There’s an ad playing on the radio here in Kansas City that really irritates me. It’s for a car dealership, and it extols the virtues of their “Non-Commissioned” sales staff several times in about 60 seconds. To hear them tell it, “commissions” are a dirty word. Now I know that they believe that the term “non-commissioned” is a selling feature to their customers. My question is, “Why?”
Unfortunately, I think this is another example of us (salespeople) doing it to ourselves. We have an image of being commission-chasers above all else. Why? Because too many salespeople are exactly that. As I’ve been saying for some time, the world is changing around us, and we’d better adapt.
You see, sales in the 21st century will be more and more about earning. It’ll be about earning your spot in the customer’s buying process, earning your spot on the payroll, and yes, earning commissions. The car dealer who brags about his “non-commissioned” sales staff is making a statement. He’s saying that his salespeople don’t earn their commissions, and he’s also saying that they really don’t earn their spot in the customer’s buying process. What does that mean?
Earning your spot in the customer’s buying process is one of those things that’s simple to say – but challenging to implement. To earn your spot in the buying process, you must work to improve the buying experience for the customer. I know you’re sitting there thinking, “I do that already!” But do you? Do you really? More to the point – do your customers think that you do?
I’ve always been amazed by salespeople who use certain tactics on customers, yet are offended or irritated when those same tactics are used when they are the customer. Be honest with yourself. Think about the sales calls you made this week. On how many of those sales calls did you do something to contribute value, knowledge, or expertise to the customer’s situation? How many calls resulted in you improving the customer’s condition – i.e., was the customer better off after you left?
Earning your spot on the payroll is done through being a driver of your business and not a passenger. Too many salespeople are passengers of their business. I see it every day, and it’s become more pronounced since the economic downturn. When “times” are good, they prosper; when times are bad, they suffer. Ask yourself this: What did you do this week – what activity did you undertake – to drive your company/territory forward by bringing on a new customer, or significantly upselling a current one?
This is best illustrated by a mortgage company owner I know. He used to have five brokers working for him. As the market tightened, he realized a few things. His brokers pretty much sat and waited on the phone to ring. Further, the reason that the phone rang was his advertising and Web presence. When the phone rang, the brokers took the applications, ran them through the system, and prepared approval letters. They pushed paper, in other words.
The company owner figured out that he could, for a moderate expense, invest in a Web page that allowed his customers to fill out their applications online and create approval letters. If they called in, an administrative person could handle those applications. He fired all five brokers and downsized his office suite. Sales, in 2012, were down 10%. Profits were up 400%. As Bruce Springsteen sang, “These jobs are gone, boys, and they ain’t coming back.” It used to be about protecting your spot on the sales force; now it’s about keeping your job in existence.
Which brings us to the final aspect of earning – that is, earning your commissions. What is a commission? It’s compensation for a valuable achievement. The car dealer I referenced decided that his salespeople weren’t achieving anything valuable. So did the mortgage company owner, although he handled it in a different way. So, allow me to close with this question: What are you doing to earn your commissions, your spot on the payroll, and your customers? If you can’t think of anything, it’s time to rethink your work.
