Beginning with Part One we’ve looked at why commission sales are good for good salespeople, why they are good for the company, and why it’s good business for a commission salesperson to be honest (thus – and most importantly – why it is good for the consumer).
Now let’s look at what John David Mann and I believe is the determining factor in terms of what makes a great salesperson great and why that person will thrive in commission sales.
Here’s a surprise: It has little to do with belief in the product, product knowledge or selling skills. Please don’t misunderstand! All three are vitally important and a must for anyone to be successful. They are simply not the difference-makers. After all, we all know many average salespeople who possess all three of the above yet are still not financially successful.
I thought of this as a fitting close for our four-part series after I received an email from someone who said that a person might sell on commission because they have a money need. Well, we “all” have a money need to some degree or another, as money is the currency of exchange through which we both add and receive desired value. But our need is not only not the difference-maker but just the opposite. In fact, the more we focus on our needs the least successful we will most likely be.
The key is making sure you put the needs of the customer before your money needs. That way you’ll focus more on the customer (and on creating value for them), and the money will follow. Remember, “money is an echo of value. It’s the thunder to value’s lightening.” (From Go-Givers Sell More).
Focus on the money – or commission – and you’ll typically provide less value, thus make less money. Focus on the customer and you’ll end up providing so much value that you’ll make a lot more money.
Yes, the key is your point of focus. Spectacularly successful commission-based salespeople are laser-focused on serving the needs of their customer.
Place your focus on the customer…and not the money…and you’ll make a lot more money.
Ahh, another paradox of life. Don’t ya’ love it!
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Bob,
What a great series. Thank you!
Bob,
Right on!
This is where the big paradigm shift has to come… even for those with money issues. For those who get into commission sales as a fast way to make a buck, their focus is still on their money issues which will continue to make their money issues a problem no matter how much they are making selling their product.
But when they start to focus on serving the needs of those who can use their product, while managing a plan to eliminate those money issues, their money issues become secondary and eventually go away as long as they focus on the needs of their customers.
Thank you for posting on such a great subject!
Here’s to Your LifetoSuccess,
John Clark
Bob,
It really is “all about THEM!” People who understand this concept and live by it (not just in selling) will have more joy, and if we are all honest, those are the people we love to be around – and do business with. They are so full of joy, that they project it to everyone they come in contact with, and those people who experience this “joy transaction” like to tell others of their experience.
I would like to add one observation from personal experience – this mindset has to be accompanied with a “work ethic.” I have known many people who live by the principle of creating value for others, who do not make good commission sales representatives. Add to that, there are some people who have no problem investing or mentoring others (social workers, pastors, and counselors) who might not make good commissioned sales reps, because they have a different “make up” – and just seem to work better with a salary.
Obviously, whether they realize it or not – as you have stated, all of our work is somehow connected to the concept of commissions. If one of those individuals mentioned doesn’t perform the tasks they are given well, they will no longer have their job and the “commissions” will dry up.
Thanks for taking the time to build support for commission sales! My favorite part…wait for it…”opened ended pay scale”.
Have a great memorial day!
Steve
Hi Bob:
You absolutely nailed this one – putting the needs of the customer first is THE KEY to success. Anything that is done in contravention to this principle will not end well. Here’s something you might find of interest entitled “Stop Selling” http://www.n2growth.com/blog/stop-selling-and-add-value
Hi Larry, John, Steve and Mike. Thank you for your feedback and kind comments. Mike, I enjoyed much of your article (that you included the link to) though I seem to disagree with your basic premise, as I don’t see the word “selling” as a negative. (In other words, when you say “stop selling and add value, it doesn’t computer with me because I see “selling” AS “adding value.”) And, some of what you mentioned in your article as a negative I think is actually very good and helpful to the customer so long as it is done with the correct focus; as you mention above, being the customer’s needs.
I don’t see the word “selling” as a negative either Bob, though I learned a while back, from a source I’ve forgotten, that people don’t want to be sold, yet love to buy. To say we don’t want to ‘sell’, when we get paid to do so, is clearly a contradiction. But I believe that a gradient step for many people learning the ‘giving first’ model, is first to unlearn their fixation on closing and getting sales, so that other elements, as you teach so clearly in Go-Givers Sell More, can dominate. And so a coach’s initial instruction may be “stop selling” – as a way of breaking a mold. Later of course, one must reactivate a selling mindset, but hopefully with a more service orientated viewpoint.
On the road to Uncommon..
Anthony