Sales Character vs Performance
Posted by Dan D'Amore on Thu, May 27, 2010
If I had a choice of missing my wife’s anniversary or be at ground zero in Hiroshima on 1945, I would say… sushi would make a great last supper.
Being in sales for over 20 years makes me realize a dip in your quarterly numbers feels about as painful.
At the end of the quarter, at the end of the year, it’s all about performance. Sometimes CEO’s think sales people are like insurance; a necessary evil.
When we perform well, we ring the bell; get a handshake, a certificate and a trophy. So meeting performance metrics is everything…right? Sales Managers would say a resounding, “that’s correct.”
However, from the client’s perspective, would it resonate the same?
Sure, they say they want “a solution,” a “positive ROI”, a “competitive advantage”, oh yes, and they want the “lowest price.” The truth: Clients want you to make them look good and make their life easier.
If you’re a good salesperson, you can sell anything to anyone once. But it will be your character that determines whether or not you’ll ever be able to sell that person anything else. Your character will form a relationship with clients – a relationship that that individual client feels that he would like to pursue.
How do you go about forming such a relationship? By remembering the one true secret “You will be judged by what you do, not what you say.”
The client is someone we build our business around.
To the extent that they are no longer clients. They are members of the family.
Building your business around members of the family, instead of the standard transactional view of serving customers, requires that you make the following transitions in your viewpoint and your actions:
|
Performance
|
|
Character
|
|
Meet Customer Expectations
|
vs
|
Exceed Their Expectations
|
|
Satisfy Customers
|
vs
|
Thrill Them
|
|
Give Customers Everything They Expect
|
vs
|
Surprise Them with Gestures of Thoughtfulness
|
|
Give Clients Access to Products/Services
|
vs
|
Wrap Them in a Cocoon of Care
|
|
Be Satisfied if Clients Like Your Product/Service/Company
|
vs
|
Make Certain They Fall in Love with Your Product/Service/Company
|
|
Close a Sale
|
vs
|
Offer Clients a Lifetime of
Unique Experiences and
Values
|
|
Be Willing to Take Customers’ Next Orders
|
vs
|
Commit to Them
|
Having said all that, I just learned I missed the birthday of one of our best clients so I’m looking to blame our CRM software, but I’m off to buy a Happy Belated Birthday cake.