Would you invest in these freaks? *

It only takes a couple of seconds to form an impression of someone, doesn't it? But if you are in sales, be alert to the problem of pre-judging.

That means making a hasty, negative assessment of a prospect and then not treating them as well as you might.

Through my career I have been surprised many times by people, who I thought to be unlikely, turning out to be good buyers.

A friend of mine drives a Bentley, owns a highly profitable business but is mostly dressed in jogging pants and trainers. He likes the reverse-snobbery of his appearance. Although he's a big spender, he doesn't look like it.

This phenomenon works in reverse too. I have met and failed to sell to a couple of English lords. Both lived in prestige neighbourhoods but were strapped for cash.

I could keep going with my examples, but let's cut to the chase. If you are a real sales professional, you don't ever give a prospect second-rate treatment. There are two reasons; one is the simple but powerful one that the world tends to be a mirror. You disrespect a person and not long down the line you find yourself on the receiving end of some shabby treatment.

The other reason to be respectful, interested and open-minded is that you will get sales that you would otherwise miss.

* You should have done - they founded Microsoft

Here's a line from a sales-training book I read years ago, 'Treat every prospect the way you would your best customer'.

That's a hard standard to maintain, we're human after all, but I try to keep it in mind and every now and then it leads to a nice surprise (both sales and otherwise).