Posts

It’s not the company. It’s the people in the company. It’s you.

/in , /by

StrategyDriven Management and Leadership ArticleWhen you walk into someone’s place of business to shop or buy something, what are you expecting?

Most people (you included and me included) expect someone friendly, someone helpful when you need them, to be served in a timely manner, to be given fair value, to be presented with a quality product, to make the process quick and easy, and to be thanked whether you give them the business or not.

Then the question is: What do you get?

Typically, you get a mechanical welcome, someone feebly says, “can I help you?” Followed by people telling you what they can’t do versus what they can do, or what they don’t have. Maybe a bunch of sentences containing the word policy, and an inability to understand that just because they’re out of an item, doesn’t mean you don’t still want it or need it, and will likely go to their competition to get it. All this, and a touch of rudeness.

Now, maybe I have exaggerated a bit. But I can promise you, not by much.

And the interesting part is, many companies have multiple locations where the products are the same, but the service is not recognizable from place to place – one may be fantastic, while the other may be pathetic.

The inconsistency of people-performance can make or break a business.

Here is what will make you or anyone near you, or anyone in a job they consider beneath them, or anyone who hates work, understand the formula for emerging into a better career – certainly a better job. And all of these elements will be reflected in your performance.

1. Your internal happiness. Happiness is not a job, it’s a person.
2. Your attitude toward work. Do you just go to pass the time for a paycheck, or are you there to earn your pay with hard work?
3. Your self-esteem and self-image. How you feel about yourself.
4. Your desire to serve.
5. Your commitment to being your best.
6. Your boss and how your boss treats you.
7. Looking at your job as menial rather than a steppingstone towards your career. It’s not “just a job” – it’s “an opportunity.”
8. Pride in your own success.
9. Realizing that you’re are on display, and that your present actions will dictate your future success.
9.5 Every today is a window to your every tomorrow.

Companies spend millions, sometimes billions of dollars in advertising, branding, merchandising, strategizing, and every other element of marketing that they believe will bring business success. But if there are people involved, marketing means nothing if the people are not great.

When I walk into a business, I ask people, “How’s it going?” I get the most disappointing answers like, “Just three hours to go.” Or, “It’s Friday.” What kind of statement is that? What does that tell you about what kind of employee they are, much less what kind of service is attached to their attitude?

When you go to a hotel, a fifty-million-dollar business rests on the shoulders of shoulders of the front desk clerk. That’s the first impression you have. In a retail business, it’s no different. All the advertising gets you to come into the store. From there, it’s all about the retail clerk. Doctors and dentists now advertise. But it’s the person who answers the phone that gives a true reflection of what the doctor or dentist office will be like.

What is your company like? Do you have any people working there that hate their job? Do you have people with “attitude?” What can you do?

These elements will get YOU to BEST:
1. Set the example by being your best and doing your best
2. Hang around with the winners, not the whiners
3. Create service best practices, and have everyone implement them.
4. Have weekly internal positive attitude training.
5. Look at the best companies in America for best practices you can adapt and adopt.
6. Do your best at everything, everyday.
6.5 Work on your own attitude. You must think you will succeed, before success is yours. You must think you will be happy, before happiness is yours.

The root word of “your” is YOU. Each employee has the responsibility of representing their company to their customers in a way that reflects the image and reputation needed to build or maintain a great reputation and a leadership position.

Anything less than “best” is not acceptable. But here’s the secret: Don’t do it for your company – do it for yourself. Develop the pride in doing your best at your job even if it’s not your career, and never use the word “just” when you describe yourself.

Real winners are few and far between.
And making yourself one is a choice.

If you want a couple more attitude boosters and one major attitude secret go to gitomer.com, register if you’re a first time user, and enter ATTITUDE FOREVER in the GitBit box.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

Driving for sales success? Jim Rohn is the fuel.

