Buy Something!

As an unseasoned, young salesman, I used to spend my windshield time thinking about all the ways I could talk about my company and my offering. I would turn the sentences inside out and upside down, forwards and backwards and everything in between.  My strategy was classic rookie: He who talks best wins.

Over time I moved away from talking and towards listening. I learned about SPIN Selling and how to ask progressively more penetrating questions. Sometimes, my questions were cumbersome and forced; you could tell I was struggling to convert some of my old, well polished statements into probing questions, but wasn't doing a very good job of it.  "Well, Mr. Customer, how has going without my service really put you in a bind?"  Did that really just come out of my mouth???

As time passed, questions became the default, and genuine caring about people's needs took over. But the urge remained to "talk about us" a little bit. When I was with a big company, I somehow had to work in a thing or two about the billions in the bank account, or the office on the west coast.  Surely the client wants to know about how our company is structured and the recent departmental realignment, right?  Just kidding... I never talked about that. But I did feel the need to force some conversation towards us if the Client wasn't going there.

Even the past few years, with a company strategy that builds off of our private ownership and flexibility that allows us to deliver the best services at the lowest cost in the industry, I find myself struggling not to brag. (Get it?)

That is, until recently. In one 45 minute span, I got cured forever. My disease is gone with no trace left. I now confidently pledge to never again talk about myself unless the Client asks. I promise to focus on the Client and to never, ever assume that the Client can't wait for me to deliver my infomercial, no matter how sexy I think it is.  So what happened?  Very simply, we bought something.

I always tried to imagine myself in the Client's shoes, but as a salesman you never really get all the way there. I thought in terms of what the Client might be needing, or thinking, or thinking he is needing. I also focused on how the Client would receive what I would say. But until I sat at a conference table as the customer, and really experience what it was like to be the target of every word spoken, I couldn't know what the Client's shoes felt like.

Then I put them on. I became the Client, and as such, all I cared about was what I cared about. There were things I wanted to know, and thinks that I didn't know I wanted to know, but that I knew I probably needed to know. I wanted the salesman to guide me through that, and help me get where I needed to be. But it was about me, not him. It was about trying to unlock my own thoughts and feelings, not listen to his.  The interesting thing about the experience was how great it felt when he was focusing on me, and how quickly I could become put off by an untimely diversion away from me and towards the merits of his company. I wondered almost out loud how out of touch this guy must be to think I wanted to hear his spiel at that moment. And at the same time, I was so grateful for the lesson he was teaching me. He showed me, quite frankly, me.

There has probably been no greater lesson for me in my career than to have that kind of a mirror exposing a critical flaw in my approach. My suspicion is that what I experienced would help a lot of people take the next step in their sales careers.  It showed me how to better serve, not only my external Clients, but my sales team and other people around me.  Buying opened my eyes and ears to truth, and I will take all of that I can get.  I have taken the lesson to heart, and challenge anyone who has never put the Client's shoes on to do it and get ready to take some notes.  Buy something, and really learn how to sell!

Looking Glass Land - Part 3

The following is the final (Part 3) of a three part article by Perry Been, Public Sector Services Director.

In Lewis Carroll’s (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), Through the looking Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871), we find young Alice pondering what the world is like on the other side of a mirror's reflection. Climbing up on the fireplace mantel, she pokes at the wall-hung mirror behind the fireplace and discovers, to her surprise, that she is able to step through it to an alternative world, the Looking-Glass Land.

After spending 18 ½ years in the public service arena, with the last 9 ½ of those years serving as the Deputy Director of the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO), I now find myself in Looking-Glass Land working in the private sector for DMI Entegral Solutions. I enjoy telling folks that I am doing the same thing I did for the State: I’m dealing with the same end-users, but now I can tell them what I really think. While said tongue-in-cheek, there is a lot of truth in that statement and I would like to share just a few things that I have learned and observed during the past 24 months of my life in Looking-Glass land.

Click here for Looking Glass Land - Part 1
Click here for Looking Glass Land - Part 2

Lesson 3 – Customer service is hard work, but it is the best part.
It will be difficult to write this without coming across as “prideful in my humility”, but I am going to give it a shot.  Those who read this just have to trust that there isn’t a prideful bone in my body. I try every day to be the best that I can be, given the limited abilities that God has chosen to bless me with, (Oops… now I suppose I am portraying “false humility”…), but I am never satisfied with my performance.  I suppose the lessons I learn about my industry, career, and myself are enough of a reward.  I am digging a hole; I better shut up and write.

When I was at SECO, I watched people that I knew in customer service roles with a critical eye.  Some did a very good job, while I can think of a few examples of really poor customer service.  I remember thinking about how important it was, but I honestly didn’t know what good service actually involved, how hard it would be, or how easy it could be to end up accidentally giving the poor service that I had self-righteously judged.  In the Looking Glass Land, I have come to appreciate the people I observed give good customer service, much like an amateur golfer appreciates how easy the pros make it look.  I know how hard it really is, and the fact that they make it look so effortless is very impressive.

So what is good customer service to Perry Been?  Unfortunately, I don’t have a fancy definition; but I think I know what the ingredients are, at least for me, to cause good service to come out of the other end.  I believe those key ingredients to be the following:

1. A genuine caring for the person you are serving;
2. An understanding of what is required as a servant; and,
3. A willingness to do what is required.

While each of the ingredients seems simple, I contend that they are indeed very difficult.  The proof is all around us.  If it was easy, we would never have occasion to get mad when we are on the phone with the satellite TV provider, or when the flight attendant snaps at us, or when we are trying to get an answer to a computer problem.  Furthermore, I think there is more to each ingredient than meets the eye.  Here is a taste of how I look at it:

Ingredient 1: A genuine caring for the person you are serving

Notice that this ingredient wasn’t worded “caring about the account” or “caring about the relationship.” I believe that is where a lot of mistakes are made.  Many subscribe to the “enlightened self interest” thought process that hypothesizes that if we do what is best for others, it will be best for ourselves; therefore we should do what is best for others.  While I find it hard to argue with, I would rather think of it as doing what is best for a person because it is the right thing to do.  If we always view other people as human beings, and not accounts or some form of nebulous “relationship” that we have to protect, the outcome is noticeably different.  I can tell when someone cares more about my wallet, or being tied to me in some way than simply caring about me.

Ingredient 2: An understanding of what is required as a servant

There is a big difference between what is required as a servant and what many people think is required of a servant.  It isn’t good enough to be cordial, check in every now and then, and offer lunch once a month.  A servant understands the emotional needs of his Client, as well as the physical needs. He understands that sometimes they “don’t know what they don’t know” and he will have to help.  He understands that there is always a tinge of “buyer’s remorse” when the Client second guesses his decision, and he will have to be there. He understands that his Client will sometimes get conflicting information from random sources, and he will have to hold his hand through it.  He understands that a Client will have internal battles within his own organization that cause anxiety, and he will need to help him through.  He understands that the Client will need constant reassurance, even when the decision is logical and based on sound information.  In short, he simply understands.

Ingredient 3: A willingness to do what is required

Lastly, and most importantly, a servant serves.  That requires a setting aside of yourself and putting others first.  I believe that most people that fail at customer service fail because of a lack of will.  The path of least resistance is to self-serve.  It is easy to feed yourself; it is humbling to feed someone else.

So there it is. The best part of all is that I actually enjoy it. I get more out of serving and making people feel taken care of than I do any other part of my job. I know the definition is homemade, and overly simplified, but it works for me. In reality, the three ingredients are tied together in such a way that you can’t have one without the others. It starts and ends with a decision to be humble. What a great quality; what a great challenge. How will you put this into practice?