I recently acquired a new customer. It was a difficult sale. The customer was a very tough negotiator. He had a solid business, and an outlook towards life and business that was very admirable. He built his business over the last 20 years through hard work, and outstanding customer service. He is in the moving business, which is fraught with poor service, and companies that operate with very low or no standards of ethics. So it was an even more remarkable success story.
When I went back for the final meeting with this gentleman, concessions in hand, and all but pleading for his business, we came to a happy agreement. After he handed me the signed agreement, he looked over at me and with all sincerity and said, “You sure are a good salesman.” That statement was one of the best compliments I have ever been paid by a customer, employer or anyone in quite a long time.
Like most salespeople we enjoy this profession for the unlimited earning potential, a fair amount of freedom, and personal validation of providing value and quality products. It is this last reason that many salespeople do not fully understand. It has always been my belief that selling is the transference of an emotional and intellectual set of beliefs. Almost by osmosis, you turn your prospect into a customer.
When this particular gentleman paid me this compliment, all the things that I practice everyday in this profession worked. I built a rapport with him and some of his other associates. They like the product, proven by him and his staff telling me so. I was in line with his cost structure. They had divulged some definite pain with their current provider. And last but not least, we connected not only in our roles of customer and salesperson, but as people in business, and people that like each other. As in many professions it is difficult to measure personal success. If you are a doctor it is the health and wellbeing of your patients. If you are an attorney, it is getting your client acquitted. In sales, it often boils down to what is on the office sales board or your commission checks.
So when someone tells you that your hard work has paid off it is one of the best motivators out there. Just remember, no business can begin without a sale first being made.
