Good Morning. It’s Election Day in the US! And if you’ve been too busy selling to keep up with politics (as you should be), here’s the quick version of what’s going on:

1) Congress could change hands. Congress is the group of people who make federal laws. Republicans currently have the majority, but today’s results will decide whether they keep it or Democrats take over.

2) States are making big decisions. Voters in 36 states are picking governors. And in California, voters are deciding whether to charge billionaires a new tax.

3) Your neighborhood could be voting on AI. Across the country, there are 41 local votes related to data centers, the giant buildings full of computers that help power AI.

Now, let’s get into today’s Follow Up. (:

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Jim Bosworth had a prospect who took ten years to buy.

And it wasn’t because the prospect was ignoring his calls or emails. He’d been coming by the office at Maine Technical Source for years. But just kept using his old equipment.

As a sole proprietor, he often relied on his wife and son to help him with jobs.

Finally, he let Jim demonstrate newer robotic equipment, and he bought it reluctantly. Now, with the new equipment, the surveyor could complete jobs 50% faster and work on his own.

The surveyor told Jim, “Gosh darnit, why didn’t you make me do that five years ago!?”

Jim has worked at MTS in New England since 1995. As a young salesman, he found prospects in the yellow pages and used a paper map to figure out where to go knock.

Showing up on a prospect’s doorstep was easier back then. Now Jim can’t even get onto some construction sites without a pass. So he calls ahead and asks if someone can spare a couple of minutes while he’s in the area. He says they’ll almost always say yes.

Even then, Jim isn’t expecting a sale on every visit. He’s building a relationship so that when someone needs new equipment, they know who to call.

The surveyors, construction businesses, civil engineers, and mapping professionals he sells to are often reluctant to change their ways. Jim understands why.

Buying from MTS could mean switching brands, replacing equipment, and retraining a team. That’s a lot to ask of someone whose current setup still gets the job done.

One of Jim’s clients bought cheap, old GPS equipment on eBay, then asked Jim to help him make it work.

Jim told him, “I’ll help you get that going, but when you come here, I’ll recommend a new piece of equipment.”

They went outside, and Jim showed him how much faster the newer equipment was. Jim says it completed the task in five minutes. The client’s old mapping system would have taken two hours.

“Yeah…let’s not bother looking at the old one anymore,” the client said.

Jim’s secret = showing proof. 

Jim’s goal is to get in front of his prospects and demonstrate exactly how the equipment is going to help them do their job better, faster, and easier. In his industry, most people don’t even realize they’re doing things the old way. So Jim has to show them how the new equipment is going to be much more effective for them.

Just like selling pretty much anything… the most common objection he gets is cost. 

Jim will literally tell his prospects that the money they spend now is irrelevant, because it’s going to pay for itself. 

Even then, he still doesn’t always get an immediate answer. (As we know from the surveyor, that could mean an entire decade.)

He nurtures these relationships long-term. He earns their trust, especially with the older guys, by consistently answering their questions over time. Even if he doesn’t have an immediate answer for them, he’ll go do research and come back with the answer. This helps him look like an expert to his prospects, which of course makes them trust him.

I think the lesson here for most of us in sales is that this stuff takes longer than we want it to.

I’d love to walk out of every meeting with a sale. But a lot of the time, you’re laying the groundwork for something that won’t happen for another year or two. You’re showing up, answering questions, and becoming the person they call when they’re finally ready.

Then one day, a customer you first met two years ago buys. That feels pretty friggin’ good. And if you can keep doing that, you’re building a sales career that lasts.

Today’s newsletter was written by Nic Conley