It was a Friday morning and I was already looking forward to the weekend, despite the fact that I sold for Time-Life on Saturday mornings, too, from 9-1.

As usual, I was moving down my list if prospects when I saw a fellow's name, nothing odd about it. I dialed and smiled, and began my pitch.

He may have offered some initial resistance--most people did--but we were undaunted, realizing that more than 50% of our sales would come from folks just like him, who offered a single interruption and then relaxed and bought.

This fellow, I'll call him Earl, didn't simply say he wasn't interested once or twice. He yelled, and I mean this hurt my eardrum, "Don't you ever call me again!"

Please believe me when I tell you I was utterly polite and professional, so this concussion bomb was completely new to me, and uncalled for. Weakly but quickly, I apologized and let him go on his way.

By Saturday, I had mostly forgotten about this guy as I scanned my list for names to call. I saw a guy whose name hadn't been crossed out, and as was our procedure, I phoned him.

After saying hello, my heart sank, and I thought, "Oh my gosh, I've done it now!"

Without realizing it, I called the same guy, Earl, after he told me to never call again!

But I had already begun my presentation, so I couldn't just stop; I had to march on, which is what I did, all the while believing he would bring a bullhorn to the line and retire my left ear, permanently.

Eerily, I progressed from one part of the chat to the next, finally getting to the close.

"Ah, this is where he'll blast me" I thought.

Still, I persevered, "So, let's get you started with this library and I know you'll be pleased, Okay?"

And he replied, "Okay!"

I confirmed the order, delivery date, and other particulars, to my utter astonishment and disbelief.

This happy accident taught me a lesson.

Someone who vociferously says no today, could enthusiastically say yes, tomorrow.

So, don't prejudge those prospects of yours. It's like that story of the three kinds of baseball umpires.

The first says: "There's balls and strikes, and I call them the way I see them."

The next says: "There's balls and strikes, and I call them the way they are."

And the third umpire wisely states: "There's balls and there's strikes but they ain't nothin' until I call them!"

Ditto for sales prospects: They aren't anything until we call them!

Tags : Buy Kindle DX LCD HDTV Price