Over my 30+ years in sales, sales management and sales training, I’ve developed a different understanding about how timing affects the sales process and individual response.  I remember times when I simply could not understand why someone would not return my call, agree to my proposal or why someone would cancel our sales agreement.  In my youth I struggled with my own demons on why things went awry.  I wondered, “what did I do wrong?”  “What’s wrong with my product?”

When I began to learn more specifically from my customers on what actually lead to their decisions to change, modify or cancel our contracts, I found out that in fact, it was rarely if ever anything that I did or that my company did or that our product failed to work.  Almost across the board, something had changed inside their world that caused them to require a change.

Then later in my career, when I began to consult with companies and manage the various relationships with media and sales people, I quickly learned that the inner world of the business owner was almost always greatly affected by the timing that a variety of factors and issues presented.  All these timing issues affect all business decisions.

The truth is, it’s rarely about you.  It’s almost always about circumstances within the company you’re calling on that have nothing to do with you.