/in /by

The root of your sales success lies in your sales philosophy. How did you develop yours? Mine came from a combination of home environment, books, education, mentors, personal development programs, personal experience, and observations.

You establish and revise the basic principles of your philosophies by exposure to information, your experiences, and listening to the belief of others – especially those you respect. You try to only accept “the good stuff” and then adapt it to (or change) your way of life.

One of the most respected was Jim Rohn. Jim passed away a few years ago, but was and still is considered by many (me included) to be America’s foremost business philosopher. Growing up on a farm in Idaho, Jim developed principles and philosophies that were gleaned from his dad and his first employer and mentor, Earl Schoaff.

While you may believe that you determine your own philosophy, much of it is pre-determined or influenced by your home environment during childhood. After that, it’s up to you to seek influencers and mentors. People who impact the way you think, and create the motivation that drives your actions.

Some people are under the misconception that their personal philosophy and making a sale are not connected. Wrong. Your philosophy is the umbilical cord that provides the “essence of life” to your ability to sell.

Here is the essence of the sales success life cycle according to Rohn:

  • Philosophy drives attitude.
  • Attitude drives actions.
  • Actions drive results.
  • Results drive lifestyles.

Frustrated with your lifestyle? Not meeting your goals or expectations? Here’s how Rohn breaks it down:
If you don’t like your lifestyle – look at your results.
If you don’t like your results – look at your actions.
If you don’t like your actions – look at your attitude.
If you don’t like your attitude – look at your philosophy.

Here are some philosophical quotes and concepts that drove Jim Rohn — and may put gas in your car and bucks in your knowledge bank:

Balance. Life is a combination of “want to” and “how to,” and we need to give equal attention to both.

Activity. The few who do, are the envy of the many who watch.

Career Growth. The most important question to ask on the job is not “What am I getting?” The most important question to ask is “What am I becoming?”

Goals. Set the kind of goals that will make something good of you.

Reality. You must get good at one of two things. Planting in the spring, or begging in the fall.

Motive to Educate. Motivation alone is not enough. If you have an idiot and you motivate him – now you have a motivated idiot.

Personal Development. Formal education will make you a living. Self-education will make you a fortune.

Hypocrisy. What we demand from our children, we must demand of ourselves. There must be a standard by which they live – and as parents, we must set it – and live it.

Motivation the wrong way. If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn’t need motivation to speed him up. What he needs is education to turn him around.

The nose on your face. Success is the study of the obvious.

Work vs. Pay. If you work at your job you will make a living. If you work on yourself, you will earn a fortune. Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.

Numbers. Get your personal numbers in line with your business numbers. Balance sales numbers with education numbers and health numbers.

Wealth. I found it easier to get rich than I did to make excuses.

Time. We can no more afford to spend major time on minor things than we can to spend minor time on major things.

Pay. You don’t get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.

Paid. My father taught me always do more than you’re paid for as an investment in your future.

Customers. One good customer well taken care of could be more valuable than $10,000 worth of advertising.

Happiness. Learn to be happy with what you have while you pursue what you really want.

Plans. If you don’t make plans of your own, you will probably fit into someone else’s.

Jim Rohn was the master of the crafted word. He took the situations of life that are the subtle difference between success, mediocrity and dismal failure — and empowered his listeners to understand their own world in a new, better, and more powerful way.

Sitting in his audience (as I did 25 times), I (and everyone in the room) was compelled to take copious notes – I have saved them for more than 20 years, and they provide the wealth of wisdom for you to enjoy, benefit from, and take to the bank.

Part two of the Jim Rohn philosophy will be presented next week.

GitBit. Want more thought provoking and inspiring quotes by Jim Rohn? Just go to www.gitomer.com and enter the words JIM ROHN in the GitBit box.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

The price is… er, ah, the price is ah…

/in /by

The price of whatever you sell carries with it a discomfort for most salespeople. They’re hesitant to bring up the price because it’s the final element in completing any transaction – or so they think.

