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 SAVVY
SELLING - JULY
27, 2007
Relationship
Rules for Salespeople
by Michelle Nichols
EXECUTIVE
OVERVIEW
To improve your relationships
with both customers and family
members, maintain a balance
by sticking to one set of standards
As a salesperson, your relationships
with members of the business
community can make you or break
you. That's why successful salespeople
do everything they can to create
and maintain the healthiest
relationships possible.
The same holds true when it
comes to your family. If you
want a successful relationship,
you have to put in the effort.
I decided to put more effort
into my family after we experienced
a tragedy nine years ago. Our
oldest child, Mark, was 8½
years old. He was bright, made
friends easily, and liked to
make up jokes. When he got sick,
the doctor first thought he
just had the flu. An MRI revealed
he had a brain tumor and 11
days later, Mark died of brain
cancer.
Remember, "family"
means whatever you want it to
mean. It doesn't matter whether
you're part of an Ozzie-and-Harriet
traditional clan, or you're
a single person with friends
and relatives.
Here are four lessons I've
learned to improve relationships
with family and customers while
maintaining a balance between
the two worlds.
1. Keep your word. Most of
us will do whatever it takes
to keep a promise we make to
a customer. If we tell them,
"I'll have it there by
Friday at 5 p.m.," even
if it takes some last-minute
phone calls or driving to a
supplier to pick up a part,
we make the extra effort to
keep our word.
Don't give your word unless
you are sure you can keep it.
It's O.K. to tell your customer,
"Let me check with my company
to be sure we can have it to
you by 5 p.m. before I agree
to that deadline." Do the
same with your family and check
your calendar thoroughly before
you agree to an event.
In addition, just as you probably
build in some wiggle room with
your customers, if you think
you'll probably be free by 5
p.m., tell your loved ones you're
available at 6 p.m. so you have
some flexibility without hurting
any feelings. If you finish
up early, everyone wins.
2. Don't give your family just
your scrap time. It's tempting
to sell until you've exhausted
every possible lead and then
head home. When you do this,
your family gets just the last
few drops of your time and energy.
Resist—and reprioritize.
Speaker and author Larry Winget
likes to say that you ought
to be able to run your entire
business in just four hours
a day. While I haven't whittled
my workday down this far yet,
I keep it as a goal. With each
item on my to-do list, I ask
myself if Larry would include
it in his four hours (see BusinessWeek.com,
2/9/07, "An 'Irritational
Speaker' on How to Sell More").
If not, I try to delegate, outsource,
or eliminate it from my schedule.
That keeps me focused on my
most important work.
3. Show up regularly for your
family. It's easy to tell yourself
there's always tomorrow to spend
time with your family. It's
a lie. I never went to one of
my son's baseball games because
I thought baseball was boring.
My husband was the team coach,
so Mark had plenty of family
support, but not from me. I
don't get a do-over. Learn from
my mistake and show up even
when you don't feel like it.
4. Play it straight and tell
the truth. My first boss taught
me that no one likes surprises.
If the price is $16,000, then
say so. Don't tell the customer
$10,000 to win as the low bidder
and then upcharge them later
to recoup the other $6,000.
The only one who wins after
those tricks is your lawyer
if you are sued for misrepresentation
and bad faith.
Our business lies can hurt
our families, too. Imagine how
embarrassing it must be for
the families of the criminals
from Enron and WorldCom.
Tell your family the truth.
If you can't afford to buy a
swimming pool or go on an exotic
trip this year, tell them. Don't
give them a perpetual "maybe"
or "we'll see." Instead,
make a plan as a family to pull
together to save and earn the
money or vacation time needed
to make your dreams come true.
GoDaddy's Bob Parsons is quoted
as saying, "We're not here
for a long time, we're here
for a good time." Sure,
you've got to sell to provide
for your family, and your relationship
with your customers is important.
But remember to schedule in
good times with your family,
too. That's a relationship money
can't buy—but your time
and love can. Happy selling!
Michelle
Nichols is a professional sales
speaker and consultant based
in Reno, Nevada. She is also
the Savvy
Selling podcast host for
BusinessWeek. She welcomes your
questions and comments. You
can visit her web site at www.savvyselling.com
or contact her at michelle.nichols@savvyselling.com.
Her toll-free number is (877)
352-9684 and direct line is
(775) 303-8201.
Copyright
2007. All rights reserved.
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