10 years ago, in January 1999, I wrote a memo to a new sales organization that I was starting.
It was designed to set the baseline for how we would carry ourselves and face off against customers.
It was written for a team of financial services wholesalers.
These rules became the foundation for developing the team’s MQ-Memorability Quotient®.
They apply to all sales folks.
10 years later they are all still as relevant as the day I wrote them:
- Don’t just be on time, be early.
- Trite but true: Under promise and over deliver…every time.
- If they ask for 1 of something, send them 2.
- If they want it in 2 days send it in 1.
- No sale will ever compromise your integrity.
- No salesperson needs to work with abusive (verbal or otherwise) reps. Take ‘em off your list.
- Remove “no”, “can’t”, “won’t”, etc. from your vocabulary.
- Be the best dressed/most immaculately groomed person at every client meeting. They WILL notice.
- Be a student of the market/business. If you don’t subscribe to and read The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Money, Smart Money, Kiplingers, NY Times, etc., start today.
- Always look for the lighter/brighter side. If you’re not having fun and laughing along the way, we need to talk.
- Have you hugged your internal sales partner/admin today, telephonically speaking of course.
- Expand your vocabulary and the clarity of your voice. I may not be the smartest guy around, but I might sound like it!
- Simple math: Salesperson Listen to Talk Ratio = 2:1
- Creativity sells. If you’re feeling brain dead, let’s brain storm.
- Be the best prepared salesperson in your territory. If you’re winging it you better be REAL good….or lucky!
Add more via comments if you’d like.
If you are a financial services wholesaler and would like to benefit from monthly interaction with peers and a professional coach visit Wholesaler Masterminds. It’s where the best get better.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Excellent Very true!
Emphasis on number 1 and number 2! (At least in my opinion). Don’t ever be late to an appointment and don’t ever be late on a deadline (something that you promised someone on a particular date). These two lead to lost trust and that’s never a good thing!
Ricardo Bueno´s last blog ..Bobby Mcferrin Show Us How To Engage With An Audience
@Ricardo
Yes – said another way “do what you say you’re going to do, when you say you’re going to do it”. One of the core principals our firm speaks about…relentlessly.
This is a great list. Still, one of my favorite sayings is “If you don’t take care of your customer, somebody else will.”
@Diane
Thanks for the comment – I like that rule/saying as well.
Rob, it probably fits into #5, but always believe in the product/service you’re selling, because nobody will buy if they don’t think you’re behind what you’re selling.
@Paul
I agree 100%.
Conviction, passion, enthusiasm are all essential elements for the most successful sales professionals.
Your maxims are great. I’d add “Prospect every day. Without new prospects in your pipeline you’ll soon be out of business.” Violating this one drives more new salespeople out of the business than anything else.
@Bob
Great point….and so true.
Good stuff, Rob. I would add the importance of focusing on benefits to the buyer — in a consultative selling process — rather than product features. Of course, in today’s world with information overload and sales pitches coming from all sorts of modes, the buyer is more jaded and guarded than ever. For the salesperson, the answer is not to try to become the buyer’s “buddy,” but to respect his or her time, present yourself in a professional way that shows that your time is valuable, too, and serve more as a trusted consultant than a salesman. Help to identify the problem (if any), and then fashion a solution that fits. Sometimes one size doesn’t fit all. Get to know the client and then propose a targeted solution with a focus on benefits — rather than laying out all your various products & their wonderful features and expecting the client to be as enamored with them as you are.
@Scott
Agreed. The ‘see what sticks’ era of sales is long past. Thanks for the comment.
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