Givers

Give to give not to get and you will be a much happier and more successful sales person. This is also known as giving with no expectations. I take it a step further in my life. Someone wants to borrow money and I can afford to help them I never LEND as that comes with expectations of being repaid and can come with the disappointment of not getting it paid back. Give it as a gift and let their conscience be their guide as to giving you a gift in return. It will make you a much happier person especially when you are surprised to get it back.  You be a real friend to your customers and give to them like you would a true friend.  It might NEVER come back to you with them but I can promise it will come back to you from someone.  Quit thinking about taking or receiving and start concentrating on the part you can control which is YOUR part.  YOUR PART is to do the giving without expectations.  Try it and see if it works. But remember no expectations also means no time expectations either so be patient.

Memorial Day

Monday is Memorial Day. It is the day we honor all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our liberties.  From 1775 to the present and unfortunately still counting 1, 343, 812 Americans have died to protect our freedom.  In our own Civil War, 1861-1865 , 599 Americans died PER DAY which makes it the costliest war we have ever fought and we fought each other!

Lincoln said it best in his Gettysburg Address.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom— and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Excitement

Excitement it is an essential if not the most essential part of sales.  It is what separates the "sales technician" from the "sales professional..  You cannot get someone excited about the steak if you don't provide the sizzle.  During my sales career I was probably the very worse technician.  The reason. I did not waste time learning the in depth technical aspects of the products or services I was selling (and I was selling medical products).  There were experts and catalogs for that.  Instead I learned what it was about my service and product that would get people excited.  For example, making their lives easier or making them more efficient or making them look good to their superiors.  That is selling sizzle not steak.  We have some stuff here now that creates sizzle and you should be the one selling it with excitement.  If you cannot get excited about the potential of making a sale, you are likely in the wrong profession.  To those of us who have made this profession our success, making a sale or the possibility of same is like a runners high.  It is exhilarating.  It is fun. It is welcome. It is very exciting. Will you fail occasionally.  You bet (actually more than you succeed)!  Baseball Players in the Hall of Fame fail about 66% of the time)  But you can make failure an exciting lesson to make you better if you are excited about what you are selling in the first place .
"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless
you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived
at all."

Protecting Your Integrity

You have just established a relationship with a person who is the contact at your newest customer.  Your customer makes the following statement to you before the first transaction takes place.  I expect for you to give me the best price you can possibly give me when ever I ask you to quote something.  In your effort to make a great impression you answer that you will ALWAYS do that and they can rest easy in the knowledge you will be a person of your word.  So things go along well for several months and then one day your customer comes back to you after you have quoted them a price and says something to the effect of:  can you do any better?  You give into temptation and ask how much better do I need to do.  They say 1000$ and the business is yours.  You say OK and you get the biz.
So the fact that you promised (remember they promised nothing but rather told you what was expected) to ALWAYS give them the best price out of the chute, pretty much goes out the window of greed vs. integrity.  If you gave them the best price where did that extra 1000$ come from?
Stand firm on your promises and if challenged that would be the time to play your value to them card not the concession card. When they say cut it 1000$ and the business is yours, you can say back to them, I cannot do that as I promised you to give you our very best price when we started and I did that so there is nothing left to give up.
You have no control over your competition or any of the other hundreds of variables that control pricing.  You do have control over your integrity.  Do what you say you are going to do when you say you are going to do it and you will be better served in your career and your life as well.

Are Your Customers Annoying You

A little "switchero" from last week.  I used to work with a guy in sales who could not wait to get off the phone with his customers no matter whether he called them or they called him.  The impatience in his voice was palpable.  I knew he would never make it in sales and eventually he did not.  How are you coming off to your customers?  Are you presenting a relaxed environment when you are talking to them thus allowing them the time to turn their thoughts into words?  I had a customer tell me one time concerning a sales person who I know very well that" no matter what I throw at him including the kitchen sink, he always maintains an even strain and never bites back evn when I deserve to be bitten."  I knew that person was going to be a success in sales and he is..... in spades. If you create a mutually hospitable environment in which to conduct business, you and your customer will not only reap the benefits but you will enjoy the harvesting process.  Make a friend and be a friend. Do unto others as you would want them to do unto to you! Crazy stuff, huh?  LOL