Posted by Dave Lorenzo - Business Coach

John, a client of mine who started his career in sales a few years ago, told me a great story the other day about how his personal life inspired him to new heights of achievement in his professional life. John has just begun a relationship with a young lady who, like John, travels frequently for her job. They use their cell phones to keep in touch a lot of the time, and John says phone contact and text messages have never been so important to his well being as they are now. Checking in with his partner each day, asking how she’s doing, and making sure her travels have been safe provides him with peace of mind and happiness. John happens to work in the wireless industry, and almost every day, he deals with customers who are having technical problems with their phone or mobile device and experiencing acute frustration over the issues.

According to John, his newfound understanding of the importance of keeping in touch with loved ones has transformed him into a more empathetic, helpful, and successful salesperson. For the first time ever, this month, John has exceeded his sales quota by a significant margin—30%. John’s passion for the value of the service he provides has rocketed him to new levels of achievement in his work.

John told me that now more than ever he sees his customers as good people who are having a bad day. For any number of reasons—travel, work, or emergencies—friends and family are flung around the globe, with only their e-mail accounts and cell phones to keep them in touch. When customers come to him with glitches and equipment failures, John acts quickly, caringly, and efficiently to resolve the issue. He says that his personal goal is “to see every customer leave with a smile on his face”. He is certainly succeeding. Referrals have increased dramatically, and though sales normally slow in John’s store during summer, they are currently through the roof.

John’s story illustrates two valuable themes:

1. Passion creates success. John’s newfound attachment to the service he provides has instilled the drive to provide reliable, quality service to his customers. He believes wholeheartedly in the value of what he’s offering, and that passion translates into enthusiasm, efficiency, outstanding customer services, sales, and success. Nothing rockets you to the top faster than having a true passion for your career, product, or service.

2. Value creation leads to success. Superachievers thoroughly understand their customers’ needs and know exactly how to meet and exceed them. Quite simply, if you can solve your customers’ problems well, they are going to keep coming back to you and they are going to recommend you to their friends. When you provide value consistently and knock the socks off your clients, your personal brand and name spread like wildfire.

So, how can you capitalize on the lesson John’s experience affords? First, take a good look at what motivates you. Where does your career passion lie? If you lack inspiration at present, come up with effective ways of motivating yourself. Either pursue a career in an area you love, or find a way to become enthused about the service or product you offer. Let’s say you’re a restaurant manager who’s grown uninspired by her work. Get back in touch with what brought you to this field in the first place. If you love food, why not try some new dishes and get inspiration to bring back to the chef? If you sell computer hardware, try out some of your products, read up on them, or interview your friends about their opinions. Inform yourself so you have some content to bring to the table at work, and something to talk about with your customers.

Secondly, get into the mindset of your customers. What do they want? What are their problems? What are their frustrations and needs, and how can you make them happy? Your clients are your livelihood. They are the people who believe in you and will multiply your efforts out into the world. You owe them the courtesy of understanding their wants as needs as well as you possibly can.

Filed under: Customer Service
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1. […] I was speaking with John, a client of mine who works in sales, the other day, and he shared his ideas for lasting career success. John earned a promotion from the position of sales rep to sales manager just under a year ago, and he was assigned to the store in his market that had traditionally performed the worst. Ten months later, John’s store is #1 in his market and #2 in his region, which spans six states. He was asked to give a presentation recently to talk about his strategies for improving business. His main pointers were: […]

   Pingback by Sales Intensity — October 6, 2006 @ 02:23

2. […] David Lorenzo presents Beyond the Call of Duty posted at The Career Intensity Blog. […]

   Pingback by Bryan C. Fleming » Blog Archive » Personal Growth Carnival August 1st 2006 — October 24, 2006 @ 09:57

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