Sitting in a 70 year-old restaurant yesterday, an antique by California standards, I heard song after song from the Big Band Era, the 1940's.
My parents were fond of this music, Mom especially, because she sang in one of those roving orchestras long before I was a mere bubble in a champagne glass.
The waitress, who might have been born in the place, asked me if I wanted some rye bread with my meal, and it got me to thinking about an expression from that bygone era:
"Know how your bread is buttered!"
This means, appreciate what and who are putting bread on your table, and most important WHY they are doing it, what purpose you're serving for them.
For salespeople, this is a keen point. We need to know what it is that we're doing that really makes sales happen, do more of that, and cut out anything that doesn't contribute; needless motions and activity.
Especially important is dispensing with ILLUSIONS about what is working for us and what is not working.
In a different restaurant the other day, I overheard a chat where one guy was trying to sell an athlete his services as an agent. The suitor engaged in a complete talkathon, ranging from one irrelevant topic to the next, seeming to score very few points.
No questions were asked by either party, and no commitments made. I wondered if this is really how the agent got his new clients, because I found the conversation lacking in focus.
Perhaps it is exactly what is needed, maybe an initial lunch to get acquainted, and then it could take quite a courtship to culminate in a relationship.
Breaking bread may be exactly the way the agent's bread is buttered.
If so, he's the expert in selling what he sells, and I am merely an eavesdropping amateur, and I'm willing to accept that idea. Imposing my ideas about earning business on this type of relationship may not be helpful, and possibly, they might not work.
Still, I believe the agent should review what he does, or have a sales coach or consultant sit at an adjacent table, unannounced, so he could be critiqued, and the process analyzed.
Ultimately, this could save the seller time and calories, and build his client base even faster.
All sellers should ask: "How is my bread buttered," and then they'll be able to separate the wheat from the chaff, and they'll make even more dough.
Every minute of every day, someone in the world is reading a book or an article written by Dr. Gary S. Goodman. Best-selling author of 12 books and more than 850 articles, Gary is considered a foremost expert in telephone effectiveness, customer service, and sales development. A top-rated speaker, seminar leader, and consultant, his clients extend across the globe and the organizational spectrum, from the Fortune 1000 to small businesses. He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com. |
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