Sale: My Favorite 4 Letter Word
My favorite 4-letter word is “sale.” You will often hear me say, “Anyone who communicates with your buyer is a salesperson.” Now, I understand this statement may have made your stomach lurch or your brain say, “No way, not me!” But here’s the thing: you are or should be a salesperson.
It all starts with you, the boss. In order for you and everyone on your team to provide great customer service, uncover needs, and exceed expectations (all key aspects of a good sales person), it must be a part of your culture and you must have buy-in from everyone.
How to Sell Salesmanship to Your Staff
Here are the steps we take at 19 Oaks to accomplish this with our team. You are welcome to borrow them!
- During the interview process, we choose folks to join our team who are exceptional at providing service (writing, strategy, sales, graphic design, etc.). Equally as important, we make sure that the person we are interviewing is curious and understands that they will have direct impact on our customers’ bottom line – good or bad.
- In our offer letters, we layout how we will successfully “wow” our customers. Here’s the formula so far….
Personally: What do they desire in life? What vacation, home, and car do they want? Is their short term goal to run a 5k or learn how to cook Thai food? What other types of personal goals do they have?
Professionally: What organizations do they want to join? What types of conferences do they want to attend? What books do they want to read? How will they stay on top of the latest trends to use for our clients and our own company?
Measuring success: You will want to measure the success of your employees on both a personal and professional level. Keep in mind that, no matter how hard some people try to cover it up, if they are having troubles in their personal life, it may carry over into their professional life.
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Perform quarterly reviews to not only determine whether expectations being met, but also discuss the success of the clients that they are working with. Include both peer and client reviews, and gauge their personal and professional fulfillment.
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Profit- and growth-sharing is the icing on the cake for your teams success. Make sure you are clear with your team- only when an employee has a positive review will they get to “eat cake.”
Sale doesn’t have to be a scary word
At the end of the day, it’s the support staff that your customers think of when they think of your company. So take care of them and be sure that they know how to get the most out of their time on the clock each day. Life is short and your employees are choosing to spend their time away from their personal lives to serve your company. Why not make it the best experience possible? A happy employee will, in turn, will work hard to make sure your customers’ have a wonderful experience.
It seems to me that this is the win-win-win that most companies are looking for. And it all begins with a 4-letter word: “Sale.”
You cannot optimize your team in just one interview, one meeting, or one company retreat. It takes consistent engagement with your employees to work. It is critical that you have a set strategy and an implementation plan in place, and measure how your team is doing on a regular basis. Feel overwhelmed? No worries, we are here to help! Contact me today.