Actually, price or fee or rate is a logical progression of a presentation. If the rest of the elements of a presentation have been properly communicated, and transferred, then price is not a barrier to sale. Better stated: price is not a barrier to the customer deciding to purchase.

Why do salespeople have reluctance or fear of price presentation? Because it determines outcome – yes, no, or delay (which usually means no). Price also brings truth. The “I can get it cheaper, we’ve decided to go with someone else, we’re putting this out for bids, I’m not the only decision-maker.”

But the main reason salespeople get nervous about fee is that their belief system is weak. They’re not certain of their product, they’re not certain of their ability to deliver their message, they’re not certain of the customer’s desire to purchase, and they’re not certain of themselves.

When belief is weak, price is a bigger barrier to the salesperson than it is to the customer.

As a professional salesperson, your job is to be as personally prepared as you are customer or prospect prepared. Personal preparation, or should I say mental preparation, will lower the barrier to your own price reluctance.

If you’re ready for the customer, if you’re proud of your company, if you’re proud of your products and services, if you believe in the value of what you’re offering, if your communication skills are excellent, and your self-confidence is high, then you don’t have to worry about price.

There are 5.5 keys that will help you in moving forward with price confidence:

1. Study your past successes. Look at all the reasons why customers bought from you in the past. If you don’t know the reasons, now would be a good time to call them and ask. Customers have all the “price and value” answers you could here hope for. Most salespeople never ask for them.

2. Prepare your presentation in a manner that discusses prices and fees along the way, not at the end. Personally, I bring up prices and fees in the first five minutes, that way all the anxiety is gone. The customer knows there is a price attached to your product or service. The sooner it’s discussed, the easier it is to make value the heart of your presentation.

3. Convince yourself that you’re offering the best products and services in the world for value received. If you are not totally convinced, don’t start the presentation. Your belief in what you sell is evident to the prospective buyer whether present or absent.

4. Believe in your heart that the customer is better off purchasing from you. That they will profit more and produce more, and that the value of what you offer far exceeds your price. When your belief is so powerful that it becomes transferable to the prospective buyer, then you have become believable, and trustworthy.

5. Bring testimonials to the presentation. The voice of other customers that talk about the value, the piece of mind, and the confidence that others have in you. People who have paid your price, and are glad they did.

5.5 Bring your best self to the meeting. In the Little Red Book of Selling, you have read that the workday starts the night before. It’s a quote from a friend of mine’s grandfather, who coincidentally was a multimillionaire. The better prepared you are, both physically and mentally, the easier it will be to deepen your belief system, raise your self-confidence level, and walk in with a feeling of relationship, rather than sale.

WORTH RESTATING: Your personal preparation, especially your mental preparation, holds the key to your confidence and ability to deliver the price. Become an expert at how your customer profits from the use of your product or service. Become a master at outcomes and ownership – not sales presentations and closing techniques.

These personal elements and sales tools, when presented as a group, will make a compelling message, prove value over price, and create the atmosphere in which the customer want to buy.

Your challenge is to master the elements.

If you want a few ideas on price negotiation, go to www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first time visitor, and enter PRICE POINTS in the GitBit box.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

The grass is always greener on the other side of the job. Or is it?

/in , /by

Hate your job? Things at work not going your way? Productivity down? Not earning enough? Thinking of leaving? Here are some job realities you may want to consider before flying to another light-bulb.

First figure out the WHOLE why. You need to take a deep look into the situation before you decide to move. What is causing these feelings of unrest, distrust or unhappiness?

Here’s a list of reasons – BUT, don’t just read them. If you’re unhappy at work, list the ones that apply to you and write a “why” sentence next to it. Don’t just confirm the reason in your mind, go deeper to discover the “reason behind the reason.”

