Don't Be a Salesman...Be An Advocate
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This post was originally posted on the Perfect Imprints blog, written by the company's owner, Patrick Black Hate is a strong word that I rarely use. With that being said....
I hate when salesmen with no passion approach or call me out of the blue. I hate being cold-called by people who are reading a generic script. Even if you ask a question, you get a word-for-word scripted answer that doesn't even begin to address your question. I hate dealing with sales people who hate their job. I hate dealing with employees at stores who are grumpy and generally miserable.
However, the sales calls or visits that do sell me are those sale people with passion. It's easy to tell when someone loves what they do and believes in the product or service they represent. They no longer are a salesman; they are a brand advocate. They completely have faith in what they are promoting. It makes me excited to try their product or service!
Does your company as a whole have passion?
It starts with the top management and trickles down. If your principals and management team aren't advocates, expect that the rest of your staff will have the same lousy attitudes.
As the CEO of Perfect Imprints, I am passionate about promotional products. I am a promotional products nerd. I am constantly learning. I believe in the products. I believe in the process of using them in creative ways to increase the branding and to strengthen marketing campaigns. I believe in my employees.
My employees have passion. They are delighted when clients are happy. They are truly upset if an order happens to go awry. They go above and beyond to accommodate the sometimes unreasonable requests by clients. They find joy in performing the "impossible." Their passion shows and their clients don't just notice it, they feel it!
Do you have passion for your products? Do you love what you do? If not, maybe you need to re-evaluate what you are selling. Or a better question is, "What are you advocating?" If you are haphazardly "selling" a product, are you advocating "average" or a "sub-par product?