If you’re in business, you probably want to increase your sales, get more customers, get more business. Sometimes we need 7 Habits or 12 Steps to get what we want. Sometimes all we need are the words our kindergarten teachers told us.

When I was in London recently, I asked a 19-year old small business owner—a rickshaw driver—how he got people to notice him and buy his services. He eloquently defined the key for getting more business for him:

1. nice speaking
2. smile every time

More importantly, he demonstrated all three by what he DID. (Oh, I just listed two? Here are the three things he did to increase his business: 1. Be nice. 2. Be pleasant. 3. Work hard!)

More posts featuring hard-working entrepreneurs in big cities:

• Entrepreneurship Manhattan Style (the New York Pedicab Driver)
• Sales Sizzle New York City Style (the Manhattan Street Vendor: Show your sales force THIS before sending them out into their sales week. They’ll sell more.)

Want to sell more? Think you know your stuff? Let’s just raise the bar a little. This “street vendor”in Manhattan, Greg, caught my attention and taught me a thing or two.

The sales territory was simply brutal. Way too many things fought for his prospects’ attention. They were in Manhattan! A block or two from Times Square, surrounded by HUGE (like sky-scrapper sized) billboards, motion graphics, flashing lights, glaring music, taxi horns, and probably a few pick-pockets, too.

The sales territory was not at all conducive for commercial conversations. (Have I mentioned NYC is LOUD?) Not only was it loud, people experiencing it were relishing in the experience of the grand city; they were not expecting a salesman to meet them.

There was no chance for the salesman to build rapport in advance. No matter how many people followed him on Twitter, or were fans on Facebook, or feedburner subscribers to his blog—none of the hot, cool, impressive, hyped sales technology mattered at all! Facebook is totally irrelevant in this experience.

Imagine if your sales force had the courage, determination, persona and stamina to do for eight years what Greg has done. He has to stop people on the sidewalk, who were doing something ELSE, who weren’t expecting a salesman, who had never heard of Greg. Then he had to get their attention and minds focused on what he was saying (after, I’m sure, reassuring them they weren’t in danger!), and then connect his offering to their experience.

Greg was ten feet away from me while I ate my lunch. I watched him for nearly an hour. Most people (like, nearly all) ignored Greg. Some politely ignored him; others, not so politely. He always smiled; he never paused from his pursuit of attention. And, yes, he did indeed make sales.

I encourage a sales process like the one David Sandler outlines, where the salesman establishes rapport, asks questions, seeks to uncover and understand his prospect’s pain, and then crafts a solution to specifically address those pains. Greg didn’t have that luxury. He took what he had, added a massive amount of enthusiasm, determination, and personality to do the impossible, sell strangers stuff on the streets in NYC.

Could your sales force do that?

1. Get in front of as many individual prospects as you possibly can. Some sales people hide behind email, direct mail, and even the telephone. Don’t be one of them. When you’re in front of people—looking them in the eye and seeing how they feel—you’re in a much better position to create a meaningful relationship.

2. Be more concerned about your prospect’s concerns than you are for your own. The prospect cares more about his problems, fears, or goals than your products, corporate history, philosophy, or even your USP (that overused, greatly misunderstood Unique Selling Proposition) and so should you.

3. Show your concern by letting him do most of the talking. Question: What’s the best way for you to find out what you’re prospect is concerned about? Be quiet and hear what he’s saying.

4. Keep showing your concern by continuing to let him talk. Try this: Carry a crisp $100 bill with you at all times. If you ever feel like finishing your prospect’s sentence for him, get your $100 bill and slowly tear it into little-bitty pieces. Destroying the money now will be much cheaper for you in the long run than finishing your prospect’s sentence.

5. Keep the prospect talking by asking lots of good questions. If you’re asking questions, you’re allowing your prospect to tell you what he truly cares about. You’re also finding out how he plans to buy. (You’re also not boring him by making him listen to stuff he doesn’t care about!)

6. Be sure you listen. Listening is more than just not talking. You listen by using all of your senses and your mental capacities to hear and understand what your prospect is saying. If the three most important factors in real estate are location, location, and location, then the three most important factors in sales are listen, listen, and listen.

7. Keep it simple. You probably don’t need a corporate brochure, fancy catalog, or even a PowerPoint presentation when you meet with your prospect for the first time. Your two ears, inquisitive mind, a pen, and maybe a few sheets of paper are all you need to help you discover your prospect’s concerns.

8. When it’s your turn to talk, talk only about something your prospect cares about. You may be impressed with the awards, testimonials, and industry recognition your products and company have received. Your prospect probably won’t be. Don’t even bring it up (unless he asks, “Would you please tell me about all the awards your company has received? While you’re at it, will you also show me all the press releases you’ve ever sent out?”).

9. Know the difference between a prospect and the man-on-the-street. A prospect isn’t a prospect until you have at least his name, address, phone number, and email address in a database of some sort. You’ll need this information so you can stay in touch:
• Stay in touch by contacting him often
• Stay in touch by contacting him efficiently
• Stay in touch by knowing when you need to contact him
• Stay in touch by keeping track of what you’ve promised, what he’s promised, and what’s next.

10. Set up a system so you will always know where you are in the sales process. Some sales can be made “on-the-spot.” Others may take a little more time. Still others may happen over and over. Map the steps of your selling cycle and make sure you know where each prospect is on that map. If you’re using a database (see #9), you’ll have a much easier time tracking your prospects through your system.

[I wrote this in 2006 to help a client encourage his salespeople to talk less (much, much less actually) and listen more. Writing it today, I would add something about FORGET YOUR ELEVATOR PITCH, but I'll tackle that one in a dedicated post. Seriously, when I have 30 seconds in an elevator with a stranger, I will not at all use it to talk about me. Heavens.]