# Dopamine # Feel Good Factor # Sales Job a Pleasure not a Pressure# Personal Branding for sales People # Referrals for sales
Who is not happy when someone acknowledges their good work?, writes a small “thanks for guiding” note in an email?, someone is willing to recommend them to others? And imagine all this happening to sales people which is not surreal.
When you are happy you work better…
But, one prerequisite – The sales person needs to actively seek for such an email from the clients they sign up (you know, ask and only then it will be given to you)
Dopamine (the hormone responsible for your feel-good factor) is essential to navigate the day-to-day situations better in a sales job which include – rejections, delays in deal closure, constant waiting periods at client’s place, fear of selling an average product or service vis-a-vie a superior competition, achieving numbers ,etc. While internal systems in most sales organisations do their best to make you feel good, an appreciation or thanking email from a client is an excellent booster dose.Then let’s see how to get them?
Associated Benefits here –
Minimise expectation mismatch, build long term relations with customers which is a key to your personal brand, wide scope for referrals, boosts your confidence and helps approach many more clients in similar businesses, positive impact on your ability to Influence your future prospects or your career opportunities.
First and foremost,
- Have a mindset of helping customers solve their problem by selling the right product or service to them
- Understand the problem or need with a prospect that needs a solution from you
- Provide the right value proposition from your product portfolio and be available to resolve any queries even after the sale.
We are not selling combs or pens. We are selling solutions to customers' problems or needs. If a problem or need isn’t understood properly or we don’t sell the right solutions then we are not being authentic. We are matchmakers, let’s ensure we build long lasting relations.
- While the presence of Customer Success Teams is mostly available in SAAS companies, all other businesses still count on Sales People until the prospect or the company they represent is successfully onboarded
- Set the right expectations during the sale so it is easy for clients to relate to once they are sold, once they are onboarded.
- Remember, tricking clients for a sale is short lived, and is unwelcome especially when today’s clients are digitally sound, well aware about choices they have in the market. So, one must refrain from such acts.
Now, assume you have done all this right, then don’t hesitate to seek an email with a note on how you understood their requirements and how you guided them to the right value proposition. As a practice, customer support teams proactively seek feedback / ratings and so are businesses seeking testimonials for their products or services. Then why not salespeople ask for a note on how they fared in guiding the client to the right product, may be as a “Sales Guide”( A new term that puts customers first and makes them feel they have a choice)
You remember that shop or sales man in that shop who assisted you find the right suit within your budget for the occasion you wanted. Well, when one makes a note of such small value transactions in their mind, is it not a good idea to have large value transactions assisted by sales people be registered in a format like email that is accessible to both the parties at any time.
What can consist in such emails-
Begin with, if the sales person was able understand the need and guide them to the right solution, how good listeners they are during the entire deal cycle, their level of expertise in clarifying their doubts and able to support them through the implementation process(in the absence of CSM)
To experience how this is working for you as a sales person, first start seeking such emails from clients.
Ways to ask for one from the client –
Give and take works in most cases.
- Write a thank you note to the client that gave you the deal recently.
- Seek if he is willing to write at least a one liner on how we guided them to the solution that is potentially solving their problem or meeting their needs including the approach we adopted during the deal cycle
- Confirm their availability for a recommendation or referrals tomorrow?
Before you say you can’t do something – TRY IT
Sakichi Toyoda
