Three options for expressing anger
If you're concerned about how to express your anger with your customers, ask yourself which of the following three options would be most likely to yield the best results:
1. Denial.The first option is to deny that you're angry. The problem is, this seldom fools anyone. More importantly, denying anger breaks down trust by making people feel deceived. Remember, most of us are lousy actors, and most of our customers are smart people. Unless your name is Robert De Niro or Meryl Streep, odds are, they'll have a pretty good idea that they're not being told the truth.
2. Acknowledgement.The second option is to acknowledge the anger by saying something like: "Yes, I am very angry." This is preferable to denial, but it can still make the person you're speaking with feel uneasy. Why? Because you're still not stating the whole truth about the real cause of your anger.
3. Verbalization.The third option is the simplest, and also the most effective: acknowledge your anger and verbalize the complete truth. Here's an example: "Yes, I'm angry and upset by this decision, because it means that we won't have enough resources to do the job we agreed to do for you. I'm afraid that if the decision stands, it will negatively affect the outcome of your project, and our future relationship." This way, you're not only being truthful in what you say. You're also allowing others to see what is truly fuelling your anger, so that they will have a better idea of what they can do to help.
Just the facts:
In the final analysis, expressing anger comes down to the same principles that govern the expression of any other emotion: the fine line between honesty and brutality can be walked successfully only by remembering that a customer does not need - or want - to hear all your opinions and perspectives. To stay on the right side of the line, it's important that we recognize and verbalize our emotions, but not dwell on them. Successful sales people understand that they achieve the best results when they limit their communication to the facts and how they feel about them - not their opinions and perceptions.
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The High Correlation Between Sales and Self Improvement
If you’re an avid reader of popular self improvement books, you might have noticed that a lot of the authors, Jim Rohn (mentor to Tony Robbins), Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar, etc., have a strong background in sales.
The reason why? It’s pretty simple.
Sales naturally leads you on the path to self improvement.
Selling is one of the most misunderstood professions in the world. People don’t want to say it out loud, but there is a general consensus among the majority that sales does not rank very high in terms of occupational prestige, but the people who think that are sorely mistaken.
Ask any businessman or woman what their opinion is on sales and you will find that every single one of them without a shadow of a doubt will agree on this one simple fact:
Sales is the lifeblood of any business.
Without sales, no business can function. That being said, sales is one of those few professions where only a minority are able to succeed, the reason being that the turnover rate is extremely high due to the amount of rejection that’s prevalent in sales. If you’ve ever had any experience in sales, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
I have the utmost respect for salesmen (not the unethical ones). The things they have to deal with day in and day out, the average person would probably not be able to handle it.
If you’ve ever been in sales, you’ll find that a lot of the principles in self improvement can be directly applied to your work. Here are just a few examples.
Incremental goal setting. You meet with your supervisor and discuss what your sales goals are for the month and you write them down. You get bonuses if you hit a certain quantity which in turn fuels your desire to achieve the goals you’ve written. A new salesman doesn’t come in expecting to make a million in a year (unless he’s super experienced). He starts small and works his way up.
MasterMind. Seek out any mentors or experienced salesmen in the office that are available to guide you. Don’t be shy in asking them. You’ll find that they’ll be more than willing to divulge enormous amounts of information that’s helped them if you just ask them with sincerity. Take them out to lunch and pick their brain. You’ll find that the Pareto Principle will apply in any sales office. 20% of the salesmen will be making 80% of the sales. Find that 20% and stick to them like glue.
Reading. Brian Tracy, Og Mandino, Tom Hopkins – these will be some names that you’ll get familiar with if you’re really serious about sales. You’ll find yourself reading these books because selling for the most part, relies on basic fundamentals and if you can master them, you can apply them to sell just about anything. True, you will have to know your product inside out and there might be specialized knowledge you’ll have to learn from the company, but once you have the foundation of selling set, the rest comes easily.
I could go on and on - visualizing the close of the sale, being persistent (you haven’t sold anything in a day but you make one extra call and you made that sale), making a to-do list, time management, learning from your mistakes (you will make tons), etc.
What am I basically saying?
If you ever want to get a free education from the real world in self improvement, get a job in sales.
Sales is literally self improvement baptism by fire.
Sales forces you to become better.
It forces you to learn new information.
It forces you to apply that information.
It forces you to aim for a clear goal and to achieve it.
Why does it force you?
Because more often than not, when you’re working in sales, the bulk of your income comes from commission, so you have that extra “kick” to motivate you that most other jobs can’t offer.
You have to constantly improve yourself every single day, whether it means being able to think better on you feet, developing a stronger game plan, or learning how to close more effectively and you will find that habit of constant improvement will carry itself over into other areas of your life.
Next time a salesman tries to sell you something, but you’re not interested, let them off the hook easy. Tell them you don’t want to waste their time and that you’re not interested and thank them for their time. You’ll be a bright light in their usual dark day Put yourself in their shoes for a week and I guarantee you that you’ll see them in a whole new light.
The point I want to get across is that sales WILL teach you the principles of self improvement.
It’s one the few occupations out there where you can take what you’ve learned and apply it to any other occupation and life as well. You learn interpersonal skills, how to build rapport with strangers, how to persuade people, etc. You’ll find that selling will help you anywhere in life and if you think about it, you’re selling a lot of the time in your life without even knowing it - convincing your friends to go snowboarding this weekend, selling yourself in a job interview, selling an idea you had for the company to your boss, etc.
I think everybody should study or even better, at least dip their toe in sales at some point in their life (preferably early on). It is a very good learning experience and I guarantee you that if you get some good solid experience in sales, you’ll be amazed at the positive impact it will make in your life.
Sorce: Briankim.net
The High Correlation Between Sales and Self Improvement
Great Service Is a Choice
(Excerpt from The Simple Truths of Service)
No one can make you serve customers well. That's because great service is a choice. Years ago, my friend, Harvey Mackay, told me a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.
He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey.
He handed my friend a laminated card and said:
"I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement."
Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said:
Wally's Mission Statement:
To get my customers to their destination in the quickest,
safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.
This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!
As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, "Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf."
My friend said jokingly, "No, I'd prefer a soft drink."
Wally smiled and said, "No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice."
Almost stuttering, Harvey said, "I'll take a Diet Coke."
Handing him his drink, Wally said, "If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustratedand USA Today."
As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card. "These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio."
And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.
"Tell me, Wally," my amazed friend asked the driver, "have you always served customers like this?"
Wally smiled into the rearview mirror. "No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day.
He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.'"
"That hit me right between the eyes," said Wally. "Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more."
"I take it that has paid off for you," Harvey said.
"It sure has," Wally replied. "My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action."
Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting.
Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. ]
How about you???
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