Team Alpha 375

The Good Salesperson by Dan Jourdan It's a funny thing about constantly looking for the new answers to all of today's issues -- the answers seem to all come down to the basics that we were taught when we were five: Be nice. I am a salesman. I say this with pride -- or at least I used to. We salespeople see the world a little differently than most. We see opportunity in almost everything. We like people and look for ways to solve challenges for others. Then we tell them about it, and if our solution is worth more than the cost of the problem, they will buy it and we become friends. That's how a salesperson sees it. That may not, however, be the definition of a salesman that the rest of the world will use. This was stated clearly to me the other day at an impromptu meeting with a client. While visiting with and getting a new client set up with our company, I realized the proximity to another client was too close for me not to just stop by and say hi. We had nothing to sell, but this client and I became sort of friends over the past few months and we enjoyed talking to each other. With this in mind, I drove to his factory and entered the building. Standing outside of the office was another salesman fiddling on his blackberry waiting to go in. Seeming a little nervous, the salesman told me that the client was in, but on the phone and that I should wait with him. Instead, I knocked and opened the door to see for myself. With a big smile, the client waved me in and asked me to sit down. He was still on the phone so I waited and let him finish up before I told him about the other salesman outside the door and that he was there first. (There is some honor in sales and mutual respect for the guys out there making things happen.) It was my clients response that caught me off guard and validated all the sales training that has been absorbed into my body after all these years. When informed about the other guy standing outside the door he said "Oh, don't worry about him, he is just a salesman." Well, what am I? Later on the phone (with time to think), I told him that I was pleased with the new category that he put me in, in his mind. Then the magic nugget was spoken, the reason for this article, the new definition of a Good Salesperson. This is what he said: "You are here to make my life better, the other guy just wanted to take my money." A salesperson wants to take your money. A Good Salesperson wants to make your life better. Pretty simple, huh? As Jeffrey Gitomer says, "People hate to be sold, but they love to buy" -- especially from friends. When you are in a sales situation, are you thinking about the money you can make? Or are you thinking about how your solution can help the client? The way you think will manifest itself into creating a friend or not. This is the deciding factor of whether you will be welcomed into the office, or still standing outside playing with your cell phone.