“What’s your preference: Team Cat or Team Dog?”

The other night, a door-to-door salesperson showed up at my place.

As soon as I opened the door, I noticed his jacket, the badge with his photo, and the clipboard he was clutching. I realized my chance to get back to my FIFA game before the pause menu expired was slipping away.

Here’s how his pitch unfolded:

  • He flashed a big, insincere smile and asked how my day was going.
  • He made a song and dance about how I was the first person to return the favor by asking him about his day. His response? “Not bad, yours?” (Honestly, in England, I find that hard to believe.)
  • He then asked me whether I was Team Cat or Team Dog.
  • Completely ignoring my body language and the hints that I was busy and uninterested, he continued speaking from his script.
  • After I told him I was busy, he suggested he would return in three hours, but I eventually just said I wasn’t interested.

What struck me was that, as a Sales/BD coach who sells every day, I nearly offered him a glimmer of hope by agreeing to a follow-up.

I had to fight the urge to do so.

Essentially, he was looking to set up a meeting, and I was ready to ghost him or attend with zero intention of buying. Sound familiar?

Had he taken the hint early on, we could have avoided those awkward minutes of conversation in the first ten seconds.

Remember, you won’t persuade someone who isn’t interested to make a purchase. It’s best to exit the conversation and remove them from your sales funnel as quickly as possible. The same applies to presenting job opportunities to candidates.

And if your current employer encourages this kind of behavior with unrealistic KPIs, it might be time to consider a new job.