You’ve probably never heard of Joel Parker. He is a successful young
entrepreneur and has figured out the keys to successful sales and
customer service at such a young age. With only six years of business
experience, he has learned the following:
1) Identify the needs of your customer before you pitch your product or
service to them. Joel understands that his purpose is to solve a
personal problem for his customers, and to serve them in an emotional
capacity. He knows that his customers make decisions based on emotional
reasons, not intellectual ones. So when he makes first contact with
them, he addresses the benefit of his service, not his service. He
explains to his prospects how his service can benefit them on a
personal level, and this appeals to their emotions. As a result, his
customers usually end up saying ‘thank you’ to him at the conclusion of
the transaction.
2) Approach your customers with confidence and respect by developing a
legitimate relationship with them. Joel never gets too close to his
customers until he feels the relationship is developing at the proper
pace. He never rushes the relationship, but lets it build to the point
that serves his customers. He maintains appropriate distance and
respect, but still is engaging and respectful. His sincere interest in
them is what attracts them to him. And when you meet him, you know that
he is sincere. Joel knows that self-serving manipulation is a turn-off
in his competitive industry, and recognizes that his prospects can
intuitively sense it.
3) Identify patterns of buying behavior of previous customers, and use
that to guide you in your marketing efforts. Don’t ‘profile’ your
prospects based on appearance but rather qualify them based on the
criteria of those in the past who have bought from you. Identify the
characteristics of those previously satisfied customers, and use that
as the guiding criteria in finding future prospects. In Joel’s
business, he has learned that those prospects who are best suited to
benefit from his service are sometimes the most poorly dressed. He
doesn’t let appearance qualify or disqualify those who he tries to
serve. Instead, he finds the ones who have the highest probability of
b
enefiting from his service, and puts the odds in his favor by
targeting the group most likely to buy based on circumstance and
situation and not appearance.
4) Don’t let the negative jealousy of your competitors drag you down.
In Joel’s business, he is the envy of his competitors. Many have said
that his success stems from luck and chance, but Joel knows better. He
knows that it is the attitude of giving to others and seeking ways to
serve them that has caused him to become successful in his business.
5) Target your repeat customers, and make it easy for them to buy from
you over and over. Joel has developed a broad client base, and goes
well beyond what many of his competitors would do. He earns more than
his competitors, but that’s because of the amount of contribution he
makes in the lives of his loyal customer base.
6) Have fun at what you do. Joel is completely fulfilled with his
business and loves every minute of every day. It is this engaging work
that compels him to succeed, and gives him an edge over his competitors.
By the way, if you are ever in Phoenix, you can find Joel at the
baggage claim area in Terminal Four. He is an airport skycap and is a
top producer in his company. I met Joel this week in Phoenix on the way
to a speaking engagement. I asked him what separated him from all the
other skycaps, and what I received was a short lesson on business
success. Principles of success in business never change, whether you
are selling recruiting services or microchips, or the services of
moving luggage to the trunk of a car.
Copyright © 2009 Scott Love
Scott Love improves recruiter performance by teaching a system of big
billing success so that average people can achieve above average
production. Nearly 2,500 search firms and staffing agencies from
sixteen countries have invested in themselves through his training
tools and online programs. Visit his online recruiter training center
for free audio downloads, free videos, training tools, quizzes,
instruments, and articles at www.GreatRecruiterTraining.com