You Can Determine Your Own Level Of Sales Success

There is a small segment of the sales population that we might consider over achievers.  There is another similar sized group that we might consider under achievers, relating to their sales performance.  The world needs more of the former and fewer of the latter.  In the middle, lie the majority of all salespeople, safely protected from their mediocre performance due to the shear size of their majority status.  Day in and day out they pursue their average status through their complacent attitudes and uninspiring actions.  They are doing the best they can do based on their training and belief.  They have never performed any better, they don’t believe improvement is possible and they don’t understand what all the fuss is about.  After all, they are performing at the same level as most of their peers.  These salespeople don’t even know enough to know that they are capable of far greater success than they have ever achieved.

Let me give you the formula for breaking free from the dominant complacency that holds you captive from achieving your true potential.  First of all, memorize the following phrase:  “Whatever I vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon, will inevitably come to pass”.  You must change your paradigms.  Your paradigms are your beliefs, attitudes, values and experiences whose combined influence determines your actions.  Let go of all your beliefs that hold you captive to your current performance.  Open your mind to the reality that you are capable of doing far more than you have ever achieved before.  Here are five ideas that will help you achieve the full measure of your potential:

1.     Don’t measure your abilities by what others have accomplished.  The only limit to your achievement is your imagination.  If you can imagine or visualize something, then you should be able to find a way to achieve it.  Your dreams and visions of sales success are not dictated by, or influenced by the achievement of someone else.  Focus on what you want, not the plateaus reached by others.

2.     To achieve your true potential you will need to focus intently on your dream and work harder than you have ever worked before.  Raise your threshold of pain by doing something you don’t like to do every day.  You will never achieve your best sales effort until you have reached beyond your comfort zone.  Sales success is not easy; if it were, everyone would be successful.  Think beyond what you have ever achieved, believing that you can reach it, and only then will you be able to escape the natural barriers that have restricted your performance in the past.

3.     No one has ever reached beyond mediocrity without a consistent effort.  Doing your best for just one day is not an indication of your best overall performance.  Your best effort is the result of a consistent, day-by-day improvement and commitment to achieving your goals.  The more days you work to improve, the greater your improvement will become.

4.     Think outside the box.  You won’t discover your true sales ability by doing what you have always done.  Be creative in your approach to success.  Just because no one else has done something doesn’t mean it won’t be successful.  Your fresh approach and enthusiasm may be the only difference between the success you are seeking and the performance you have typically delivered.  Your actions don’t need to be radically different from past performance.  Sometimes only very small changes are needed to produce significantly better results.

5.     It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.  If you had the ability to see clearly the end result of what you could achieve in your sales career, you wouldn’t delay in taking action.  Well, you can see the end result.  Dream, believe, imagine and then take action.  You will never deviate from your current path, if you don’t commit to doing something you have never done before.  It is totally up to you.  Your sales success has nothing to do with the success of others.  The determining factor of reaching the full measure of your sales performance boils down to one simple question:  What are you willing to do?

Let Your Personal Values Determine Your Sales Goals

I learned this lesson the hard way, and it has taken me as many years to recover from the devastating results as it took me to create the problem.  When I began my professional sales career thirty-five years ago this past June, I had absolutely no comprehension of the relationship between personal values and achievement goals.  I naively believed that as long as my activities were legal, honest and moral that they were fair game for achieving my goals.  I truly believed that success would be achieved through working tirelessly and consistently in pursuit of my sales objectives.  This mode of thinking isn’t wrong, but it isn’t complete.  After years of chasing my dreams and goals, I finally gained the perspective that was missing in my life.  I wish with all my heart that I would have discovered it sooner, but I’m thankful that I at least discovered it.

My great discovery centers on this one absolute truth:  “True success can only be achieved when your personal values and your day-to-day activities, while in pursuit of your goals, are in harmony with each other”.  It doesn’t matter what your personal values are, but what does matter is that your values and your goals “speak the same language.”  When the two are going in divergent directions, neither one will achieve its full measure of success.  You will either sacrifice the one at the expense of the other or you will achieve the one and neglect the other.  There is only one way to achieve the integrity of your values while at the same time reaching the pinnacle of success.  Find absolute harmony between your values and goals.