Here’s your self “why” test:

  • Belief system failing in product – you don’t think your product is really better than the competition’s.
  • Belief system failing in company – you’ve lost faith in the company’s ability to perform.
  • Poor service after you sell it – continuing complaint calls are lowering your morale.
  • Boss is a jerk – for one reason or another he or she hasn’t earned your respect.
  • Poor management – acting in their own self interest, can’t sell better than you.
  • Conflicts with coworkers or management – too much who-struck-John. Politics.
  • Poor training – you aren’t getting adequately prepared to sell.
  • High turnover – many good people leaving.
  • Too much work – you work too hard, and you don’t want to put forth the effort.
  • Poor pay – low pay for your effort.
  • Poor working conditions – lack of sales support.
  • Business hurting – the economy and sales are less prevalent or slower.
  • No upward opportunity – you’re stuck in non-growth mode.

And of course the one reason you may have omitted is – it may be you.

Self-test for these:

  • Your poor attitude
  • Home life problems
  • Money problems
  • Drinking or other self-abuse stupidity
  • Your poor sales skills
  • Your poor work habits
  • Poor performance on your part
  • Placing blame rather than taking responsibility
  • Stress (caused by one or many of the above)

Well, that’s an “ouch” test, huh? Did you find your “thorn?” Did you discover “why?” – or did you already know, and I just confirmed it. So now that your skin is itching with the reality, what are you going to do about it?

Well, not so fast there, Sparky.

I’d like you to consider some deeper reflection first.

DO THIS: When you find your biggest reason(s), ask yourself “why?” four times to get to the bottom of the reason. That would be the REAL reason.

Let’s say you selected the reason: My boss is a jerk – OK, why? “Well, for one thing, he’s constantly on me to produce.” OK, why? “Well, because he says I’m not seeing enough people, nor am I closing enough deals.” OK why? “Because it’s harder to make sales. People aren’t buying.”

Sounds like it ain’t the boss after all – it’s you.
That’s not a boss issue. That’s a training, sales skills and intensity issue.

All salespeople suffer from two incurable diseases:
1. The grass-is-always-greener syndrome
2. The moth-to-a-light-bulb syndrome

ASK YOURSELF FIRST:
What are you really looking for?
If you’re going to switch, will this move you up or forward?
Can you fix what you have?
What would you really like to be doing?
If you leave here where will you go?
What risks do you take by leaving this job?
How will a new job get you closer to your real career goals?
How will a new job get you closer to your real monetary goals?

If you decide to leave, don’t leave for the wrong reasons, and don’t leave the wrong way. I have just given you the “why” formula. That will get you to an understanding of your self-thinking. Then there’s the “how you will leave” part.

2.5 more rules apply:
1. Leave professionally. Give notice. Tell the truth.
2. Leave ethically. Give back everything. Don’t “take” anything with you. Especially customer lists or any trade secrets.
2.5 Leave positively. No bad words or lawsuits. Just peacefully go. Leave with your reputation in tact. Leave with a reference.

To leave or not to leave? That is the question. Your job is to find the answer. Your own answer. It’s a big decision. A career decision. An advancement decision. And yes, a money decision.

My advice is: make sure you know the REAL reason. And make sure you do it in a way that would make your mother proud.

If you’re one of the fortunate few who LOVE their job, please pass this on to someone whining about how green the grass might be someplace else.

FREE GitBit. I have one more piece of advice about your job. Something to think about everyday. Go to www.gitomer.com, enter JOB in the GitBit box.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

Leaving for greener pastures? Do you know why? Are you sure they’re green?

/in , /by

Why do salespeople quit their job?

More money?
Better job opportunity?
Don’t like what they are doing?
Don’t like their boss?
Don’t like their corporate politics?
Don’t like how you’re being treated as a person?
Don’t feel the company is supporting you as a salesperson?
Just had their commissions cut?
Company going back on their word about paying or deal structure?
Not paid what you felt you were owed?
Just lost their best customer to the competition?

Answer: some or all of the above.

