“One thing that you can do to become a more inclusive sales rep is not sleep on prospects with unfamiliar names. ” – Nirvanna Lildharrie in today’s Tip 1190
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Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Nirvanna Lildharrie. Nirvanna is a SaaS Sales Leader with over 7 years experience in the Tech industry. She is an advocate for DEIB and has sat on panels with Startup Boston and IQPC’s Talent Leaders Exchange. Nirvanna is also an ongoing volunteer Sales Coach with The Duplessy Foundation. Here she is:
Nirvanna Lildharrie: One thing that you can do to become a more inclusive sales rep is not sleep on prospects with unfamiliar names. I say this because in one sales organization I worked with, I spent a lot of time in putting names into Salesforce that weren’t common names like Ben and Amelia, and Emily. And these were perfectly good people to reach out to you.
So I would encourage you when you see a name that you’re not sure how to say, literally Google how to say, and just about any name. And I promise you that there’s a YouTube video waiting for you.
For example, one prospect I spoke with, her name was C-H-I-A-R-A, turns out that name is pronounced Kiara. And when I got on the phone, she was so happy that I knew how to say her name. She was like, “Oh my gosh, nobody ever gets the pronunciation right on their first try.” And if there’s no YouTube video available, practice saying this, “Teach me the correct way to pronounce your name” and say that at the start of the call.
For example, another prospect I spoke to, her name was N-I-K-E-S-H-A, turns out that’s pronounced Nikisha. So then what you do, you quickly write down what it sounds like. So instead of writing down the spelling, you’d write down N-I-K-E-E-S-H-A. Whatever it sounds like in your head. So that way you can read it back and pronounce it the way that it’s supposed to be pronounced, and then use that name and conversation like four to five times. And what this is going to do is it’s going to give you major kudos with that person, because as my dad would tell me, “The sweetest word in any language is a person’s name.” And it’s also going to lead you to sales success because that person is really going to appreciate that you tried.
Scott Ingram: I had to apply Nirvanna’s own tip to get her intro right, but she’s set up the pronunciation option on her LinkedIn profile so I could get it exactly right and her LinkedIn profile is awesome. You should go check it out and get connected with her. You’ll find a link to do that at DailySales.Tips/1190. Once you’ve done that, be sure to come right back for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!