(Photo: City of Himeji shops, Japan, taken by yours truly)
You may recall we just got back from a three week trip to Japan to see my son and his family. Great trip! Beautiful country. Lovely people.
On a side trip to see Himeji Castle, we strolled the back “alleys” looking for a place to have dinner. These weren’t your typical alleys. They were broad, tiled malls sandwiched behind large buildings that faced the main street and they were loaded with shops and restaurants.
We paused outside one restaurant and were looking at the display board featuring pictures of their menu items. The descriptions, of course, were all in Japanese. Suddenly a young teenager appeared out of nowhere and signaled for us to come over to the adjacent restaurant.
He didn’t speak English, but enthusiastically pointed to their display board and with bright eyes, big smile and engaging body language made it clear his restaurant was the better choice. Far, far better! He was SO eager, we couldn’t say no. So we climbed down dark, narrow steps into the cellar cafe where we had a very good meal indeed.
Despite being so young, this kid was so persuasive, even in another language, that we couldn’t resist. When you’re deeply committed to your product or service, people have a hard time resisting, even if you don’t know Japanese!
Sales Skills Are Universal and Necessary
And like that teen restauranteur knew what would persuade a few hungry American tourists, the rest of us can develop skills that move people to action.
Now, more than ever, we must cultivate traits that good salespeople possess — even if we don’t have the term “Sales” in our job description. We all need the ability to influence others, especially with the impact AI is having on our world. The human skills that will continue to be priceless during this technology shift include:
- Creative problem-solving
- Emotional intelligence
- Complex strategic thinking
- Interpersonal communication
“Like it or not, we’re all in sales now,” says Daniel Pink, author of To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others
Pink explains, “Lots of it goes back to the idea that selling is about some slippery character in a plaid sport coat trying to stick you with a crappy used car. But if we recognize that all forms of work — whether you’re pitching ideas in a meeting or asking our boss for raise — are a form of sales in a broader sense, we can get past this outdated stereotype. What’s more, success in this realm now depends much, much less on tricks and hoodwinkery than on some fundamentally human capabilities.”
Introverts Are Stellar Salespeople Too
Another assumption is that only extroverts can be successful at sales. My customer service reps proved that wrong.
When I worked as a Sales and Service Team Manager at Current Inc., part of the reason I was hired was to lead the Upsell & Cross-sell Program. We were told that if we didn’t increase revenue, the Call Center’s 400 jobs would be moved to New Jersey. We certainly didn’t want to see those jobs disappear, so here’s what we did:
First, we required that every rep ask two upsell questions on each inbound customer call, whether that be a service issue or a phone order. Previously, they only had to ask one question and that was only if the call volume was low — or if they felt like it. We made it mandatory and checked by monitoring random calls.
We didn’t have a budget, but we created an Incentive Program to reward the reps that sold additional products and/or Express Delivery. I scrounged returned products from around the company that weren’t defective and stored them in a cabinet in my office. Each week we’d tally up the added revenue from the top 10 reps and give them their pick of products from my cabinet.
Reps tallied their sales on paper (this was years ago) because our computer systems weren’t set up to track upsells. They reported their sales based on the honor system. We figured if someone were to cheat, we’d be having problems with that person in other areas as well. Where there’s smoke there’s fire, right?
We brainstormed scripts and found complementary products to offer. We even made suggestions on complaint calls without alienating customers.
We held training classes for sales and service reps, as well as the other 10 team managers. We created a newsletter with upsell tips. Those who were struggling were partnered up with more successful reps to help them learn alongside the star sellers.
The most surprising discovery was learning that some of our top salespeople were the introverts. Kathleen was one of the best. She was quiet but friendly and had the nicest southern accent. She would build rapport quickly with customers, find out their interests or needs and suggest other products with a discount. She was not what you’d expect from the typical high sales achiever. Never pushy. But always listening for the opportunity to make an offer in her kind, gentle way. People loved her!
And she wasn’t alone. Those who never expected they’d be successful at sales achieved great things. By the end of that year, we made almost $1 million dollars in added revenue just by stressing the importance of “making the ask” and teaching people how to do it with diplomacy, skill and emotional intelligence.
The Bottom Line
And isn’t that what we’re all here for? To serve others as well as make our organizations profitable? Whether you’re reaching out to donors, co-workers, neighbors or friends, building rapport and meeting their needs makes for better relationships all around. Everyone wins.