Maxine is an incredibly hard working, committed and dedicated salesperson. She has won many awards for top performance and consistently over-achieving her numbers. She loves what she does. She is dedicated to giving her customers the best possible service.
By Paul Naidoo
She is also a single mum of three kids. However, she does not expect any special treatment just because she is a single mum and competes with both male and female counterparts in her company, and her competitor salespeople.
Maxine asked me some tough questions at a recent sales training session I conducted. It prompted me to make the following Christmas wish list on behalf of Maxine.
Please can you ask customers to do the following:
Dear Customer
- Please return my calls at least within 24 hours, or send a text letting me know when to call back. I feel like I am being a pest by calling continuously. I feel as if I have done something wrong. If I did do something wrong, please let me know. If you don’t have a progressive step, just let me know.
- Please can you share your budget. Just a budget range will suffice. I am not trying to skin you of your money. I am simply trying to give you the best solution with your budget to save you time from trying to get best prices and, in some cases, compromise quality and service.
- Please grant me a meeting with you even if it is for 15 minutes. Don’t shut me down by requesting an email first. The email you request does not necessarily do justice to a face to face meeting. People do business with people. Let’s humanise the sales process.
- Please introduce me to the other people in the decision-making process. I will ensure that you look good. If you doubt me, please tell me where and how to step up in order for you to be comfortable to introduce me to the other decision-makers.
- Please let me know why I lost the business and what I can do better the next time to win the business. Price is not the only criteria, but is often used as an excuse to justify why I lost the business.
- Please can you share with me what needs to change in my proposal, besides pricing, so that I can have a fair chance to earn your business.
- Please share with me what your perception of value is so that I can optimally position my value proposition to match your expectations of a fair exchange for value.
- Please be so kind as to give me a timeline of events in your organisation before you place the order so that I can populate my pipeline correctly without expecting the order to come in anytime soon, but at the right time. My manager will not put me under pressure if she knows the sales cycle timeframe.
- Please feel free to tell me what I need to step up on for you to have confidence in me and to refer me to other customers outside your organisation.
- Please let me know the decision-making process your department follows and how it is similar – or different – to your procurement department.
- Please see me as another human being and not just a salesperson trying to make a sale. I can add quantifiable value to you and your organisation. People do business with people. I want to earn your trust at the highest level. Tell me how.
- Please give me a portion of the business if you cannot give me the total business, or let me know where and how I can qualify to do business with you in the future. Collaboration is good business practice.
Thank you, Santa, for taking my wish list to customers. Please do it on behalf of every salesperson who has ended up in sales because the majority of us did not choose sales as career. We ended up in the sales profession because it was the only available career for us to raise our families.
And please remember to give all customers my very best wishes for a joyful festive season.