The critical junctures in which sales people can make or break the sale don’t necessarily occur during the actual sales call or meeting. As I’ve discussed in prior blog posts and in my book, “The Golden 120 Seconds of Every Sales Call,” preparation — what you do in advance of the sales call/meeting — is vital, as is remembering that the sales call begins the moment you drive into your prospect’s parking lot and doesn’t end until after you drive away.

It’s this later point I now want to focus on.

When traveling to a prospect’s office, you may not be just using a car — you may be also taking public transportation such as a train, plane or bus. If that’s the case, watching your behavior starts as soon as you enter the terminal, occupy public waiting areas and especially once you are on the plane/train/bus itself.

My public relations person recently shared with me this scene she witnessed on a flight from Boston to Florida: Two gentlemen sitting in the aisle seats across the aisle from her (one was seated behind the other) were talking quite loudly about the meeting they were going to with a well-known company. It was clearly a sales presentation and the man in the front seat had a laptop open and sticking out in the aisle so the man behind him could see it. They were working on their presentation and discussing their strategy for closing the sale, frequently mentioning the company’s name and the names of individuals who would be attending the meeting. There were a couple times in which the tone of their discussion with respect to this prospect sounded less than positive.

So many things occuring in this scenario are terribly wrong!

1. These men were talking publicly about their sales prospect.
2. They were mentioning the prospect company and meeting attendees by name (again, publicly).
3. They were displaying their sales presentation so others could see.
4. They were discussing publicly their strategy for closing this sale.
5. They were allowing a derogatory tone to enter their discussion which others could hear.

What if someone from the prospect company was on the plane (which is very likely since the two men were traveling to the prospect’s location)? Or someone who knew the company, the people who worked there or the people who were mentioned in the two salesmen’s discussion?

Just like the parking lot scenario in which the two salesmen were spitting in full view of the prospective client’s office, you need to watch your behavior when traveling via public means to a sales meeting. You just never know who might see (or hear) you.