That harmony will actually create a synergy between your values and your goals concluding in a result far greater than the sum of the individual elements.  To put this principle into effect you must first clearly decide what is of most importance in your life.  Ask yourself the question, “what do I value most” and then explain why.  Think in terms of how you would spend your life if you knew you only had eight months to live.  Now, having determined what you value most and how you would spend your time if you had just a few short months to live, set goals that will be in harmony with those feelings.  We have all heard the story of the executive that spent his entire career climbing the proverbial ladder of success only to find that when he finally reached the top rung of the ladder, it was leaning against the wrong wall.  He had spent his career in pursuit of those things that ultimately were not of great value to him.

I spent more than seventeen years of my life and career traveling away from home three to four days each week.  I earned a great income and never needed to balance my checkbook.  There was plenty of money for a fine home, automobiles, vacations, social events and the finer things in life.  During that same period of time my four children were born, and ushered through childhood by their mother in the absence of their father who was travelling away from home three and four days each week in pursuit of wealth and position.  I found myself remodeling our home to more closely resemble a Marriott hotel room.  I was short of patience with the children when I was home and found it hard to relate to their needs and demands because I was so focused on me.  My values were family centered but my life was career focused.  As successful as I was in my sales career, I had derailed the relationship with my wife and children in the process. 

I will forever be grateful that I finally discovered the truth about goals and values.  For the past eighteen years I have pursued my goals and discovered a totally new level of success.  How?  By aligning my values and goals in one harmonious day-by-day consistently focused effort.  I have discovered a hidden power that comes through the synergistic result of placing your values and goals on the same horizon.  You don’t ever need to sacrifice achievement for values.  In fact, your achievements will be infinitely greater when they are aligned with you values.  Your values will be magnified when they become synonymous with your goals.  The total package of sales success is found where goals, in harmony with personal values, intersect with consistent and effective effort.

If this philosophical perspective helps you put your sales career in balance, please let me know.

Successful Salespeople Understand and Implement Excellent Customer Service

I believe that excellent customer service is centered on a salesperson’s understanding of what the customer truly needs and then continues through the process of helping them achieve those needs.  Too often salespeople become so excited with the prospect of making a sale that they focus on what the customer wants instead of what they need.  The eventual result is a customer that is unhappy and blames the salesperson for not selling them what they needed.  It may be tempting to move quickly in providing the customer with what they want, but it will eventually come back to haunt you and potentially eliminate any hope of future sales.  Take the time to understand the need and then make a recommendation for the correct solution.

Excellent customer service requires that you help the customer understand the relationship between price, quality and service.  In challenging economic times, customers tend to focus more on low price than quality and service.  No one wants to pay more than they should for any product or service, but paying too little may cause them to compromise on quality and service.  Ask probing questions to help you truly understand which of the three components of the value equation are of most importance to the customer.  If the customer needs the best quality but they tell you they need the lowest possible price, you will be blamed if you honor their price demands but compromise on quality and service.  The old adage, “you get what you pay for” is still true.  It is impossible to receive the lowest price and get the best quality and or the best service.  It can’t be done!  You may get the lowest price, but it will be delivered after all the higher paying customers have received their products.  It is not uncommon for someone paying the lowest price to receive a product of lesser quality than they expected.

Who among you, needing major surgery would seek out the lowest priced surgeon with whom to trust with your life?  Which of you suffering a life-threatening illness would postpone treatment in order to save a few dollars on your medical bill?  Salespeople need to ask the questions necessary to encourage the customer to reveal their true perspectives relating to price, quality and service.  Have you ever purchased a product for a low price that wasn’t delivered on time, and you end up having it shipped “over-night” at a shipping premium just to get it when you needed it?  You need to know which is more important, price or delivery.  Make it a point to have these discussions with your customer.  If you don’t, you may believe that you have met the customer’s expectations, when in reality they are not happy with you, the product, or their decision to purchase from your company.

Unfortunately, we live in a world that emphasizes the negative instead of proclaiming the positive.  If you don’t meet the customer’s expectations, you run the risk of them publishing their feelings somewhere on the “web” telling the world not to purchase your products or services.  To avoid this unwelcomed attention, there are two things you must do as part of your sales process.

