Friday, May 19, 2006
What Customers Admire Most In Salespeople . . .
Growing up as a teenager in West Babylon, New York did not include a lot of memories of reading. In fact neither my mother or father were high school graduates so we didn't have a home filled with books.
What we did have was a television. Thank God I took an interest in reading after my military service and when I got my first sales job.
I do believe we become what we read so I try to read a little every day. I picked up the habit after reading articles and listening to cassettes that encouraged all people to read for 30 minutes a day - with the promise of developing expertise in the work you do. Well, at the time I was in sales and I liked the sound of being an expert. So I just kept reading.
Every day I try to scan the local paper, read several articles in the WSJ, an article or two in one of the magazines I subscribe to and a chapter or two in a book I'm reading. Currently I 'm reading an old classic by Maxwell Maltz called Psycho-Cybernetics.
Last night I was reading the current issue of Sales & Marketing Magazine. The article that caught my attentions was "What Customers Really Want."
A group of executives was asked to look at a list of 25 qualities top salespeople had in common.
Here's the top six they selected:
1. Honesty
2. Accountability
3. Understanding the customer's business
4. Problem solving
5. Partnership
6. Customer satisfaction
You might want do this exercise if you're interested in working more closely with your biggest customers and prospects. Step #1 - take a few minutes and write your definition of these qualities. Step #2 - ask your customers how they define these qualities.
You might learn a thing or two.
Start selling more . . .
Jim Meisenheimer
PS - If you're looking for some sales oriented reading material, take a look at my first book, "47 Ways To Sell Smarter." If you order the paperback, I'll also include the eBook version, so you'll have a copy for your library and one for you laptop.
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/javanof.asp?MerchantID=39581&ProductID=1283586
Published by Jim Meisenheimer13506 Blythefield TerraceLakewood Ranch, FL 34202
(800) 266-1268
E-mail: jim@meisenheimer.com
Website: http://www.meisenheimer.com
# posted by Jim Meisenheimer @ 12:48 PM 
