Death of a Slick Salesman

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I recall the first real sales experience I ever had. I took a job at an office supply store in the furniture section not knowing much about office supplies or furniture- but how much is there to know about staplers and chairs?

Thankfully, I didn't start out on commission because I never would have taken the job. The idea of having to rely on what you sell to make a living is a scary prospect for most people. We'll just take the check, please- right?

My job was simple: someone liked an item, I pulled it from stock and placed it on their truck. Never mind the stock was dusty and ties don't like dust. Weekends were always busy, but weeknights were slow. During that time I sat... in a chair. Naturally, I grew to know the chair and desk. Eventually, I tried another chair, and another, and another until I knew the ends and outs of every chair on the floor; We had about sixty or seventy choices.

The most unfortunate thing was returns. No one liked having an angry customer come in with a door that came unhinged because the cheap pressed board it was made from couldn't hold a screw. Through that process, I learned the good stuff from the cheap. I became a fountain of business furniture knowledge and was happy to share. It was fun being helpful. And then, the big day came...

The store decided to switch sales employees from salary to commission. My department freaked out, but I didn't. I was an assistant manager by that time and I'd come to learn a few things I'll be happy to share here.

Sales doesn't have to be and should never be a sleazy affair. We don't need to hoodwink anyone to sell anything. I'm really not sure where that tactic even came from, but I still see it today and it drives me nuts.

Think about your junk mailbox. You likely get all kinds of 'offers' from every lunatic on the planet. The first thing they usually open with is a lie. They pretend to know you or use the address of someone you know to get you to view their message. Right off the bat they have let you know that you can't trust them. For me, that's where the sales relationship ends.

Selling is about trust. As soon as the customer doesn't trust you, you're on the road to a break up.

I told my fellow associates that the only way we could hope to sell anything was to be honest. For example, if we didn't have something but knew of a store that did, I instructed to tell the customer so- because wouldn't we want the same treatment? Trust might lose an immediate sale but it always brings people with needs back.


-Chris
www.delacroixleather.com