I’m looking forward to a new year and a new series, Sales Done Right.
The series will focus on different companies, organizations, and individuals who I see doing sales right contributing to their success.
I’ll have some podcast guests that I invite to share, as well, as I’ll share my point of view on what we can learn about sales, business, and life from others.
The first of this series will be focusing on my first job in sales.
What made me fall in love with selling copiers? It started as what I thought was a transition position and became even more appealing than my original dream job.
So what made it so fun for me? What made a job others say no way to so awesome for me?
First, I had no preconceived notions about a sales job. I had come from a rural area where jobs were few, and any job with a salary plus commission seemed like a sweet deal.
Next, it was a small family-owned business.
What had started out being owned by three brothers was now owned by a man with extensive sales experience and his accountant son-in-law.
The company at this time had three branches, and when Earl and I started there, I am guessing there were a total of only 20 or 30 employees.
My first job had been in a nursing home part of a large nonprofit. I loved the residents, but it didn’t feel like you walked into a welcoming family ready for productivity like it did when you walked into the building where everyone either wanted to fix something that was broken or wanted to sell something. It was as if everyone had a purpose, and no one was just there to bide their time.
While I started there as a telemarketer, they never made me feel less important than their top sales rep.
One day after a few weeks of setting 25+ appointments per week, the owner, Jim, the one with sales experience, and his wife ann came by our branch and took me to lunch.
They were just passing through town. We went to lunch, and they just talked to me.
They were easy to talk to and friendly. Jim was not always involved in the day to day of business, but he kept the sales side motivated and accountable.
He bragged on me a bit about the job I was doing on telemarketing, but he didn’t dwell on it, and he didn’t ask for more details, calls, or more appointments.
This lunch gave me incredible confidence and made me want to do even better. They made me feel like part of their family.
Jim had been in sales all his life. He had worked and been trained by some of the great companies like IBM.
Ann also made it comfortable for me as she shared about her family and her animals.
They were just a joy and were part of what the company was doing right.
There wasn’t a need to see them daily for them to be part of the culture and success of the company.
The company had a branch manager at each of its three locations. The branch manager made sure service calls were being dispatched and closed. But, it seemed the dispatcher, service manager, and technicians had that under control most days.
The dispatcher took calls, told the guys where to go, and kept up with all things service call-related. It seemed again to go smoothly.
The sales team could be seen on occasion but not on a predictable basis in the office throughout the month.
There seemed to be trust and freedom for everyone that worked there.
I’ll never forget my first new year’s eve working there.
The company had set a goal if they hit $1,000,000 in sales by the end of the year, everyone company-wide would earn a cruise to the Bahamas. Every single employee got to go and take a guest!
I don’t remember what number we were at to start the day, but I know we hit it late afternoon.
I spent my day calling customers selling toner instead of setting appointments that day.
Technicians were also selling toner On service calls that day.
Earl and I left the office celebrating, and it felt almost like a dream that in a few months, we would be getting on our first plane ride, and then a ship, and leaving the country.
That was just something I had never even dreamed of, and it didn’t feel real.
They set big goals and made every one not only part of reaching them but celebrating them.
That wasn’t even the end; later in the spring, they created a promotion for service guys.
They made a flyer with a special list on desktop copiers. The techs could sell the machines and earn spending money for the cruise.
The same thing for sales reps offering an additional bonus based on sales earned for cruise spending money.
Not only was this an all-expense paid vacation, but now spending money too!
They came through with all their promises, and the owners and their wives were right there with us alongside us on the whole trip.
We all flew coach, rode on the same tour bus to the ship, and were all one big happy family.
We spent the next two new year’s eve doing the same, reaching for those numbers right down to the wire.
The goal increased each year, starting at one million, then three, and then five million, and each year we did it, and we followed with a spring trip to the Bahamas altogether.
I believe the goal of the trip and the reward sum up the best things about being in an organization that is doing sales right.
Every person in the company, starting with the owner, had a part to play in reaching a goal. The goal was clearly defined.
But, the means of getting there included some trust we could do it and some freedom to take our path to find the customers.
There was accountability along the way as they asked for periodic reports on how it was going.
Lastly, the work was hard, but the reward was fun and worth the extra effort.
If you want to create a sales culture to reach big goals, clearly define the goal, give everyone their part, trust that they can and will do it, yet hold them accountable, and celebrate the win.
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