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WINTER 2008
 Designing a Complete Sales Team
When putting together your team it’s important to understand why someone takes the job you’re offering. If you can appreciate why your staff is working for you then you will know what motivates them. Identifying with your employees in this way will keep them satisfied, rewarded, and also longer in your employ.
5 reasons we go to work:
- We want to achieve our goals. Maybe it’s a new car, a vacation, or a college education. Help this worker attain their objective by perhaps offering incentives on sales.
- We have an obligation to our family. Sometimes we just have to take a job in order to pay the bills!
- We crave recognition and we want to define who we are. Work gives us meaning and purpose. Identifying a career helps us outline our skill set. Being recognized for a job well done helps us lock in a belief in that skill set.
- We need to keep busy and stay active. Many times we just want to feel involved in life. We want to meet new people. This is especially true for those at retirement age.
- We want to feel like we’re making a difference. Who among us does not want to make a difference? If this is important to your new-hire then be certain to help them leave a legacy!
Remember that almost everyone complains about work whether it’s the price of gasoline, the toil of housework, the boring routine, or the long hours. It doesn’t matter whether we’re doctors or computer programmers or auto mechanics, you have to agree that most of us complain about the work we do! Yet without work, where would we be? How would we derive a sense of ourselves as being connected to the world if we weren’t involved in it through our work? It nourishes us and provides us with a measure of ourselves. When we’re productive, we feel good. When work loses its meaning, we feel bad. We owe it to ourselves to find work that fulfills us!
"S" is for Serve
If you don’t have what the customer is looking for then tell them who does!
“More than 16% of consumers surveyed said they would stop shopping at a retail store if they received bad customer service. While product and price may bring customers in the door, executing the expected level of customer service keeps them from walking out and into a competitor’s store.”—A survey by National In-Store Research
Let’s say it’s the holidays and a customer needs “that certain something” especially for their child. They absolutely MUST have it—nothing else will do. You don’t have it but you know who does. So you pick up the phone and call your competition. You find out they have what your customer is looking for and you ask the salesperson to place it on hold. Ask the clerk’s name, get the correct directions to the store and be certain of the store hours. Then take your business card and write this information on the back of it. Tell your customer the good news! I guarantee that because of your courtesy that customer will remember you. They’ll not only remember you for having sent them to the competition but they will also remember you the next time they need what you have. You have made a friend AND a loyal customer! Macy’s did this in the classic Christmas movie “Miracle on 34th Street.” They sent customers all over town to their competition in order to provide extraordinary customer service—and ended up being recognized as Number One in the City for their efforts.
There’s plenty of “pie” for all of us. If you’re in the service industry then your mission is to SERVE! Do whatever you can to help your customer achieve their goal.
Sure, tie-dye is a staple in some people’s wardrobes…it is, however, considered a trendy look, not a classic one. The same holds true for spandex denim, acrylic leopard-print “fur” trim, vinyl pants and gold lurex threads running through a black lace tee shirt! Although these trends are what make fashion fun, and it is exciting to have a few of these items in our wardrobe, they are not appropriate in the workplace.
Try these tips when putting together your professional wardrobe for work:
- Buy natural fabrics such as cotton, silk and linen in classic colors—navy, cream or white, camel, charcoal and black.
- Look for suits in wool gabardine—a sleek weave that stays crisp.
- Purchase high quality oxford or pima cotton shirts for your suits.
- Buy versatile fabrics for spring and summer—suits in silk, linen or cotton blends; linen blend shirts and dresses; cotton piqué shirts, dresses, pants and walking shorts.
- Make your underpinnings durable by selecting woven silk, cotton knit, acrylic or nylon blends, cashmere or wool challis.
Classic textiles and designs make for a much better wardrobe investment.
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The Texas Hill Country—bluebonnets at dusk. |
Being a daughter of the Lone Star State it’s hard to imagine a more beautiful spot on earth. I was raised on both a ranch in the Hill Country and the metropolis of Dallas-Fort Worth. Texas holds a special place in my heart.
If you find yourself traveling to the area south and west of Austin, north and east of San Antonio, around the Kerrville-Fredericksburg area, you’ll find a little slice of heaven in the springtime. Make sure to contact the local Chambers and Visitor Bureaus. They’ll send you off on backroad adventures that you won’t soon forget. Not only is the scenery breathtaking but the local food and music that Texas is known for will really excite your senses. Here are a few links to get you started:
Kerrville Area Chamber of Commerce
www.kerrvilletx.com
Fredericksburg Texas Chamber of Commerce
www.fredericksburg-texas.com
Texas Hill Country Lodging
Gastehaus Schmidt
www.fbglodging.com
Luckenbach Texas and Dance Hall, Best Dance Hall in Texas
www.luckenbachtexas.com
Texas’ Oldest Dance Hall
www.gruenehall.com
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See previous tips, including travel destinations, here.
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P.O. Box 4164 •
Evergreen, CO 80437 •
303-512-7638 •
fax: 303-674-5356 |
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