every week, I spoke to her calmly but she still wasn’t happy, luckily my manager was around the corner and had heard everything and congratulated me on handling it well!
i work on the tills and every day customers are rude me. they dont say thankyou, they talk on their phone whilst at my till, they TELL me to pack for them etc. one day ill find a new job where im treated with a bit of respect!
The alarms went off and I was meant to feel like a crim, I was held until searched!
We needed a very large bay window double-glazed, and knew it was going to be pricey so had arranged a few companies to give us quotes. One company (I won’t name them but they’re well known) salesman was quite particular about the appointment time even though we said we would prefer another day as we had to go out and were worried the appointment would feel rushed. Day of the appointment came and the salesman was over half an hour late and then got snooty with us because we only had 15 minutes before we had to go out! We just refused to make another appointment and he lost out on a potential sale.
Coffee. Oh god, yes, coffee. Liquid refreshment for the unstoppable barter tongue.
I hate the sales calls you get at home that are silent for minutes then a call person from another country starts by saying how are you maam?….. grrrrr
Everytime i go into a shop with my partner we are followed by security, clearly people think he looks like a shop lifter though im not sure why
This comment has been removed by the author.
People being impatient and rude is the worst thing
I used to work in an off-license. One day a customer came in and as he pulled his wallet out of his coat pocket, out fell a pair of boxers….!!!
i went to do some shopping in Debenhams, the product that i wanted was on show on the top shelf and i could not find the item on any shelf, so after being looked at by sales staff on the till, i went over to a member of staff who was unpacking a cage of stock, when i asked her where the product was, she responded with ‘ i am busy doing something you know!!’ i said yes so could she find someone else to help me, she responded with well if you can’t find it instore, to order it online from home!!!. she didn’t even step away or go look!!!
A colleague and I got threatened so bad on the desk, police was called.
I also heard of someone throwing poo on the receptionists, after our office was attacked with poo in the night
I can’t think of any particular incident but it really annoys me when you are in a shop and at the tills and there are 2 members of staff chatting away to each other and completely ignoring you!
Reading through all the comments, it makes me really sad how some experiences are so cruddy. I hope that you all have better services/customers in 2013
My worst experience is when a sales assistant targets me as soon as I walk in a store. It actually makes me want to leave as I feel under pressure and not free to just look around.
xmas 2011 i took my autistic 5 year old shopping he was getting stressed waiting in the long lines to pay so started having a meltdown-everyone was staring and whispering which made him worse as he hates ppl staring at him,then a worker came up and said please get your child under control or leave the shop-i explained why he was like that but his reply was sorry but if you cant control him dont bring him out!! i was appalled never went back to that shop again!!
I was in the hairdressers once and the hairdresser spent more time on her mobile and swearing to her colleague rather than talking to me or doing my hair. She even asked me if I knew how long to leave the hair dye on and openly admitted she didn’t have a clue. I could not believe it. Safe to say I never went back to that salon!
recieving the damn calls
Going to a place selling timeshares thinking i had come second in a competition only to be on the receiving end of some pretty hardcore selling techneques for about 4-5 hours -this was quite a few years ago tho – i didnt do it much to their annoyance
I work in customer service and spend my day sorting out peoples queries and trying to help when i can, somtimes it feels like nothing I can possibly do is good enough, but when someone spends the time to write a thank you e-mail back to me it makes my day – I alwlys e-mail to say thank you if ever i contact a company.
I once had a job in telesales, It was awful, and so was I !
I couldn’t stop myself from giggling whilst pitching the “script” needless to say that job was not for me :/
Being sold a 3 phone thinking it was a “free phone” not being able to return it and not being able to text my mum in France. Grrr.
I can’t abide not being acknowledged in a shop. Just yesterday I was waiting at the counter at Ted Baker in Selfridges, Trafford Centre – waiting to pay and was just being completely ignored by the member of staff while she finished her task – all it needed was a quick “I’ll just be a sec!” and I’d have been happy but she just ignored me till she had finished tidying up. I was not impressed.
I have just got into sales and I would love to be the best seller in my office, they are all so good at it and I want to be that good to this book would really help.
just rude staff x
The other day, while I was at work, my sister stole my iPad and tested to see if it can survive a
forty foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation.
My apple ipad is now broken and she has 83 views.
I know this is totally off topic but I had to share it with someone!
Visit my homepage :: http://esponjadelufa.com/