A few months after I was laid off from one of my previous employers I received a phone call from a former colleague telling me about how one of her friends was looking to do something new with her website.  She shared a few details about her friend, the business that she ran and then asked me if this was something I’d be able to help her friend out with.  It sounded like something I could help with. A short time later I spoke with the prospect for the first time.

I’m a naturally helpful person and as our conversation played itself out I began to make comments and suggestions as to what this business can and could do to improve its online presence.  Before long I had done what is referred to in The Sandler Rules – a guide book for sales professionals as “spilling my candy in the lobby.”

Spilling Candy

Years ago I had the opportunity to be a part of the ongoing sales training at the technology consulting firm I used to work for. They followed a The Sandler Sales methodology and had different terms for things that took place during the selling process. Spilling candy is one of those terms. When you spill your candy you forfeit the opportunity to share it later in a controlled way. It’s all on the table. Your prospective client can see your goods and they can take them and run to another person for implementation.

You can argue with your potential client that ultimately they’d be better off having  you hand feed them the candy. That your services will be better than what they’d receive from someone else. But it could already be too late to salvage the prospect once you’ve begun the process of sharing some of your ideas.  In my eagerness to be helpful I had provided my expertise without a formal agreement that would compensate me for it. The prospect and I had quite a few conversations before I realized what had happened – it was a hard lesson to learn.

As we work as independent consultants and business owners we have to remember that while being willing to share our intelligence and business savvy can help us build relationships which can turn into clients and potential dollars – sharing too much, too early can send those same prospects to someone else.