Salespeople seem to hopscotch jobs as moths flutter from one light bulb to the next, trying to find the brightest one. I don’t think the question is just, “reason for leaving.” I think it goes deeper. I think it’s “cause and effect,” and even deeper, “motive.” Motive being a short word for motivation.

This issue is further complicated by the fact that most people, when they do leave a job, won’t tell the boss their real reason for leaving. Oh, they give a stated reason like better opportunity, more money, but there’s always an underlying motive. An unspoken reason. Like, “I hate you.”

And then there’s the boss, who has to tell his other people why the salesperson quit. Standard reasons, better opportunity or more money.

It’s interesting to note that more than 74% of people who quit their job do so because of bad boss or bad company policies. Yet, no boss that I have ever spoken to ever told me: my best salesperson quit and it’s all my fault.

NOTE WELL: The departing salesperson will soon become the scapegoat for everything bad that’s ever happened in the history of the company within one week of their departure.

If you’re the boss, and you throw the person who quit under the bus and back up, it sends a message to every other person on the team that you’re going to do the same thing to them if they leave. Not a real boost to moral. If you’re the salesperson and you don’t have the guts to tell the boss the real reason why you’re leaving then you’re going to have to be willing to accept your fate with respect to the trashing that you’re going to take.

There’s no easy answers here. Some industries are more incestuous than others. Banking, personnel, accounting, and advertising seem to have an excessive amount of job hop scotching going on.

The subject is WHY are you quitting and what can you do to build your career, rather than having to start it over?

I get a minimum of ten requests a week from salespeople wanting to quit their job and asking for advice. What I tell them is what I’m going to tell you:

1. List the real reasons that you dislike what you’re currently doing.

2. Now, list the reasons that you like what you’re doing.

3. Add a one sentence description to both the dislike and the like column to give yourself further insight as to “why.”

4. Ask yourself which one of the bad things will be eliminated at the new job and which one of the good things will continue at the new job. This way you give yourself an evaluation before you enter your new position.

5. Call people at the place you want to work or that you’ve just been hired to work at and find out what they like and dislike.

6. Write down what you feel you gain (other than money) at your new position and ask yourself could you have gained the same thing at your old position?

NOTE WELL: As you know, if you read my column, we’re about to get to the .5. You will not like the .5. The .5 will make you grimace but the .5 will show you the real reality of where you are and where you seek to grow.

6.5 Become the number one salesperson at your existing company, then quit. If you’re thinking about leaving your job and you are not the number one salesperson, it is likely that you will not be the number one salesperson at your next job, and it is even more likely that you will bring half your disgruntlement to your next job. If you stay at your present job until you become the number one salesperson no boss will be able to throw you under the bus, you leave a hero of the company, you leave with pride, you leave with self-respect, and you leave with the attitude of a winner, not a whiner.

See? I told you you’d hate it.

So here’s your opportunity: quit complaining, quit whining about your job or your circumstance, quit trashing other people to make yourself look good, and just dig in. If you really consider yourself great at sales, then attaining the number one position shouldn’t be much of a problem. Heck, you’re always bragging about how great you are, prove it!

There’s rewards for being number one. People will be nicer to you in your company. You may even earn some degree of respect, your value in the marketplace will increase, you’ll have choices, genuine choices, and you’ll have the peace of mind of knowing that you’ve done it for the right reasons, not the negative reasons.

BOSSES BEWARE: If you’re salespeople are leaving you at a rate of greater than 20% per year, look in the mirror. If you “can’t find any good people out there” let me give you a big clue; there’s plenty of good people out there, they’re just not working for you.

SALESPEOPLE BE AWARE: Your next boss may be no better than your previous boss. He or she just may be sweeter in the interview process than in the day to day battle. You’re best tactical and strategic advantage is to arrive on the scene as the number one salesperson from your previous job rather than the number one whiner about your previous job.

If you do this you have set the stage for sales success. Your sales success.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].