Listening to your customers!

I recently went into an eating establishment to order some food. Now, I go to this place regularly and usually don't have many issues if any at all. I went in this particular morning and ordered my usual breakfast and then the young man, taking my order, asked me if I just wanted the sandwich and drink to which I replied no I'd like the meal. Then he repeated my order and then inserted "medium Coke" to which I replied no a "medium coffee". Now, I really don't get upset or frustrated about things like this because I usually use them to train on. I usually try to use them to apply to what I do for a living.

The first thing I noticed about the young man is the fact that he is "training" and probably hasn't been doing it long. And I for sure will agree that working in fast food is definitely not easy especially when you are busy and getting backed up and everyone is staring at you wondering when they are going to get their food. So I definitely wasn't going to get mad. I automatically thought of the sales industry, auto sales in particular, and how often we do this same exact thing.

We have a particular process we use at our dealership and train everyone to follow it. It begins with the meet and greet and then goes into the interview process. Now, these two steps are vitally important to any sales position because this is where you learn about the customer and start to find out what you need to sell them. If you are not really "listening" to them at this point you could lose a deal whether it's right away or at the end. If you are not really paying attention to them you could miss important information that could lead to you putting them on the wrong product or showing them the wrong item.

You might ask "Is that really that big of a deal if I show them the wrong item or product?" to which I would respond "YES". I answer the question that way simply because a customer looks at you as the professional and they expect you to have all the answers even if you don't know all the answers. They look to you to show them what they need instead of showing them the wrong product altogether. Sometimes you lose trust and credibility and sometimes it blows over and is no big deal. But why must you risk the possibility of losing a customer because you were too busy or not interested enough in them to listen to what they want and what their concerns are? Keep in mind that you may even sale the particular customer but do they send you referrals and do you get their repeat business? Both important questions to note.

If you don't "listen" to your customers and "hear" what they are saying then you could also lose vital time. If you want to sell more than one car a day, for example, then you must be able to utilize your time and that includes being efficient with each and every customer and opportunity that presents itself to you. If you don't then you could find yourself spending way more time on a deal than you probably need to and if you do end up selling the customer you may not leave yourself time to do much else that you need to be doing. Now, when I'm talking about time you must be considerate of the customer's time as well. It's not all about you. If they come to see you then you must be prepared to handle the customer in an appropriate amount of time so you definitely must be able to "listen" and pay close attention to each and every opportunity.

I could write much more on this topic but the whole point is that if you want to be successful in sales, not short term but long term, you must be able to listen to every customer and apply what they say to your process so that it'll end with the results you want it to. If you can, listen to everything that is going on around you too. Who knows?, you might even pick up something from someone else that may help you grow in your craft.


Thanks for reading!

Fist Pump Guy Out!

Blank stares in the room!

One thing that always seems to amaze me, when doing any kind of training, is the amount of blank stares or the noticeable lack on interest. I always wonder what are people thinking. Are they thinking "I don't need this", "I already know this" or "I am so good that I don't need anymore training"? I could think of other things if you gave me time but it would take up too much of your precious time.

What's funny about this whole thing is that most of the people that have "checked out" need the most training, I don't care what title they hold. Are these guys so comfortable in what they think they know that they don't absorb any kind of training or are they selective in what they want to pay attention to? Is it because that they have learned sooooo much that their brains can't handle any more? Is it because they think that the topic at hand doesn't pertain to them? In this world of constant change do they think that they have a secure lock on their position? Have they had a moderate amount of success and they think that what they currently know will continue to sustain them? These are all seriously vital questions that need to be answered simply because, in today's day and time, no one's job is safe.

I mean, think about it for a minute. If you had a job that you've had for a long time and the company sells out to a larger corporation and they decide to "clean house" and bring in all their own people, where do you go at that point? If you've had no extensive training and are too comfortable in what you think you know then what kind of job do you think you are going to be able to do? If you don't have enough knowledge in order to carry you to another company then what are you going to do? Have to start over? Yea, I guess you could find another job doing something similar but may not be as successful.

Ideally, no one wants to think they need to learn anything which I guess could explain people dropping out of school. Nonetheless, learning and growing is essential especially in this present world that changes from day to day. It's been hard for me as well especially with the technology part of it because it seems like everything has gotten harder since the invention of all this new technology. I'm sure it was put in place to make things easier and in some aspects it has done that but some of it I just don't get.

I guess the moral of this post is if you want to grow in your business and become more successful then why wouldn't you think that you could use new training? even if you have heard it before or you are better at it than others around you. Also, if you are in a "leader" position then you have to be the example! You have to show that you want to learn and that you are interested in learning. If you show that you don't care then those "subordinates" under you will NOT care. If you don't stress the importance in improving then they will NOT improve. Sure, they will make you money for a while but once the newness wears off then that will slow as well. What are you going to do at that point? Get rid of them and start over? Why, because you didn't do what you should've done and train them right to begin with? It's easier for some to start over with new people because they can program them but wouldn't be much easier training people the correct way from the start and keep it up instead of yelling at them and tearing them down because you didn't do your job and train them right to begin with? I think you can see the answer!


Thanks for reading!

Fist Pump Guy out!

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