Going to the Bank

For the last 9 months, I’ve devoted myself to becoming a student of sales.  I’ve read several books, listened to several books, and watched hours of sales training videos.  The effects of this intense study have been profound.  While I am far from being a master sales person, I can say that I’ve learned my own personal “sales strategy” and have begun to hone in on what that means for me.  What I share today is a small part of that process.

I started my professional sales career in 1995 when I took a job selling shoes in the mall on straight commission.  If I didn’t sell shoes, I didn’t get paid.  This was a great thing for my 16 year old mind.  Shoes are a small ticket item and the training that I was provided was your standard “features, benefits, advantage, grabber” training.  This level of product required knowing features and benefits, but I quickly learned that no one was buying shoes for features.  They always had other reasons.

This became clear one day when I had a customer buy 3 pairs of shoes (over $400) with me after coming in to look for “Chuck Taylor’s”.  I now believe that was all a ploy to find a sales person who would be willing to take time with him even for a $22 sale.  Here’s how it played out:

Customer (C) – Can I try on these Chuck Taylor shoes in a size 10.
Me (R) – Sure thing.  Do you mind if I measure your foot?
C – Sure.
R - *Measures both feet* Excellent, have you ever owned Chucks before?
C – Yes, as a kid.
R – Great.  Do you remember them running big?
C – No, it was a long time ago.
R – Ok.  These seem to run a little big these days.   I’ll be right out with the size that I believe will fit you best.
C – Ok.
R - *returns with shoes, laces up shoes, places them on customer’s feet and ties them.* What do you think?
C – Not bad.  How are these for running?
R - *makes weird face* I don’t know if I would do that… Do you do much running?  Is that why you are looking for shoes today?
C - Yes, about 30 miles a week.  And I play a lot of tennis, too.
R – Oh, wow!  That’s a lot of running.  What do you wear now?
C- Some old shoes, I’m not sure what they are.
R – Ok.  I would suggest looking for an actual running shoe for running and an actual tennis shoe for tennis.  As you probably already know, tennis can really chew up your shoes.
C – It sure can.  I drag my toe when I serve and I duct tape my shoes to help reinforce them.

The dialogue went this way for about 15 minutes.  I’d ask questions, make statements, listen for answers, and genuinely cared for then needs of the customer.  He could sense it.  I eventually pulled out the fitting stool and had a seat while lacing up each pair of shoes and placing them on his feet.  The whole process took about 35 minutes.  Toward the end, I knew that I needed to “close the sale” but didn’t want to come off pushy.  I remember a fairly soft close to the effect of, “We’ve looked at a lot of shoes today, but I think we landed on one that will really meet your needs for running and another one for tennis.  Would you like buy them today?”  With that, he kindly said, “Yes, and the Chucks as well!”

You have to understand what happened in my mind that day.  In my mind, I didn’t make a sale.  In my mind, I made a friend, I helped him, and he paid me for my help.  Today, my sales approach is very similar.

One of the statements said in many sales training books and made by many trainers is that we are in sales to “go to the bank”.  I believe that… I really do.  However, I see it a little differently.  I don’t believe that my primary mission is for *me* to go to the bank.  I believe my primary mission is to help the customer go to the bank so that we can go together.  Sales is about the transfer of value.  I bring something to the table and show the customer how valuable  it is (what it does for them).  Then they give me the value (money). 

This small shift in thinking has the power to change everything.  I don’t ever think about commissions.  I think about impact.  I don’t think about paychecks.  I think about positive outcomes.  I don’t worry if I’m going to make a sale.  I focus on making a friend and becoming a trusted advisor. 

I’m not sure what you sell, how you’ve learned selling, and what your results are.  You may have a thing or two to teach me!  However, I challenge you to change your focus for the next 6 weeks.  Take your focus off of getting yourself to the bank and start going with your customer.  Begin to care for them more than yourself and I believe you will see a dramatic change in your outcomes.  You may also notice that you become a little happier in selling.  Long after you retire from sales, no one will ever care about your sales figures…  So what will your sales legacy be?