How To Get Their Full Attention

I use a baseball metaphor when I train sales teams. I call it SOB. Speed on Bases.

It’s not one thing you do. It’s how you do everything.

The Real Hero of the 1986 World Series

There’s a famous clip from Game 1 of the 1986 World Series. Kirk Gibson comes up to bat in the bottom of the seventh. Two bad legs. Swollen knee. Bad hamstring. The announcers are talking about him like he’s already done.

Meanwhile, Mike Davis is on first base. And Davis is active. Moving. Threatening to steal. The pitcher keeps throwing over to first to keep him honest. Again and again.

Every throw tires the arm. Every glance pulls focus.

Gibson eventually hits the home run. Iconic moment. But here’s what nobody talks about.

Davis was the real hero.

He made the pitcher pay more attention to him than to the guy at the plate. And when Gibson finally got his pitch, the pitcher was distracted and fatigued.

That’s what SOB is. Getting the prospect to pay more attention to you than to anyone else. More than the other vendors. More than the other brokers. More than whoever else is calling them.

What SOB Actually Looks Like

It’s posture. Presence. How you look, sound and feel.

You’ve talked to people who just have it. You can’t always explain it. They’re in control. They’re different. You just know they’re the person.

And you’ve talked to people who know just as much…but don’t command the room the same way.

SOB is the difference maker.

Here’s what it’s not: It’s not bravado. It’s not big talk or chest puffing.

It’s built in the conversation itself. Through curiosity. Through questions. Through going places other salespeople won’t go.

Everyone says, “Yeah, I get it.” But after working with a lot of sales reps over the last 18 years, I don’t see many do it. CEOs do it. Founders do it. Not many of the high priced sales reps actually come close.

Because it’s about presence, toughness, confidence, and a willingness to go where others won’t. 

SOB Is Built Through Questions

I was training a group recently. One of the reps shared a call where he asked a prospect, “What happens if you don’t get this product?”

The prospect said they’d just discontinue the line and wait for prices to come down.

Most salespeople would hear that and move on. Maybe offer a different product. Maybe try to negotiate.

But that’s where SOB gets built.

You go deeper. You follow the thread.

“Sounds like it’s not really an important product line.”

Now watch what happens. If it actually isn’t important, you’ve qualified that out. Good information. 

But if it is important…they’re going to push back. 

They’re going to tell you why it matters. 

They’re going to give you information they wouldn’t have volunteered.

And they’re going to believe it more than anything you could have told them.

That’s the key. People don’t argue with their own data. They discount yours. They believe theirs.

So your job isn’t to tell them what’s at stake. It’s to ask questions that help them discover it for themselves.

“Any customers going to be upset if you discontinue?”

“Is this tied to any long term relationships?”

“What happens to that shelf space?”

Each question takes you deeper. Each question differentiates you from everyone else who’s just trading prices.

Baby Steps

Here’s where most people blow it. They skip ahead.

They hear one thing and jump to the solution. Or they go from A straight to Z because they already know where this is headed.

Don’t do that.

Go A to B. Then B to C. Then C to D.

Stay curious. Stay patient. Let them take you somewhere you didn’t expect.

There’s a comedian named Marcelo (his special is on Netflix right now). He has this bit where he says if you see a beautiful woman with a guy who isn’t as good looking, you think he’s rich.

“No. He listens.

I bet that guy has follow up questions.”

That’s SOB.

Trust Is Built on What You Know About Them

Psychologists will tell you this. If I want to build trust with someone, the way I do it is by getting them to tell me about themselves.

They trust me based on what I know about them. Not what they know about me.

Most salespeople do the opposite. They show up and present. They talk about themselves. Their credentials. Their process. Their wins.

And then they wonder why the prospect treats them like every other vendor.

You want to demonstrate expertise? Ask a question no one else will ask. Have a conversation no one else will have.

When you can say, “We can help you with problems one, two and three…but problem four, we’re not there yet”…trust goes up. Because most people are used to vendors saying they can do everything.

Honesty differentiates.

When You Need to Reset the Dynamic

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you’re not being treated like a peer. They’re dismissing you. Rushing you. Treating you like a vendor who should feel lucky to be in the room.

Best story I have on this.

A salesperson I know walked into a meeting. The prospect literally would not give him the time of day. The guy was sitting there signing checks while the salesperson waited. Just ignoring him completely.

Finally the salesperson stood up.

“I’m not going to sit here all day. You’re clearly not interested.”

He started walking toward the door.

The prospect looked up and said, “Sit down, boy.”

He sat down. Walked out of there with a mid six-figure check.

He wasn’t running a move. He just decided he wasn’t going to be treated like that. And in doing so, he reset the entire dynamic.

There’s a scene in Mad Men where Don Draper does the same thing. He’s pitching a client. The client’s team is attacking him. Hammering him. Dismissing his ideas.

Draper doesn’t panic. Doesn’t defend. He just says, “You’re a non-believer. Why should we waste time on Kabuki?”

He backs away. And in backing away, he changes everything.

That’s the reset. You don’t always need it. But when you do, you have to be willing to use it.

The Challenge

Here’s what I want you to do this week.

Look for the SOB moments.

Where could you have gone deeper on a question instead of accepting the surface answer?

Where could you have challenged instead of agreeing?

Where’s the moment you could say something honest that changes the conversation?

It’ll be there. Probably more than once.

You don’t have to act on all of them yet. Just notice them. Start to see where the opportunities are.

Because once you can see them, you’ll start to know what to do.

And that’s when everything changes.