Wha'd you say?

In the profession of sales, a razor sharp mind is a definite advantage. A main component of a razor sharp mind is memory. Names, events, places, and contact information certainly top the list of things to remember.


Do you know the business model of your prospective client or customer? What about the process of how invoices are paid? Communication style and conversations are also key in penetrating the account.


There are four basic memory techniques. I’ll do my best to outline them for you here.


Pegging – is an effective technique that will assist in remembering a list of things of one word items or concepts. We frequently think of a peg as something to hang objects on, like a coat hook. Your place of residence holds many pegs. Most rooms have at least five easy pegs. Let’s build an imaginary kitchen. Stand in the kitchen and pan right ‘till you complete a circle. In front of you is the sink, to the right is the dishwasher, then the kitchen table, and around the room we go. Next we find the refrigerator and then the microwave. As you need to remember items for a presentation or main points of a sales meeting agenda, use your kitchen pegs. You can also attach the agenda items in the order of your kitchen appliances. Then while in the meeting, you can stick to the agenda by mentally turning around in your kitchen. You can use each room of your residence as a checklist to create more pegs for a longer list.


Repetition- Repeat, repeat, repeat! For example, take a simple list of ‘things to do’ or better yet, a list of grocery items; milk, eggs bread, cheese, grits, bacon, eggs, cheese burgers, and cereal. Your visualization here is key. Repeat the objects in order and in reverse order 13 times and you will have it in your brain as long as you need it.


Association- Here we associate the item with another more memorable item. This technique is especially effective with names. Chris sounds like kiss. Roger – dodger.

Sherry is merry. Association can also be used in a visual sense. What do you see when you are introduced? How is this name or concept associated with something more familiar to you? In effect we associate something new to something old because it is easy to make the transition in our mind.


Stacking- By far the most powerful and effective technique. However, it also requires the most effort to implement. Let’s pretend we were going to ask a specific set of questions. First we need to identify the questions. Here are some that may help to find a compelling reason to do business. Can you tell me more about the situation? How long has this been a problem? What have you done to fix it? Did it work? How much has it cost you? Have you given up trying to fix it? What in the personal impact of this situation? Here we have seven solid questions that will help us determine if the prospective client is a suspect or prospect. Let’s build a stack for these questions so that we remember them in the heat of battle when we are likely to become emotional and forget the next question.
Chattering teeth represent question 1- tell me more. Spinning Clock represents question 2- how long has it been a problem. Purple and yellow-stripped pipe wrench represents question 3- what have you done to fix it. Greasy work glove represents question 4- did it work, etc. The key to using the stacking technique is the vivid colors and the action placed upon the object that represents the idea, item, or concept.


Memory is a muscle of the mind and like any muscle, the more exercise it gets, the better it functions. Try a few of these techniques and let me know how they work for you…if you remember to.



Good Selling,


Rocky LaGrone

For more information about sales development goto www.thetrainingroup.com