1.  Ask probing questions to truly understand the customer’s expectations in these four critical areas:

a.  Needs versus wants
b.  The importance of lowest price
c.  Quality expectations
d.  Service and delivery needs

2.  At the conclusion of the sales, after the customer has received the product or service, conduct a survey to ensure their utmost satisfaction.  If they are not satisfied to their original expectation, fix it.  Resolve every concern and make them totally happy.

Your customer expects quality service and occasionally talks about it with others.  But miss the mark on their expectations and they will share their dissatisfaction with everyone they meet.  Let me share a personal example relating to the importance of customer service.  I decided to sell my iphone 3GS on E-bay so I could buy the new model.  Within just a few hours of my listing, more than two hundred phones just like mine were listed on E-bay in addition to the hundreds of iphones already posted.  I started the bidding at one dollar and also gave a “buy now” option.  In what seemed an almost unbelievable stroke of luck, a young man from New York accepted my “buy now” offer within just a couple of hours of my listing.  When I contacted him relating to the shipping of the phone, I asked him what influenced him to purchase my phone from all the others posted on E-bay.  In addition to my professional listing, he said that it was because of the number of sales I had made on E-bay while maintaining a 100% customer satisfaction rating.  Don’t ever underestimate the value of customer satisfaction.  Remember the principles of understanding the customer’s true needs, followed by a satisfaction interview after the sale and you too will be rewarded for your excellent customer service.

Customer Service Does Not Go Unnoticed

We live in a remarkable time in the history of the world.  The technology and standard of living enjoyed by developed countries truly boggles the imagination.  The accessibility of knowledge, information, entertainment and communication through the World Wide Web is beyond imagination.  Because of this information and technology revolution, there is very little that happens in the world that those of the world don’t know about.  Almost any event can be described as the “shot heard ‘round the world”.  The phrase is found in the opening stanza of Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Concord Hymn" and describes the impact of the battle at Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts, on April 19, 1775 that ushered in the American Revolutionary War.

We are experiencing a communications revolution that has been ushered in through a literal explosion of technology.  Computers and smart phones make knowledge, information and communications just a mere thought away.  With this long introduction, I want to emphasize the importance of customer service, both from an “excellent customer service is the right thing to do” and “if you don’t provide excellent customer service the whole world will hear about it” point of view.  Recently I wrote an article about a salesperson’s bucket of opportunity.  In that article I said that your bucket of opportunity is filled with every sale you have ever made.  Every act of customer service, quality, attention to detail, kindness, patience, on time delivery, customer satisfaction and every other sales detail appreciated by your customers goes into the bucket.  Once these actions and details go into the bucket, they will stay there until you draw them out.  What will you draw from your bucket of opportunity?

Three of the most valuable commodities a sales person could every dream of are:

1. Additional sales to your customers
2. Referrals to new potential customers 
3. Letters of recommendation.

The following is a customer service story I pieced together from a recent posting on facebook.  I followed up with the parties involved and extracted the entire incredible event.  The story involves a young mother of two small children who was grocery shopping at Fry’s Food Stores late on a Saturday evening and the Front End Manager of Fry’s.  The following statements are from the original facebook postings and subsequent emails and conversation that were shared by the persons involved.

First posting on Fry’s facebook:  "Hey Fry's - Had an awful experience trying to redeem a competitor's coupon at your Ray and Mtn. Park location tonight. Fresh & Easy email coupons that were sent to their email list.  I tried to use one tonight and was told you don't accept printed coupons because anyone could copy it.  Funny, I can print coupons off your website!  Why the double standard?  The worst part was the humiliation heaped on me by Assistant Front End Manager (name withheld), for trying to redeem the legit coupon and returning some of the items I was going to purchase to meet the coupon's terms ($10 off $50). Someone who tells a customer "I can't read your mind!" and "I'm only talking to you the way you're talking to me." shouldn't have Manager anywhere on his nametag. He was so rude other shoppers followed me out to my car to tell me I shouldn't have been treated that way. 
There are several grocery stores in this area and I thought Fry's believed in customer service. Guess I was wrong."

Fry’s Face Book response: "Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns and please accept our sincere apologies for this experience. We constantly emphasize friendly, courteous customer service is what our customers are to receive when shopping with us.  The coupon you described should have been accepted.  If you would privately provide us with your contact information by emailing frys.vip.department@frysfood.com we'd like the opportunity to help resolve this situation.  Also, the store manager and assistant store manager have been notified and invite you to speak to them directly.  Thanks again and we look forward to speaking with you."

