I believe it is easy to make anything too complicated. Every day we have the opportunity to work with sales teams across the country and for me, selling should not be complicated. People in this country love to buy stuff. Why shouldn’t they buy yours?
At a very fundamental level I think the best system for selling can be summed up in 3 words.
What’s that saying? You get one time to make a first impression. Boy, isn’t that true? We have a new Mexican restaurant in my home town, Anéjo House of Tequila. My friend Mary and her husband tried it out on the weekend and loved it. Mexican food is my favorite and when Mary mentioned this place we headed there for lunch on the following Monday. The food was good but the service was lousy. During the same week I received a “Groupon” that had a compelling offer for this same location ($15 off of a $30 purchase). I knew Mary was scheduled to go again with a group of friends later in the week so I sent her the Groupon
Pay attention, Mary is giving this place another opportunity – Watch what happens. The service was just as bad or worse. Even with a 50% discount guess who’s not going back. Isn’t that crazy? Look at the depth of influence. Mary gave the place a great try. I love Mexican food more than any other kind of food; and even though I only went to this restaurant one time, based on someone else’s experience, combined with my own poor first impression, I’m not going back. Mary won’t go again, and the four other couples that went to dinner with Mary won’t be back. Here’s the really bad thing – they’ll tell two friends, who will tell two friends – WAIT, I forgot about Facebook, and Twitter, and the fact that they probably texted someone during dinner. I’ll be interested to see how long the Anéjo House of Tequila stays open.
I believe it is very difficult to overcome lousy service. As a matter of fact, give me mediocre food and awesome service, and I’ll be back every time. During our GREAT GUEST SERVICE IS GREAT SALES training class we ask the audience what it takes to have a great sales experience. Every single time we get an answer that just fascinates me:
Here’s the up close and personal look at my encounter with Zig Ziglar last week. It was awesome! A friend of mine asked me on Tuesday if I still had my “Zig–On”… My answer was a quick yes – and I am committed to keeping it that way.
September 27th, 2010
I met Zig Ziglar in person this morning. It was an incredible experience. I have been a student, admirer, fan, and follower of Mr. Ziglar for more than 25 years. We moved to Dallas 20 years ago and I knew he taught Sunday school in Dallas. Many times I thought what a great opportunity it would be to attend his class.
Zig Ziglar has had a profound impact on my life. I’m a successful sales person and attribute much of that success to the learning that I gained from Zig Ziglar. Fast forward – I never went to Sunday school in Dallas. I have seen Zig Ziglar speak in person more than once but there were 1000’s of other people in the audience. It doesn’t seem possible to run up and shake his hand in the midst of that kind of crowd.
I started my own sales training company in 2005 and thought “I might not be Zig Ziglar – but maybe, just maybe, I can be a little like him”!
This summer was a bit bumpy with our company. Lots of good stuff associated with growth but after 5 ½ years of running at warp speed I think I just got a little tired. I begin to obsess about whether or not Zig Ziglar ever got tired or hit a bump. I talked with the chair of my CEO group, Nancy Starr, and we worked on the possibility of me having a face–to–face meeting with Zig Ziglar. Finally, a dear friend, mentor, and my bowling coach, Susie Minshew and I were having our monthly lunch together; and I emotionally shared with her how much it would mean to me to meet Zig Ziglar. She looked at me and very candidly said, “What are you waiting for?” I didn’t really have a good answer other than I didn’t know if I could meet with him and not be all emotional. That did not seem to be a good enough reason to not follow through.