Sales

Earlier this year, I wrote an off-the-cuff LinkedIn post about things I hope our sales team always does and things I hope they never do — and it got a lot of attention and feedback. Today, I want to dive deeper into the “always” side of that conversation, exploring the five practices that I believe are essential for building genuine relationships with customers rather than just chasing transactions.

1. Be courteous

When I posted this on LinkedIn, one of the commenters said that sales people should “lead with empathy”. Yes! Taking the time to understand the feelings of the person you are selling to is courtesy in action.

In other words, put yourself in their shoes. What does a win look like for their company? What does a win look like for them personally? What demands do they face in their role?

Recently, I reached out to one of our customers to discuss a new project. When they didn’t respond, their VP explained that the team was overwhelmed with start-of-the-year priorities. I did not “professionally persist,” but instead, listened. And then I applied number 2.

2. Be accessible when customers need them

The meeting I wanted to schedule needed to fit their timeline, not mine. This meant that I had to be accessible when the customer was free.

I want the same thing for our sales team. While there have to be limits to work, one must also be open to connecting when customers want to connect. 

I once had the pleasure of playing golf on Kiawah Island with Jimmie James. After retiring from a 33-year career at ExxonMobil, Jimmie played the top 100 golf courses in the world. Suffice it to say he was a lot of fun to play golf with.

But the lesson I took from him was not about golf, but about accessibility. While we waited on a par three, my phone vibrated for the third time in five minutes. I excused myself and had a quick call with someone at the office. When I got back to the tee, I apologized profusely to Jimmie. 

Jimmie looked sternly at me and said, “Don’t you ever apologize for doing your job. It does not matter that you are on vacation. As an owner, you need to be accessible when your team needs you. Your ability to be playing golf at Kiawah is because of that job. Don’t you forget that.”  

So when a customer calls, I remember that my ability to do anything is because we have customers at Hoffer Plastics.

3. Ask questions and listen

Asking questions and listening may be Sales 101 in theory, but it’s Sales 401 in practice. Even for me, it is easier to ask questions than listen. Listening means shutting off your brain from what you will say next, locking eyes with the person talking, and digesting what they say. What they say next might change your life. After all, in the story above I cannot tell you what I shot the day I played golf with Jimmie James, but I can tell you exactly what he said to me on that tee. 

Similarly, I want our sales team to have stories of where the hero — the customer — tells them something that changes our business.

4. Respect the “no”… and the prospect’s inbox 

In all walks of life, no means no. Want to turn a no into a yes? Respect the no. I am more apt to buy from people tomorrow because they respected my no today. 

Arguably the best sales person I hired said no to me first. Twelve months later, our executive vice president saw her at a conference, and she was in a different place. Ten years later, she still brings all the fun to the sales team! 

The second aspect is simply respecting how many messages people get these days. In 2025, expecting every message to be replied to is unreasonable. As outlined in the last post, responding to solicitations could quickly turn into a full-time job — something I’m sure you can relate to if you are an executive. 

It comes down to this: I trust our sales team to use discernment. If a message is not returned after a few attempts, move on. While the aggressive inbox-flooding approach might occasionally win business, this tactic damages far more potential relationships than it creates. The short-term win often comes at the expense of long-term opportunities.

5. Be 100% honest about what we can, and cannot, do

Finally, I want our sales team to be brutally honest about our capabilities. If we are not saying no to opportunities, we set ourselves and others up for failure. The reality is that we should NOT strive to match every price or every capability. Instead, we need to be brutally honest about what price we can manufacture the product for, and what capabilities we have now and will pursue in the future. 

While it’s tempting for salespeople to over promise to secure a quick sale, honest limitations build lasting trust. Saying ‘no’ demonstrates humility and respect — acknowledging that our company can’t be everything to everyone. This transparency may cost an occasional transaction but preserves our integrity and customer relationships.

Above all, I encourage our sales team to stay positive and approach each day with an abundance mindset. There are always more opportunities — more customers to help, problems to solve, and relationships to build. 

