The world according to Landy

I'm back from hiatus and ready to hit the ground running!

With nearly six months of sales experience under my belt at this point, I realized today that I don't know any more now than I did when I first started. I've been flying by the seat of my pants and selling advertising, but I've been going about it all wrong. I've been performing the act but not understanding the process. Now I'm set on going back to the beginning and rebuilding myself to do my job the most efficient and satisfying way possible. I want to make what I do less of a performance and more of a service.

I heard the powerful words of Landy Chase this afternoon, and I feel compelled to share some of his groundbreaking ideas on the art of sales.

1. Your main goal should be helping your customer get desired results, not obtaining a certain amount of revenue. Don't wait until the last few days of the month to try to push for those last $300. Slow and steady wins the race, and the more your customer trusts you, the more likely he is to invest with you.

2. The word spend should be erased from every salesperson's vocabulary. If we're asking our customers to spend their money, that amount is automatically seen in a negative context. We need to focus on the customer's investment so that they can be sure to gain from the relationship, not lose. Perform a needs analysis to establish the best way to help the customer get results. In that way, the focus is taken off of a one-visit sale and made into forming a long-term relationship and marketing plan with your customer.

3. Branding and name recognition are vital to businesses, especially those offering services. Your customers shouldn't buy advertising to get the phone to ring tomorrow. They should buy advertising so that when people decide they need something, whether it's next week or next year, your customer's business is the first place they think of, again reaffirming the necessity of long-term investments.



A final thought:
Since I entered into the realm of sales, I've realized that all salespeople feel that they share a certain bond. "You're in sales? Oh, me too!" It's a product of the tough environment that we face that we feel the need to reassure each other and lend a helping hand if possible. However, I've also noticed that newspaper sales strategies vary greatly from the strategies of retail or other businesses. For many businesses, the bottom line is more important than the customer. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. But I can tell you that I enjoy what I do much more when I do it for my customers and my community rather than for myself.