Personal email sent to Fry’s to further explain poor customer service:  "Hi there.  First of all I would like to thank you for responding so quickly to my Face Book post.  Since it was Saturday night when the incident occurred I felt it was my only course of action.  Second, I would like to explain more fully what happened on Saturday night.  The employee, (name withheld), obviously did not see anything wrong with the way he spoke to me, because as I was writing down his name (shaking as I did it - seriously in shock that a grocery store "manager" would talk to a customer this way) he was volunteering his manager and assistant manager's names to me and told me to feel free to contact them.  



After (name withheld) refused my Fresh & Easy coupon I asked him to explain why he wouldn't take it.  He couldn't give me a clear explanation that fit with the coupon policy that I know Fry's has (I'm not a huge “couponer”, but I know general policies of the stores I shop). So I continued to ask him to clarify why you would accept a printable manufacturer coupon and not a printable competitor coupon.  He just continued to say "I can't accept that, anyone could have copied it".  After a few minutes of no explanation I finally said that I would need to return some of the items I had purchased (the entire order had already been scanned when the incident occurred) and he said that was fine, just to let him know what I wanted returned. 



Without any prompting from me, he took several bags out of my cart and took them over to a different register. I went through the bags that were still in my cart and pulled out everything I wanted returned.  He picked up those items and took them to the other register as well.  He began to scan the items in the bags (that he had removed from my cart) to return them and I told him I didn't want those items returned and that's when he very shortly (and loudly) said to me "I'm not a mind reader!"  Startled, I said "Excuse me?! I didn't take those items out of my cart, you did." He then continued by saying "I'm only talking to you the way you're talking to me."  At that point I just stopped talking.  I pulled out a pen and pad of paper and wrote down his name. Then he volunteered his manager and assistant manager's names for me to write down as well.  I waited for him to finish returning the items, I paid him and I left.  


As I was getting into my car to unload the items another car drove up alongside mine.  A woman rolled down her window and told me she had seen everything that happened and she couldn't believe an employee was treating a customer that way. She also mentioned she might say something to the manager the next time she was in the store. I was visibly shaken and emotional then. I hate to admit this, (I will so you understand how upset I was) but I cried once I got into the parking lot.  (name withheld) actions affected not only me, but all those who witnessed the incident.  I have no idea what your policies are regarding reprimanding employees, but I feel action should be taken so (name withheld) is aware there is no gray area when it comes to being respectful of customers.  I don't care that he didn't take my coupon - I still would have shopped at your store as I do every other Saturday night around 9 pm - but I do care that I was treated in such a disrespectful manner.  

Thank you for the chance to explain what happened. Feel free to forward this on to his manager.  



Thanks"

Response to customer from Fry’s corporate office: "I really appreciate that you again took time to write regarding your very unfortunate incident. I am sorry about that because I am sure you would like to erase it from your mind.  You undoubtedly have been a customer of ours for some time, and I am thankful that you took the time to communicate what happened to you.  Our expectation of our employee’s service levels is exactly what you would expect, not what you saw on the night in question.

I spoke with our assistant manager this morning regarding your poor service experience and he was as upset as we all are at the treatment you received. He assured me the matter would be addressed.  So often incidents like this are never communicated to us and the result is we lose a customer forever rather than giving us the opportunity to restore your confidence in our organization.  I know this is only a small thing, but I would like to give you credit for the $10 you should have received at the store as well as an additional $15 for your trouble.  I can do this by adding it directly to your VIP card so you do not have to stop and talk to anyone else about this. The manager and assistant manager would like the opportunity to apologize in person but I will leave that up to you.

I did just leave a voice mail for you. I do not have your name in our database so if you want to send me your VIP card number or give me a call I can get this taken care of immediately.  Thank you again for taking the time to write and allowing us the opportunity to make this up to you. As you requested, I did include the store manager on this e-mail.  I did remove your personal information in case you did not want it shared. I look forward to talking to you soon."

There are three things that salespeople and management can learn from this unfortunate customer service event:

• Poor customer service is akin to the shot heard ‘round the world. 
• The only reason businesses stay in business is due to their customers and don’t ever forget it!
• If you are ever faced with a poor customer service situation, handle it in a manner similar to Fry’s Food Stores.  They did an excellent job in their response to a bad situation.