Remember that providing real value comes first; the business will follow. That’s not just good sales practice — it’s good business.

In my role leading Hoffer Plastics, I’ve been on the receiving end of countless sales approaches — some impressive, many forgettable, and a few downright frustrating. Today, I’m sharing five sales tactics I hope our team never employs — not just because they rarely work, but because they undermine the trust that forms the foundation of meaningful business relationships.

1. Offer to pay someone for their time or buy them gifts. 

In the last several years, I have been pitched various hourly rates for my time, offered luxurious gift cards, and countless gadgets. People usually write things like, “I know your time is valuable,” or “I know you are busy, so in exchange for your time…” I do not think these people are bad — I know they are just trying to do their job. But to me, this feels a little like bribery — a tactic I don’t want our sales team to use.

Before I move on, let me clarify that “thank you gifts” to customers are an entirely different matter and I am not addressing them here — I am addressing using gifts while cold calling. 

2. Message people to death on LinkedIn. 

If you take one thing away from this post, I hope it is this: 

A LinkedIn connection does NOT mean the connection MUST answer your messages. 

In reality, excessive messaging actually decreases your chances of getting a response. Here’s a personal insight: if someone messages me more than once without my reply, I ignore them 99% of the time.

Does this make me a jerk? Perhaps. I currently have close to 5,000 connections on LinkedIn. This does not mean I am important, and it certainly does not mean I am cool. It means I have a title and people want to connect because my last name is on our building. 

It also means that every single week, I get close to 100 LinkedIn messages. And that isn’t mentioning the hundreds of additional emails, voicemails, and text messages from other channels. 

Man, I wish I had been this cool in high school! Maybe I would have been on the homecoming court? Probably not, because I was not that good-looking and definitely was not that cool. Even the “title” would not overcome those factors!

The point is that if I were to reply to all these messages, I would have to ignore my family, direct reports, and business. If I gave everyone 15 minutes, maybe I would be done by the time I was 138 years old? I think you get my drift.

And before we move on to the next point, let me make one thing clear: your message is not the exception to this rule.  

3. Leave passive aggressive voicemails or emails.

I only get these occasionally. But as you guessed it, they don’t work either. 

Just this morning, someone emailed me saying that because I had not responded I must be okay paying more for electricity. Is the implication that I do not care? Or, am I just stupid? 

True confidence in your product means letting results speak for themselves. Want my attention? Send a concise PDF case study showing how a company our size benefited from your solution. If it impresses me in the 10 seconds I’ll give it, I’ll forward it to the right person on our team.

(And this goes without saying, but if you email me asking “who the appropriate person is,” you are not using LinkedIn the way it should be used). 

4. Fail to respond 

When we require some kind of service, I have the aforementioned contacts to reach out to. This is when it is time to respond! 

Failing to do so is something I hope our sales team never does. It falls on the list of things that keep me up at night. 

When I actually need a service, I contact the professionals who’ve shown me respect by not overwhelming my inbox. That’s when responsiveness becomes critical! Any salesperson who fails to answer promptly at this crucial moment loses the opportunity forever. This type of missed connection is precisely what I want our team to avoid — it’s literally what keeps me awake at night.

5. Use insincere flattery as a sales technique

Finally, be sincere.

Many people message me on LinkedIn claiming to enjoy my blog before immediately launching into their sales pitch. In contrast, the CEO of a mold building company regularly engages with my content and offers thoughtful feedback without ever trying to sell me anything — and their approach feels genuinely appreciative rather than transactional. By focusing on relationship-building instead of immediate sales, they’re playing the long game — and their company’s value naturally speaks for itself.

And you know what? 

We are still quoting molds from them. 

We have bought large molds in the past, and will do so in the future.

The best sales relationships aren’t built on persistence or persuasion tactics, but on respect. When we avoid these five behaviors, we demonstrate that we value long-term partnerships over quick transactions. The companies that consistently earn our business aren’t the ones who push hardest; they’re the ones who understand when to step back, listen, and let their value speak for itself.