Are you polite or persistent? (Pro Tip: Be Both) | Exercise.com Learn: Your Fitness Business Resource

Are you polite or persistent? (Pro Tip: Be Both)

Tyler Spraul is the director of UX and the head trainer for Exercise.com. He has his Bachelor of Science degree in pre-medicine and is an NSCA-certified strength and conditioning specialist. He is a former All-American soccer player and still coaches soccer today. In his free time, he enjoys reading, learning, and living the dad life. He has been featured in Shape, Healthline, HuffPost, Women's...

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UPDATED: Aug 25, 2020

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Get the Basics...
  • Which do you lean towards — polite or persistent?
  • One key to balancing the two in client interactions is to treat everyone like a person
  • Know your customers and always consider their interests first

What makes a good salesperson? Our CEO took some time in a recent team meeting to review the balance we try to encourage every member of our sales team to maintain.

It’s a balance that takes time to learn and years to master, but it takes only 3 words to sum it up: Polite and Persistent!

First, you’ve got to be polite and enjoyable to talk to or spend time with. No one likes an aggressive sales rep who is clearly only in it for the commission and doesn’t care about the customer’s well-being.

But you can’t just stop there! You’ve got to have a certain tenacity or grit, as Angela Duckworth might say.

You have to be willing to keep coming back and following up — even when it might be uncomfortable… ESPECIALLY when it might be comfortable! Justin Patton, leadership coach, breaks this down in the video below:

Our natural tendency is to let personality or circumstance cause us to gravitate toward one or the other.

The average person today is over-scheduled and bombarded 24/7 with tantalizing offers and advertisements. If you only make an offer one time, never to speak of it again, you’re missing out!

However, if you’re pushy and overbearing, you’re going to turn people off fast.

How can you strike a better balance?

  1. Put the customer’s best interests before your own.
  2. Keep showing up consistently without losing enthusiasm or focus.
  3. ALWAYS treat potential customers like you would want to be treated — like a human being!

Which side do you lean more towards: politeness or persistence?

Do you have any guidelines in place to help you and your sales staff find the right balance?

See for yourself - Meet with the Exercise.com Team today

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UX Improvements

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